Synopsis: At last I make a long intended trip to Cotehele House with Mum to see their Christmas garland. A glorious sunny day was perfect for the drive over Dartmoor to our destination. Busy, busy, busy!
(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)
I thought Cotehele House might be busy today, and no mistaking, it was certainly that. When we arrived at Cotehele we were directed to the overflow car park. The overflow car park seems to have been recently extended, and it was a good thing too, since that was where we were directed.
Anyway, reverse a little, to the start of our trip. I asked Mum if she’d fancy a trip out to a National Trust property. I suggested Cotehele House, since we could combine this with a drive over Dartmoor, always lovely at this time of year, and especially so on a gorgeous sunny day like today. Mum said she’d like that, so off we set. We made our way towards Moretonhampstead which would take us on a route right across the middle of the moor.
The reason I particularly like Dartmoor during early winter, is that the bracken is turned a lovely golden brown as it dies back. This combined with the acute rays of the winter sun creating a stark light that makes for a very dramatic scene. An itch to be out there walking across the moor came over me, but that would have to wait for another day.
On our final approach to Cotehele House, about 3 miles from our destination, my SatNav chose to take me down some pretty narrow lanes. In hindsight, although this got me there without hitch, there is a less tortuous route that I would recommend when approaching Cotehele from Tavistock, rather than that directed by a SatNav. I suggest entering the co-ordinates 50.5164254,-4.2649064, at which point there is to be found a brown tourist attraction sign that provides direction to Cotehele House.
On reaching Cotehele House we were part of a constant stream of cars, which was rather ominous. Walking towards the house we paused to look into the Barn Restaurant. It was very busy, so we opted to postpone lunch till later. We headed towards the Great Hall. So this is it, the celebrated Christmas garland. As Christmas approaches it is glorious to see so many flowers; it could be summer all over. It wasn’t easy to photograph as shafts of strong sunlight, as much welcome as it was, created a lot of contrast.
A secondary garland was draped around a doorway which I had noticed was being used by many as a photo opportunity. After having taken a photo of Mum someone kindly offered to take our photo, so after a little camera instruction, this photo of us both was captured. Mum and me, under the mistletoe in the Great Hall of Cotehele House.
The sun was just skimming the top of Cotehele and sinking fast as the day drew on. We took a little time for a short walk around the gardens of Cotehele House. This photo shows what is now the front entrance of the house, looking out on a terraced garden, with views to the Tamar Valley in the distance.
And here we saw in the foreground the dovecot that sits just below the terraced front garden. And in the distance, spanning the Tamar Valley, is the Calstock Viaduct. Mum and I crossed this viaduct on the train to Calstock when last we visited Cotehele House in 2011 (see my blog post: ‘01 October 2011 – Trip: Cotehele House (NT) (Walk from Calstock rail station: 1.8 Miles)’). It’s a relatively short walk form Calstock to Cotehele House, although there are inclines to be negotiated at each end, both in Calstock and at Cotehele House.
So, that was our little outing to Cotehele House to view their Christmas garland. A lovely relaxing way to spend a day.
A little background reading that might be of interest: the story ‘Behind the scenes at Cotehele’ tells of the preparations that took place to create the Christmas garland this year, complete with a video that shows the work in progress. Followed by ’Cotehele reveals its 60ft garland’ which shows the final touches being applied to the 60ft (no metric measurements here, if you please) garland, containing no less than 36,160 flowers. It is a spectacular display.
