Welcome to our annual news round-up where we look back at all the great things that have happened at and around Tregathenan in the previous 12 months, and look forward to 2024

The highlight of the year for us personally had to be the visit of Ian’s grandchildren from Canada in July. Now 13 and 11 – the last time we saw them was in Canada in 2018 so there was lots of catching up to do and much exploring, but most of all they both enjoyed spending time with the animals and investigating the diversity of wildlife we have at Tregathenan. 

We were aware that we had been attracting hedgehogs to Tregathenan in recent years as a result of our environmental approach to all things, but had only ever seen one or two foraging at dusk.  Fliss and Edward found a young disorientated and underweight hedgehog wandering around during the daytime.  We boxed Snuffles up and took her to Prickles and Paws Hedgehog Rescue https://www.pricklesandpaws.org/ where they looked after her and returned her to us, fully fit, for releasing 3 weeks later.  A few weeks after this, we discovered a family of 4 hoglets with their mother – we like to think that this was Snuffles starting her own family.

The new shed took a bit longer to finish than we had hoped, but eventually the boys were able to move into their new quarters.  There is more space than the last shed and all 9 of them can comfortably fit in when the weather is wet and windy (they hate the wind and rain, and I’m with them there!)  There is also a separate dry store for their hay and straw, so they’ve been pretty spoilt really!

The boys have had to earn their keep though as this year we have run lots of alpaca treks on Wednesday afternoons.  Eric and Merry have proven themselves fine and popular trekkers and are first in the queue to get haltered up ready.  Georgio and Barliman however, are generally nowhere to be seen at trekking time!  Needless to say they turn up at the end of the trek when carrot and apple is on offer!

Seemingly for months we had been under Avian Flu restrictions, keeping our ducks, geese and chickens separate from wild birds.  These were eventually lifted in late Spring.  Sadly, after having carefully nurtured them through this pandemic, we suddenly lost Josephine to natural causes.  Napoleon was bereft and wouldn’t leave the nest she had built.  We tried to find another female Toulouse Dewlap goose, but none were available, so we wondered if a few more ducks would provide the distraction he needed…..and we were right!  Jessica and Christie, the 2 comical runner ducks who lay the occasional blue/green egg, and 2 dark Campbells who are fantastic layers.

This month sees the arrival of our new batch of rescue hens.  They usually arrive with very few feathers, so I have their little coats warming by the fire already!  Hopefully they will settle in quickly and boost egg production

The gardens in Cornwall are stunning, particularly in spring.  This year we discovered 2 gardens that we hadn’t visited before – Caerhays Gardens at the Caerhays Estate near Mevagissy https://visit.caerhays.co.uk/ , (only open in spring) with its magnificent camellias, rhododendrons and the National magnolia collection –- and Trewidden Gardens https://trewidden.co.uk/trewidden-gardens/ a less grand, more intimate, but no less beautiful garden near Penzance, with a wonderful café.

Away from Tregathenan, the 3 of us had a week’s holiday in November in Pembrokeshire.  It is an area that many people told us was very much like Cornwall, so we were pretty sure we were going to like it, and we weren’t disappointed.  We dodged the rain and had some great coastal walks and visited some warm and friendly pubs and cafes.

Other outings this year included a trip to the Minack theatre with some old friends to see Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – another fantastic Minack production in its unique outdoor setting on the edge of the cliff.  No visit to Cornwall is complete without a visit to this iconic venue www.minack.com.

 

Another first was a visit to the Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival – the largest free nautical music and song festival in Europe and such a fun event.  In 2023, 78 sea shanty groups from all over the world performed in 27 venues across the town.  Don’t miss this year’s dates: 14 – 16 June – we won’t!

Ian continues to help keep the Cornish cliffs and seas safe with his voluntary work at the NCI lookout at Bass Point on the Lizard.  He has been promoted to Senior Watchkeeper and has been trusted with training new recruits.  If you are holidaying with us this year, check with Ian if he has a watch scheduled during your stay.  If so, he will happily show you around – it’s fascinating, plus the Lookout has one of the best views of Lizard Point and beyond.

Liz was kindly gifted a helicopter flight around Land’s End in the summer.  She was lucky with the weather and loved seeing the coast path from above, where so many happy walking days have been spent.  We were much amused to learn that the helicopter had been previously used by Anneka Rice in her ‘Treasure Hunt’ programme – you have to be a certain age to remember that!

Other things that have been keeping us busy over the last 12 months include checking and updating our electrical and fire safety compliance so that we are in good shape for when registration of self-catering businesses becomes mandatory.  This will mean that anyone providing overnight accommodation for one night or more for gain must be registered with their local authority.  To register, you will have to comply with health and safety, have relevant insurances and other stipulations.  We support this change – it is great for guests – to know that their holiday home is safe, plus it provides a level playing field amongst all self-catering providers (including Air B&Bs) which does not exist at the moment.

Outside, the House and Cottages were painted this year.  The lovely Robert and his boys completed the work in two weeks, where it would have taken us all summer to finish!  Ade carried out a number of hedging repairs, and inside the cottages we’ve been steadily refreshing many of the bedrooms with new linens, curtains, furniture and mattresses.

We recognise that these are difficult times financially for many people with the high cost of fuel and rising interest rates.  At Tregathenan, it is always our aim to provide excellent value for money in everything we do, and we have tried to keep any price increases to a minimum.  Don’t forget that in January, February and March (including Easter) dogs go free in the Granary and Long Barn, plus the Wednesday alpaca trek is still free to our guests (you’ll need to book as its proving jolly popular!).

We hope for a more stable 2024, and wish you all a healthy and happy new year.

Liz and Ian