View of bluebell flowers in a woodland area in Spring — Spring bluebells in a woodland setting

It’s this time of year that the Chelsea Garden Flower Show is staged, just as the weather is warming up and Cornwall’s countryside flowers start to bloom in the Cornish sunshine.

When our guests are visiting Cornwall they have no end of choices of beautiful gardens to also visit.

There are so many Cornish gardens to visit and Cornish countryside walks to tell you about, but I am going to centre on a special place called Enys Gardens. Its at this time of year that Enys comes alive with its famous (to those that live here) swaths of bluebells, in its gardens and ancient woodland.

Enys is just a few miles East of Penryn and from the shepherd huts, and is around a 20 minute drive. There is plenty of parking and is well signposted once you come off the main road. They are open to the public from April to September on Sundays and Mondays. You can book your tickets online which is easy to do and again takes the hassle away.

The gardens at Enys are reportedly one of the oldest in Cornwall and in the 18th century they were formally laid out in an Italianate style with long vistas reaching down the length of the current garden ending in two pavilions. In the early 19th century, Francis Enys started major alterations to the Gardens, creating less formal gardens.

Its at this time of year that the woodland and meadows are alive with English bluebells, its really breathtaking. The old un-spoilt pathways take you around the 30 acre site which shows you the outside of the old house, ponds, the flower garden, the New Zealand garden, summerhouse boarder, stumpery, the orchard and the pinetum. In the summer they have a Dragon and Fairy trail which makes you feel like a child again (Event: 30th July-31st August 2023). Its at this time that the gardens are dotted with beautiful and mysterious wicker woodland fairy folk and dragons. They make for great selfies as long as you keep your eyes peeled for the hidden creatures!

After a good walk, the small and quirky Garden Café offers a lovely but small selection of cakes, savories and scones which are all served in an eclectic range of chinaware and in a small courtyard setting which takes you back in time. If you prefer not to eat at the café the gardens give you so many choices on where you can take your picnic to and settle down for the afternoon.

The Muddy Beach Café which is one of our favorites in Penryn and 5 minutes drive from Enys gardens. They offer a great selection of lunch and evening small plates and main meals, which vary on a regular basis. Catering well for meat and non meat eaters. I usually find they have a special cocktail on offer, which always goes down well. Its riverside location gives you a great view of the harbour, with its outside seating area.

Once you have finished at Enys you can explore Penryn, one of Cornwall’s oldest towns, it was once a flourishing seaport and grew to become one of the principal ports on the coast. Sitting upon the head of its own river it was, before Falmouth, the major port of the south west of England and the harbour carried a fair amount of trade due to the natural expanses of deep water. There was a tannery near the quay and hides were imported from the Americans, together with fruit, vegetables and coal. Much of the old granite town has been restored in recent years and Penryn has its share of little shops and independent galleries. There are traditional Cornish steep, cobbled streets and even an old water pump in a tiny secluded square to find. There is a museum in the town hall if you fancy reading up on a little of Penryn’s history. There are several restaurants, cafés and pubs in the town, including the 200 year old Kings Arms, and many, many more in nearby Falmouth.