Highlights of Cornwall with Kids: Part II - Lanhydrock Estate

"We may not be able to prevent the stormy times in our lives, but we can always dance in the puddles" - Sarah Moore

We devoted one day to Lanhydrock house and garden’s which was conveniently located in our backyard and made a lovely walk. As usual it was quite late, nearly noon, when we finally got on our way. The kids had a ball jumping in puddles, some very big muddy puddles, on the track from the house to the avenue.

Once entering the gates we had a seal road to walk on, an avenue lined on both sides with very old oak and sycamore trees. Tragically, the night before we visited very high winds blew over a number of beautiful trees. Once at the visitor centre we were told some of these trees were three hundred years old.

 

 We had lunch in the National Trust tea rooms, pasties, crumpets and tea, to revive ourselves after our walk from the cottage. The tea rooms were located in the old stables near the main house, which had started out as an abbey dedicated to St Hydrock prior to the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. Over time the house had a number of facelifts, the Jacobean House needing work after the civil war and most recently due to major fire in 1881.

 The kids were so full of energy we realised that we definitely need loads of outside active time after having spent more time than usual in the car over the past few days.

We were surprised to discover that the house was closed to visitors, a good warning for me to always check the National Trust website and not just look at their App which shows they should have been open.

However getting out in mother nature always proves to be the most fun so it really didn't matter. In Landhydrock gardens, a mixture of formal gardens and wilderness, we spent a fabulous afternoon walking approximately three miles on trails as well as playing our usual game of hide and seek.

Our walk home through the Lady's Walk through the Great Wood was an adventure for the kids, rather than avoiding the boggy patches they just ploughed straight through them.

There are many attractions for families at Lanhydrock, especially from March when their bike hire shop opens as they have opened an extensive area of push bike tracks through the estate. The kids were disappointed at missing out on taking a ride, I just wish there could be another time as this is a fabulous place for families. Even after spending the whole afternoon here we haven't seen inside the house, or the children's adventure playground or the bike tracks there was just to much to see and do. We could have spent a second day here or more but then we would have missed out on some other marvellous places, which I will tell you about as soon as I can.