Wheels Around Europe . . . . . . . : A trip into the past .........

Saturday 19 September 2020

A trip into the past .........

Saturday 20th September 2020

It blew a hooley last night and Ed was rocked by the strong wind throughout.

Thankfully we woke to a beautiful morning, the wind had died down and the sun was shining.

We left our overnight free parking spot at Sharrow Beach and set off for the lovely fishing village of Mevagissey.

Today has been a bit of a trip down memory lane for me.

In 1979 mum remarried and moved to St Ewe, a small hamlet three miles inland from Mevagissey and I spent many holidays down here in that time, before she sold up in 1997 and moved back to Altrincham.

Some of those memories are wonderful, some are not so good, so a bit of a day for reflection on the past for me.

Sadly, her marriage didn't really work out as Peter was a drinker, and Bells Whiskey eventually pickled his liver.

A nice man sober, but someone who changed for the worse with drink.

My regret is that she spent most of my adult life down here.

She moved when I was 21, a time when you just begin to get to know your parents as an adult, rather than as a child.

In the 1980's, Cornwall seemed a long way away from Manchester and contact was mostly a week together at Christmas and a summer visit to Cornwall.

Phone calls were long distance BT rates, so unlike today where communication is instantanious and almost without cost.

Anyway, enough of maudling thoughts, we're booked for two nights on the campsite adjoining The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

And a lovely site it is too, only small, but very friendly staff and set in scenic countryside, I've booked timed tickets for the gardens tomorrow.

The "Lost" part came about as Heligan House had a large staff of gardeners in the early 20th Centuary before WWl.

All the staff signed up to fight in the trenches of WWl and the gardens slipped into decline and were eventually lost to nature as they became overgrown and forgotten to later generations.

Most never returned to Heligan and the once grand gardens were just overgrown brambles.

In the 1990 storm, fallen trees made work on the estate essential and the remains of the gardens were re-discovered by accident.

Efforts were made in the years that followed to bring the gardens back to life.

I last visited them in 1995 with our good friends Sheila and Mick and it will be interesting to see how they have changed in 25 years.

Lauren was just seven at the time but she still remembers visiting the gardens and in particular the board walk through the jungle section of the gardens.