Christmas Garland

Every November gardeners, volunteers and visitors at Cotehele in Cornwall create a 60ft long Christmas garland using thousands of flowers grown on the estate.

We took advantage of this weekends welcome sunshine to go and see the garland in its halfway stage where one side was finished, and the other was still green. Will be quite splendid in a few weeks time.

Enjoyed our lovely walk down through the woods with all the autumn colours and the streams and rivers full for a cream tea and had a look around the Cotehele Christmas Craft Fair.

Sunshine and Shade in the Tamar Valley

Lovely woodland walks when the weather turns sunny are a delight here in our valley.  The rivers and streams make great spots for picnics and paddling.  Our ever popular walk through the fields and woods on the way down to the River Tamar for a cream tea is bursting with flowers and wildlife.  Butterflies, deer and flowers galore mean we always manage to get a photo on a walk.

 A cooling seat by the weir as the stream runs down to the River Tamar

 A young deer ignores us as it scampers about the undergrowth

We never go hungry on our walks, cream teas, pasties and ice cream are always nearby

Shady woodland walks for those extra sunny days.  

We get to play at being pirates on the Shamrock on one of the open days down at Cotehele Quay.

Cornwall is Open for Holidays!

Our lovely Tamar Valley is open!

Now leaves are gone from the hedge, the back of Albaston Farm Barn can be seen from its own private lawned garden

The railway line at Dawlish in Devon may be out of action for the time being but our roads still work and Cornwall is open for business as usual.

At the back of Albaston Farm Barn, younger more energetic holiday guests can share our own play area and field which backs onto the barns own private lawned garden

In our sheltered Tamar Valley location, our new weather station is giving us some interesting readings compared to the general forcasts for Cornwall and the coastThese show why this sheltered valley is so popular with gardeners and walkers.

Our weather station wind catcher

Locally the footpaths are still good to walk and as the name suggests, our Tamar Valley side location means rain is carried quickly away down to the River Tamar.

Blue Skies Panorama

The chickens refuse to be photographed, instead they playing at being ostriches.

There is a great article about the history of our area at Bruce Hunts website 

Blue Sky over Dartmoor

Our leisurely short stroll along the top road to meet friends arriving on the Tamar Valley Line train gave us some long clear views of Dartmoor today.  For a few days, this view has been hidden behind rain or mists.

On the way back we called into the Tamar Valley Visitor Centre, picked up the new local 'What's On' and dropped off some of our new leaflets.

Dartmoor Views from Drakewalls

Albaston Sunrise and Weather Widget

Our new Albaston Farm weather station is now up and running and you can now see our data by clicking onto the gadget on the sidebar.

A break in the recent rain gave us a peaceful, colourful sunrise which was worth the stroll along the top road to watch the bottom of the valley reappear as the warmth of the sun drove the inversion layer mists away.

Sunrise with Inversion layer of morning mist in the Tamar Valley

Abandoned Mine Engine House

Houses starting to show through the early mists low in the Tamar Valley

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all our guests a very Merry Christmas

 and a wonderful Tamar Valley New Year!

as we say in Cornwall

"Nadelik Lowen ha Blydhen Nowydh Da"

Kit Hill for the Day

Kit Hill Country Park is our highest point with views for many miles around. A good walk up to the top, or around the contours using the pony paths and free roaming access to reach all the hidden mines and views.  Plenty of parking/picnic areas at various heights up to the summit and sheltered spots even right up at the top where kite flying is very popular. 

 Takes about 10 minutes by car to get from Albaston Farm Barn to the top.  We make a day of it by walking the old footpaths and up the lanes with a picnic and a kite. 

At the base of Kit Hill is the fantastic Louis Tea Room which is well worth the walk, or the drive just for the views from the windows.

Kit Hill 

Kit Hill was given to the people of Cornwall in 1985 to mark the birth of Prince William by his father, the Duke of Cornwall Prince Charles. Kit hill consists of 400 acres of breathtaking cornish landscape making it the most dominant landscape feature in East Cornwall  The hill stands high enough that even with the all the bends and high hedges of Cornwall's roads, the occasional glimpse of the monument on the horizon gives a driver something to find your way back with!

The 'Monument' as it is often referred to is actually a chimney stack, built 1858, just a year before the famous Brunels 'Royal Albert' Railway Bridge was finished, (which crosses the River Tamar into Devon,) and can be seen from up here.

The chimney served a steam engine which pumped water and lifted ore from the deep mine workings, before this, a windmill stood here in the 1830s.  Tin was the main extraction.



Kit Hill Panorama

Both Tamar bridges which cross the trains and traffic over the Devon/Cornwall border at Saltash can be seen in the far distance to the right horizon of this panorama photograph. 

Recently a few of the ponies from Dartmoor were brought to Kit Hill to graze and trample down the undergrowth. This hill has sheep and cattle, usually Highlanders, which continually walk around the hill in a full time job to keep out of the coldest winds in this area that blow around here. 

There is a ridge running from Tavistock to Callington which shelters the southern side of this area, on one side of this ridge there will be frost, on the other (our side) merely dew.  For the sake of a mile or two, the choice of where you choose to live can make so much difference.

Flooded Quarry at Kit Hill

One of the remnants from the mining and quarrying days is the Kit Hill Quarry which filled up with water and doubles up now as a dog wash and canoe pond!  Wonderful nature reserve too with damselfly, dragonfly and many butterflies with the near constant presence of the Buzzards riding on the thermals

We like to use this handy spot for a picnic. Stone was often dressed on site here as it makes sense not to move more weight than needed when you have a serious hillside to move the blocks down.  An Incline Railway was built here for this purpose.

