These gardens have been open since 1987, and we have visited the next door gardens of Glendurgan once before; yet we had never heard of Trebah until this trip. It was worth the wait.
Trebah, as you enter the gardens
Trebah is set in a steeply sloping, wooded valley leading down to the Helford River. During WWII it was the embarcation point for US soldiers before the Normandy landings.
Trebah, looking down the valley
The garden paths wind along the sides and zig zag across the valley. The valley sides are lined with specimen trees and shrubs, with underplanting of laurels, hydrangea and camellia.
The Lush planting of the valley sides
Apparently when the owner was arranging the planting he would stand in his house with a telescope and binoculars directing the gardeners where to plant the trees. He would have the gardeners erect scaffolding to represent the fully grown tree, so that he could check the overall effect.
Looking across the valley
We started our tour at the top, near the koi pond, then wound down through the water garden, to the beach path. In the centre of the valley was a small stream which had been damned in a number of places to create small ponds, or boggy areas for moisture loving plants. We passed Andrew path and continued to the beach where the path cross the stream on a path known as The DiDi. Seemed designed for us really!
Carefully placed specimens
The beach still had some of the old slipways, but provided a tranquil spot to stand and stare, and watch the water fowl diving for fish. On a nice day it would have been a glorious spot to sit and soak up the view, and even have a swim.
We headed back along the west side of the valley looking down over the scene. One can only imagine what it must have looked like a few weeks ago at the height of the autumn colours.
As you will appreciate, a drizzly November day is sub-optimal as far as viewing is concerned, but despite the inclement weather the garden was spectacular. In fact, in my view, it surpasses Heligan (which we visited yesterday). After refreshments in the vistor's centre and a browse around the shop and plant centre, we headed back. I must say that Trebah is one of the very finest gardens I have ever seen.
Back in Fowey we parked at the highest point of the car park to try and get sufficient signal to call Cousteau-cub. Fortunately, we got through and made arrangements to pick her up tomorrow on our way home. We then drove down and parked in the town centre and took a pleasant stroll through the streets as the last of the winter light melted into darkness. As we walked towards the quay where the ferry docks, a huge ore carrier made its way up the river. It blasted out its warning siren and the ferry sat and cowered at Bodinnick until it was past.
The Town Quay in Fowey
Dusk in Fowey
Back in our suite, I processed the photos from the day, and The Silver Vixen wrote some cards.
For dinner we went to the Galleon. I can only recommend that no one should ever eat there again. It was apalling quality food, and let Fowey down dismally. However, while we were there a lone traveller (Julie Hobbit) came in and we got talking. This woman, about our age but looking about 16, was touring Britain from Australia. She had been trying to do this by public transport, but was reaching the end of her tether and talking of hiring a car for the rest of the trip. Having said that, she has managed London, Brighton, Dublin, Edinburgh, Orkney, Shetland and now the West country. She was a nice little hobbit and exchanged her complete life history (and medical history) over the course of a couple of hours.
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