Highlights of Cornwall with Kids: Part V Trerice

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

It's been a fortnight since we arrived back from our holiday in Cornwall, a busy fortnight at that. We have had a week of rehearsals for the kids schools Variety Night, kept secret from the kids to increase their embarrassment on night when their parents join in with the choir in a hilarious all singing, all dancing performance. Week two saw an about turn. Emma came down with the Chicken Pox, and goodbye Variety Show hello at home in quarantine looking after our poor itchy girl.

 

And so now that I sit down to continue telling you about our journey the memories are much less fresh. I'll even admit I had to ask Emma "what was that terrific place where you dressed up as a knight" and so thanks to her I bring you our visit to Trerice.

 

When you have a cottage in paradise you don't really have much need to leave your own backyard. We spent a wonderful lazy day, with me in bed late enjoying a fantastic book of Cornish Folk Tales and the kids sometimes coming to hear part of the story, sometimes playing Monopoly with Rob or out in the yard watching the neighbours horses or the visiting pheasants.

After lunch we realised we were running low on food and would need to stop somewhere for supplies before dinner time and why not stop and see the sights somewhere on the way? And so with the aid of the trusty National Trust handbook we decided on a visit to Trerice as well as the supermarket.

Trerice was only a twenty five minute drive from our cottage and was perfect for a couple of hour visit. As part of an organised itinerary Trerice is one of those places well worth a visit coupled with somewhere else, such as Tintagel or the seaside towns of Newquay or Padstow. For us it was the perfect place for a short visit on a day we felt like doing very little.

When we arrived after our short drive we discovered a gorgeous Tudor Manor house. I stood the kids out the front and told them the house was shaped like a letter and if they could guess the letter they should be about to guess which queen sat on the throne when it was built. It didn't take long for them to notice the "E" shape of the building which made it easy for them to guess Queen Elizabeth.

When we arrived at the ticket office the gentleman asked Rob if we had travelled far to visit. Rob quipped with him "not far, just a bit over 9000 miles". To our surprise the man was not surprised and replied that he knew we were Australian but assumed we lived locally. This came as a bit of a surprise as we have become used to being a bit of a novelty to people. The penny dropped when we repeated the same conversation almost exactly with another gentleman in the house, who thought we must live in Newquay. Apparently many Australian's who visit nearby Newquay for the surfing never want to leave and there is a big Aussie community there.

In the Great Hall the kids, Emma and Rob that is, enjoyed dressing up as soldiers and knights getting ready for battle. Julian preferred having a go at the games from Tudor times they had for children to try, such a catching a ball on a string in a cup or the board game fox and geese. Apparently you can also play Kayling (Cornish Bowling) on the lawn but somehow we missed this, though we did see the very old Kayling pins in the hall.

We had the opportunity to see the Great Chamber upstairs, with amazing views over the estate. The beautiful ceiling is undergoing restoration and is being painstakingly cleaned with tiny paint brushes.

After we had wandered all around the lovely house we visited the gift shop, which I really shouldn't as I have fallen in love with an number of the lovely things they sell. However I have to remember that I have to fit everything into our four suitcases one day and the lovely Royal Worcester Wrendale china I love, I'm sure won't post well.

We wandered around the gardens and went in search of their maze, which I must admit gave us a chuckle. Perhaps if we come back in twenty or so years it may pose a little more of a challenge. The Lady Garden was also a work in progress which should be lovely when Spring arrives.

 Trerice is one of the few National Trust houses open at this time of year and we were grateful that they were open. It was lovely to see a smaller manor house to compare with the castles and ruins we have seen.We love chatting with the National Trust volunteers, as you know they are working for nothing in a place they have a passion for and people with a passion are always the most interesting people to chat with.

We decided it was time to go and set the TomTom on Tesco's (a large supermarket chain) and head off. We didn't realise until much later than instead of heading towards Bodmin we were on our way to Newquay. When we saw the fabulous beach there we understood the attraction Cornwall holds for surfers, it was a really beautiful beach. The laid back lifestyle and friendliness of the people remind us of Australia and we can understand how very easy it would be to choose to live here.

We often wonder just how much the kids will remember about our adventure and how much they are learning along the way. We are confident that Emma will remember a lot while Julian may need memory joggers to remember much. On the other hand they do seem to be learning a lot already. The other evening Emma was listening to ABBA music when four year old Julian confidently told me "did you know Mama Mia is from 1560's when William the Conqueror was here". So there you have, it a real learning experience.