Read this blog: The one where our helicopter ride is cancelled Monday 8th to Tuesday 16th September 2025 From Taunton we drove on to Penzance, where we had booked to stay overnight in The Longboat Inn before catching the first helicopter over to Tresco in the morning. Robert first attempted to buy lifetime membership of the National Trust for Matilda when we visited St Michael’s Mount in 2021 but although a man had been installed under a gazebo to encourage people to join, he found he could not take the payment. We subsequently visited Godolphin House where the membership was successfully purchased and Matilda got her first property stamp. Consequently, although we have visited St Michael’s Mount relatively recently, Matilda wanted to go back just to get her NT passport stamp. Crossing to the island depends on the tide. Last time we visited the tide was high and we made the journey by boat. This time we coincided with low tide and so could enjoy the walk across the causeway. Robert prefers this option as it is free. This year we had invited Ruth and Matt to join us for our annual trip to Tresco. The plan had been that […]
2025 Tresco
Read this blog: The one where Robert tries his hand at milling Sunday 7th September 2025 We set off for another day of cultural visits to make the most of Matilda’s life time membership of the National Trust. First on Matilda’s route was Knightshayes – a house built in the 19th century gothic revival style for Sir John Heathcoat Amory. The grand stable block was built in 1871. It now houses a café and shops and people who know Matilda will understand that the café is always an important part of the experience. We arrived before we could enter the house and so took a stroll around the kitchen garden. Walled kitchen gardens were designed to create warm micro-climates and thereby extend the growing season so that the owners/residents could enjoy fresh produce beyond the usual natural season for crops. From the late 1880s until the 1970s the vast kitchen garden was used to grow crops of vegetables, fruit and herbs, but subsequently fell into disrepair. In the 1970s the gates were locked and the garden was neglected and used for sheep grazing until the National Trust started restorations. Now, following an extensive garden restoration after the National Trust took over […]
Read this blog: The one where Robert imposes a culture limit Saturday 6th September 2025 We had decided to make the most of Matilda’s life membership of the National Trust by visiting a few properties on our way down to Penzance for our annual visit to Tresco and the Isles of Scilly. We booked to stay in Taunton for two nights to break the journey and Matilda identified several places within easy driving distance. Our first stop was Lytes Carey Manor which is well-known for its Arts and Crafts inspired garden. It was originally built and extended by the Lytes family over a period spanning five centuries before financial difficulties forced them to give up their home in the 18th century. After a period of neglect, Sir Walter and Lady Flora Jenner acquired the property in 1907 and started to restore the manor and grounds aiming for “grandeur on an intimate scale”. We felt they had been quite successful in their endeavours. Our next stop was Montacute House, just a twenty minute drive away, which the National Trust describes as a “masterpiece of Elizabethan Renaissance architecture and design”. An imposing three-storey building, Montacute House has tall windows; is topped by […]