View from Kit Hill



Tamar Valley Train Line

A regular local train journey from Albaston Farm Barn is along the wonderful Tamar Valley Line which has to be one of the most beautiful scenic journey anywhere.  Our local train station is a 10 minute stroll from Albaston Farm Barn with long distance view over to Dartmoor along the way.  This train line goes from Plymouth to Gunnislake and back) and offers visitors the chance to see the heart of the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) from the comfort of their seats.
The ticket also acts as a Rover ticket and you can get off the train at any station, wander about, and get back on the next one. This way we have many station to station walks and can fill a day for just the price of one ticket. Special prices sometimes are offered and the best one is the "2+2" where four people can travel for the price of two.

This journey takes about 50 minutes each way and often visitors have stayed on the train to enjoy the round trip and see the views from each side of the train!

Tamar Valley Line Views From the Train Window. Apple orchard and Prospect Tower

Tamar Valley Line Views From the Train Window. River Tamar winding through the valley

Tamar Valley Line Views From the Train Window.Royal Albert Rail Bridge and Road Bridge over the River Tamar from the train

Tamar Valley Line Views From the Train Window.  Late train sunset

Tamar Valley Line , Plymouth Station. Handy for cycle trails.

Please do check offers as these can change from time to time!

Tamar Valley Holiday Area

Tamar Valley is a photographic treat!  New photographs have gone on our website.  A local Tamar Valley photographer made  these collages for us from her own collection which has been built up on local walks and trips out on the train and bus. 

By using the local train or bus, the photographer says she can hold the camera out of the window and get shots that are not possible by car or foot!

We are so spoiled for choice with living in such a beautiful part of the country that the photos had to have extra little photos next to them! 



Calstock on the Tamar Valley Line train goes over the Viaduct which straddles the Cornwall and Devon Border

Cotehele. A stroll through woods and footpaths brings you to the Tudor mansion house of the National Trusts Cotehele. 

Allow at least one full day for your visit to Cotehele, with the stunning house full of tapestry and history, gardens, orchards, gift shop, cafe, flour mill, river quay, two restaurants, local ice cream stand, cafe and acres of wooded hillsides, this place is a treat.


Dartmoor, A moorland full of contrast and drama. 

Granite Tors to climb up to, Brentor Church, Visible for miles around. Dartmoor Ponies, Highland Cattle and sheep all wander freely on the moorlands. Merrivale Stone Rows, exposed for hundreds of years, their origins still a mystery.

Bodmin Moor Cheesewrings

Bodmin Moor. Dramatic, moody, Daphne du Maurier set her brooding novels here.

Local mining heritage is so important that the area now has World Mining Heritage status.  The local hillsides and valley is dotted with mine chimneys poking through the trees and often you can come across old mine engine houses.

Tavistock

Tavistock. Local town just over the River Tamar.  Rich in Victorian heritage.  Pannier market opens Tuesday to Saturday with different themes on most days. We like the Antiques and Craft Tuesdays.

Plymouth

City of Plymouth. Great train journey from our local train station of Gunnislake just 10 mins stroll with view across to Dartmoor along the way.  The city has an incredible variety of attractions from its historic Hoe and sea waterfront, the ancient Barbican area to the new Drake's Circus shopping centre.

Tamar Valley Stroll to Cotehele

We often stroll down our beautiful wooded valley to the nearby National Trust property Cotehele Estate.

The Estate covers a large area of the Tamar Valley and both the natural woodlands, orchards, plantations and formal gardens have enough varieties of trees throughout to always be able to catch a seasonal photo.

This time of year, the colours of the trees in the sunlight is quite magical.  Early walkers get views of the gentle mists dreaming in the valley. 

Deer tracks are seen on the paths and the squirrels have fewer leaves to hide behind.  This living willow sculpture in the Cotehele orchards is worth revisiting as its look changes throughout the year.

There's always something happening at Cotehele, this time we caught a parade of the Cornwall Austin Seven Club motor vehicles, and a local crafts gift fair in a marquee in the grounds.

Cotehele House has just started the famous Christmas Garland in the Great Hall. All the flowers are grown in the estate gardens and used to create this huge 60 foot long suspended floral masterpiece. We popped in to look and the scaffolding was just being assembled for the florists to stand on.

This is the Garland from a couple of years ago, it is HUGE! 

Harvest Time at Albaston Farm Barn

Our guests have been enjoying the start of the autumn colours in the Tamar Valley.  Local mixed woodlands with a good network of local footpaths take you right into the heart of the valley.  A wonderful time of year for nature photography with the nearby Cotehele National Trust estate just down the road from us.

Tamar Valley, Cotehele Gardens.

Our soft fruit season is now coming to an end with the freezer well stocked with produce from our garden field allotment.  The sunshine this year gave a bumper tomato and cucumber harvest. 

Albston Farm Barn Tomatoes

The kitchen has been busy with the fragrance of cooking our own apples from the little orchard. No sooner have we finished one crop than another is demanding our attention.  This valley is famous for having a much longer fruit growing season than the rest of the country with its sheltered sun facing hillsides.

 

Tamar Valley Apples, Albaston Farm Barn

This is the time for woodland sweet chestnut gathering which is a good reason to get out walking in the woods.  Paths are full of the green spikey outers and these beautiful freebies are well worth the effort.  These sweet soft floury nuts are ideal for baking in an oven and then the social time munching the cooked centres straight from the shells is a delight.

Albaston Farm Barn

Welcome to a brand new blog for our Albaston Farm Barn holiday let property.

We will be keeping everyone up to date with all the great things happening in the wonderful Tamar Valley for our guests.

There will soon be our new website with lots of information about Albaston Farm Barn, the lovely area we live in, and a chance to chat with us.



Albaston Farm Barn, Tamar Valley, Cornwall/Devon Border UK

Birds Eye Albaston Farm Barn

Lounge




Albaston Farm Barn Kitchen