Synopsis: Visit with Mum to Cotehele House (NT), Cornwall. Travelled by train to Calstock Station then walked a stretch of the Tamar Valley to Cotehele House. Much of interest to see in this Tudor house.
A day out by train for Mum and I. This was a trip that I had in the back of my mind for sometime, realising that it was quite possible to visit Cotehele House (NT) by train, and that the journey itself might be quite interesting, and it was. I’d seen the route that the train takes on a canoe trip I took with my family back in the summer of 2006. We paddled our canoes down the River Tamar under the Calstock Viaduct and beyond as far as Cotehele Quay which on that day was our pick-up point for the bus journey back to our car. Photos of that day’s canoe outing can be found on Flickr in the 23 Summer 2006 set.
Mum and I arrived at St David’s Station on time only to find that the screen displaying scheduled train times was saying our next train, the 9:45 to Plymouth, was ‘delayed’. Luckily I heard on the PA system that the train waiting at our platform was headed for Penzance so I quickly asked a station guard if that train stopped in Plymouth, and it did, so Mum and I jumped on that just as the doors were about to close. Mum and I particularly enjoyed the train journey along the south coast of Devon as far as Teignmouth, and the stretch up the River Teign to Newton Abbot. It was quite a busy train, but we arrived relaxed in Plymouth in plenty of time for the next leg of our journey.
The railway line that runs between Plymouth and Gunnislake is known as the Tamar Valley Line. The journey begins through the suburbs of Plymouth but soon picks up with fine views out over the River Tamar. The Naval Docks are very visible and many battleships can clearly be seen from the train. We also had a very good view of Tamar Bridge, a bridge we’d travelled on on numerous occasions, on our journeys into Cornwall, but never before viewed from up the River Tamar as it was today.
The best part of the journey along the Tamar Valley Line is the latter part on the approach to Calstock. Here the train runs through the open countryside in which the River Tamar flows. There are a couple of substantial bridges over the river before finally reaching the impressive span of the Calstock Viaduct high above the river. I would think this is the most spectacular railway viaduct that we have in Devon. From the top of the viaduct, as the train slowly approaches Calstock Station, the views are tremendous.
Calstock Railway Station
The train pulled into Calstock Station, which is hardly a station at all. It consists of a shelter and a couple of benches, but that’s about it. Ahead the track seemed to quickly disappear into dark woods as if this demarcated the upper reaches of civilization in this part of the world.
Calstock Viaduct and the River Tamar
Mum and I disembarked from the train and began our walk down hill through Calstock to pick up the lane that runs up river in the direction of Cotehele House. This lane runs under the Calstock Viaduct from where Mum and I got a good view of how monumental this construction was. It was built between 1904 and 1907 by John Lang of Liskeard using 11,148 concrete blocks (Wikipedia - Calstock Railway Station).
Calstock - old railway carriage converted into dwelling
There’s a definite nautical feeling to Calstock with its views out over the River Tamar. I don’t think I’d feel comfortable living in the lower levels of the village so close to the River Tamar, which is tidal at this point. Perhaps that’s just me being unnecessarily squeamish. One lovely oddity that we passed was an old converted railway carriage now seemingly used as a residence. I heard the woman gardening there say to a passer by that it was an old GWR carriage used on the Paddington line that she now rents.
Calstock Viaduct and the Tamar Valley
I took the opportunity to explain to Mum that we now have to climb through woods to Cotehele House. In total we had to climb about 50 metres, which for Mum with her breathing problems, was going to be a challenge, but one that I felt she could meet if we went at a slow pace. This is what we did and we soon found ourselves, if a little breathless, standing in front of the Barn Restaurant of Cotehele House (walk time from Calstock station was about 50 minutes). We decided that the best plan would be to eat lunch at this time, so jacket potatoes were duly ordered for the two of us.
Cotehele - main hall
From the Barn Restaurant we first dropped our rucksacks into lockers at the bag-drop and entered the great hall of the house. We were told that we should have been given a map at reception, but I explained that we had come from the Barn Restaurant, not reception. Evidently the sign posting on our, admittedly less usual, approach to the house was not all it could have been (have dropped Cotehele an email about this). Anyway, without ‘stickers’, we were still allowed to proceed with our visit.
Cotehele
Cotehele House is Tudor in its origins, and is considered one of the finest Tudor houses in the country today. There are some fine ancient parts to the house which transported us back to a historical period with a strong sense of that time. The fact that the house was not extensively used by the Edgcumbes, having moved to different premises nearer Plymouth, has meant that this house had been left largely untouched for centuries when it came into the ownership of the National Trust in 1947. The house is described as “one of the least altered of the Tudor houses in the United Kingdom” (Wikipedia - Cotehele). Apparently Cotehele House was used in Trevor Nunn’s film production of Twelfth Night - Shakespeare.
Cotehele - front of house
There was a lot to see in the house and therefore by the time that we came out we had only a brief amount of time with which to explore the gardens. We took a quick circuit of the formal gardens at the front of the house but didn’t have time to walk in the Valley Garden as we would have liked. I didn’t wish for us to feel rushed on our walk back to Calstock station, particularly as another climb was necessary through the village to reach the railway station which is of course at the height of the Calstock Viaduct.
The train journey home was equally interesting and relaxing as the journey down had been. The sun still shone, the air was balmy, and the trains pleasant and comfortable, particularly that between Plymouth and Exeter (complete with air conditioning). On arriving back at Digby and Sowton rail station we settled on KFC for our supper which we ate back at Mum’s.
Later in the evening I decided to retrospectively read a little about Cotehele House in the book England’s Thousand Best Houses by Simon Jenkins. I felt sure the house would be in it, but to my dismay I couldn’t find it. That was until I searched in Cornwall rather than Devon. Forgetting that, for this brief time, we were over the River Tamar and in Cornwall, just. This book awards Cotehele House 3 stars (out of a maximum of 5), which is a reasonably good rating for this guide.
This proved to be a really lovely day out. A trip that I could recommend to anyone. And such wonderful weather for this late in the year, with temperatures in the high 20s. It could have been summer!
Addendum: Subsequent to our visit interested to read Cotehele awarded ‘best visitor attraction in Cornwall’
Trip Statistics (includes all train journeys and walking):
Total Distance: 148.6 miles
Moving Time: 5hrs 53min
Stopped Time: 3hrs 40min
Total Ascent: 1,408 metres
Maximum Elevation: 147 metres
Walk Statistics (Calstock Railway Station to Cotehele):
Total Distance: 1.8 miles
Elapsed Time: 52min
Total Ascent: 97 metres
Maximum Elevation: 68 metres
Trains: Digby & Sowton to St David’s, Exeter; St David’s, Exeter, to Plymouth; Plymouth to Calstock (Return ticket: £9.50)
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