Trefusis Head & the Bluebells of Enys Gardens
Parking in the car park at Mylor Marina (TR11 5UF), our day starts with breakfast in Mylor cafe. They have a great range of options here from the full Cornish to a simple poached egg on toast. We went for the egg's benedict.
The first 2 hours of your parking is refunded as well when you spend over £5. You can sit outside and enjoy watching the activities of this very active marina with yachts on the move both in and out of the water using a very impressive boat lift.
After breakfast it's time for a stroll around Trefusis Head passing first off, several very impressive waterside homes which will enjoy fantastic views across Carrick Roads. As you walk along the footpath (clearly marked) you’ll pass by Restonguet sailing club where a young lad called Ben was taught to sail later to become triple Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie.
As you follow this easy path around the headland there are some great views looking across the water to St Just In Roseland and towards St Mawes just hidden around the headland (a walk for another day) until you reach the headland looking out to sea and Pendennis Castle comes in to view. Henry VIII's fort built in 1540 to 1542 to protect his kingdom from invaders from France and the Holy Roman empire. Then Pendennis Shipyard will come into view so if your yacht is too big to fit into Mylor or part of the Royal fleet auxiliary then this is the place to go for repairs.
Looking across the water at Falmouth gives you a different view of this fascinating maritime town. You can continue your walk in to Flushing from here and back to Mylor a number of ways but today we turn around as we are off to Enys Gardens.
The Enys family can be traced back to before the time of Henry VII to around 1272. Although the current house dates from the 1830s, it is thought this is the third building to stand on the site.
This year as Enys house itself was the home to local artists whose work was on display through those sections of the building now safe to enter and although clearly a long way from being restored it gave us the chance to view the gardens from the first floor.
Our reason to visit today is to see what Park lye has to offer - such a magnificent carpet of English Bluebells. Different from the Spanish bluebells, the English Bluebells with their drooping almost shepherds crook like flower have a gentle scent that pervades Park lye and most of the gardens in mid-May when the flowers are at their peak, later than the hedgerow Spanish bluebells we are very familiar with. These though have naturalised here over the centuries.
With a woodfired pizza oven on the go and tea, coffee and cake in abundance it easy to while away a few hours here and explore sections of the garden still undergoing repair reminding us of our first visit to Heligan many years ago so it will be a pleasure to return again and seen how this garden grows.
Mylor cafe
Pendennis Castle (English Heritage)
Pendennis Shipyard
Enys Gardens
