Trerice 9.5.25
Today we stay relatively local wandering over to Trerice, another National Trust property, in the morning. It is only a few miles from the caravan park and this time we pick up signs very quickly along the way, so no getting lost. The house was owned for a long time by the Arundell family, subsequently passing to the Wentworth family who were (again) effectively absentee landlords. In 1802 the ownership passed to the family which lived at Killerton which we visited last Saturday – so there were a lot of links between these various West Country families.
Trerice declined under the absentee landlords and in 1915 the estate was sold up with the house being acquired by Cornwall County Council who sold it onto the National Trust in 1953. The Elton family were tenants at the time and remained in place with John Elton paying for the repair of the roof and the rebuilding of the fallen North Wing which was turned into a private family home separate to the older part of the building used by the National Trust.
The tenancy eventually came to an end and then the rooms in the North Wing were preserved as they would have looked in the 1950’s following the reconstruction and so the house has two distinct periods and of course the latter period is now real history being some seventy years ago – with items such as radios and furniture from that period.
Mowhay Trerice
Following our walk round the house, we then walk around a small part of the garden – the sciatica is annoying again. This includes an area called the Mowhay – essentially the storage area – and farmyard which they admit cannot be easily re-created and so a modern approach has been taken with a vegetable garden with modern vegetables and a grass maze – which made more sense on the photo above than on the ground on the day we visite.
We return to the caravan as we have to pack and we can also enjoy the sunny afternoon as well as finishing up some of the food acquired for our stay. Not so much the alcohol as we are going out again this evening. Packing is two part – those clothes needed for a couple of nights at our next destination and the rest into the suitcase for the trip back. As seems common on holidays these days that includes quite a bit of clothing which has not been worn. This time around caused by the warm weather so that the clothes for colder weather have simply not been needed.
Our destination this evening is the Headland Hotel in Newquay which has been a desired destination for some years. The inside is inevitably a little old fashioned – it is a huge place and in consequence the dining room is large. They have a tasting menu alongside the a la carte and the quality is excellent and the price is significantly less than some of the other restaurants we have visited. We have another good meal and then we are treated to a superb sunset as we are looking westwards from the lounge / bar area. It is a lovely clear evening and we can enjoy a coffee as the sun sets. However having presented the bill the staff then disappear and it takes some time to attract attention to actually pay it!