Cadgwith in evening light

Tuesday
Today was rather a gloomy day. We spent much of the day at Trebah Gardens, subtropical gardens on the banks of the Helford estuary. The gardens have a long history, dating back over 150 years. The Fox family was one of the gardening dynasties that came to dominate horticultural life in Falmouth during the mid-19th century and Charles Fox created the gardens at Trebah after acquiring the estate from his father in 1831.Upon his death, the estate passed to his son in law and eventually to another notable Cornish family who carried on the Fox tradition until the onset of World War 2. After this there followed a period of stagnation and neglect until Trebah was acquired by the present owners, Major and Mrs Tony Hibbert in 1981, who have vigorously restored and improved them.
The garden sweeps down to the Helford river with paths running either side of the valley and a stream running down the center of the ravine. Waterfalls and pools, thickets of hydrangea covering more than two acres, Gunnera manicata (or giant rhubarb, and bamboos are some of the horticultural highlights. At the foot of the valley lies Trebah beach, from which a regiment of 7,500 men of the 29th U.S. Infantry Division with their tanks, guns and transport left for the D-Day assault landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy, where they suffered grievous casualties. A memorial at the bottom of the garden commemorates the courage of these brave young American soldiers.

We had lunch in the cafe there and stayed until mid-afternoon, by which time the weather was beginning to clear a bit, so once we got back to Mullion, Peter, Roger and I went for a walk along the cliffs. In the evening we enjoyed an excellent dinner in the very picturesque village of Cadgwith, where I took this shot of the beach in the evening light.

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