Places to Stay
fireplaces and stone mullioned windows. There are 15 individually decorated
largest garden restoration project in Europe – to the now quite famous Eden Project – an amazing garden constructed in an unused quarry with a vast assortment of plants collected from all around the world. Sitting on the banks of the tranquil Helford
River in Cornwall, and set in 65 acres of organically treated grounds, Budock Vean has won awards for the way in which its grounds and gardens have been created and maintained. They sweep down through woodland and valley, the idyllic setting framed by a stream trickling into ponds surrounded by exotic-looking indigenous plants (such as the huge broad-leaved gunera). The hotel has its own small beach on the
views in and out of them.” Which makes it a very relaxing place to be. One of the things Barnsley House is famous
for is its potager, a pretty ornamental kitchen garden, with low box hedges. Today, supplemented by vegetable beds in the field behind the garden, the potager is used to supply the hotel kitchen with fresh seasonal vegetables. This is no doubt part of the secret of the excellent food here, served in a cream-walled restaurant that looks out onto the garden, and where light sconces around the walls recall frosted leaves, tying the hotel and garden together. With more than twenty superb gardens
open to the public and scattered across the region, Cornwall is a garden lover’s dream. From the Lost Gardens of Heligan – left unattended for some 70 years, and now the
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bank of the Helford River, with a holt for otters, created by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Bird and bat boxes throughout the grounds ensure that wildlife is plentiful and bugs kept to a minimum. The hotel has worked in collaboration with local beekeeper Roger Dewhurst to bring in three hives, and the honey produced is served at the hotel’s breakfast and afternoon teas, and used in the desserts. It’s worth requesting a superior room, as they have wonderful views over the golf course or the gardens. Moving from Cornwall to Wales, the
popular National Botanical Garden, which opened in May 2000, is celebrating being voted the “Number one garden to visit in Wales” by the BBC’s Gardener’
s W
not the only Welsh garden with something to celebrate, though. Bodysgallen Hall and Spa, sitting in more than 200 acres of its own parkland to the south of Llandudno, with spectacular views of Snowdonia and Conwy Castle, is marking its 30th anniversary this year. The 17th-century house has been very
considerately restored. Two of the best rooms are the large entrance hall and the first-floor drawing room, with oak panelling, large
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bedrooms in the hotel, and 16 cottages in the grounds. And it is these grounds that will excite any garden lover staying here. They include a rare 17th-century parterre of box hedges filled with sweet-scented herbs, a rockery with a cascade, a walled rose garden and several follies. Springs traverse the parklands, and there are several woodland walks. These include the Terrace Walk, the Ladies Walk, the Eastern Covert Walk and the Pydew Village Walk, this last leading to a gothic tower and the obelisk located on top of Pydew mountain. You would expect something quite special
when you arrive at the former home of an Earl, two Dukes, a Prince of Wales and the Viscounts Astor; and Cliveden House does not disappoint. It was also the home of first female MP Nancy Astor, and the meeting place of the Cliveden set during the 1920s and 30s, infamous for their involvement in German appeasement. Later, in the 60s, it became the setting for key events in the notorious Profumo Affair. Guests have included every British monarch since George I as well as Charlie Chaplin,
orld. It’s
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