The Cornwall Blog

To celebrate the anniversary of the Moon Landings, Goonhilly, near Helston, is holding a rather special day. On the 20th of July 1969 the world watched, glued to their TV screens, as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of the moon. These images were being transmitted by the Goonhilly satellite. To mark 50 years since this iconic event Goonhilly are presenting Apollo 50 , a family friendly day of education, science, tech, art and music. In fact you can see band Public Service Broadcasting perform songs from their album The Race for Space and Orbital will also be performing a DJ set. You can find more info at the website and get tickets.

I love the Lost Gardens of Heligan ! I keep meaning to go back, because it has been far too long. I would normally arrive by car, but there is another way that sounds much more fun: cycling there from Pentewan. Heligan is connected to the Coast & Clay Cycle Trail, part of National Cycle Network Route 3, and you can hire a bike in the village before heading up to the gardens. What really caught my eye was the electric bikes. Cornwall is not famous for being flat, and the thought of a little assistance on the climb makes them rather tempting! Cycling from Pentewan to Heligan Pentewan Valley Cycle Hire sits in the coastal village of Pentewan, between St Austell and Mevagissey. From there, the route to Heligan is off-road, so you can leave much of Cornwall's traffic behind and enjoy the ride. The hire centre has bikes for adults and children as well as electric bikes, tandems and family options. There is also a little riverside picnic area, wh...

I visited the wonderful Restormel Castle at the weekend. Just outside the ancient statuary town of Lostwithiel, this Medieval ruin is a lovely and peaceful spot to wile away a few hours. We started our day at the Duchy Nursery coffee shop, with some delicious cakes and puds. You can see the castle from the cafe and it is a charming walk through the fields up to it, though because of the limited walking ability of my mum we decided to drive and save our energy for exploring! Rarely busy, (and free for Lostwithiel and Lerryn residents with some photo ID), this English Heritage treasure can provide a place of solace on hot day. When everyone heads to the coast I often like to wonder inland. The castle is in remarkably good nick considering it is from the 13th Century. You can walk almost all the way around the top and work out which room use to house what. The views down the valley to Lostwithiel are beautiful and with plenty of benches this is an ideal place for a pi...