This lovely fertile area, rich in wildlife, can easily be reached by road, river or train. I know the area well because, for years and years and years running, my brothers and I were treated to a train ride to Gunnislake every Whit Sunday! From there we used to walk the few miles to Calstock, along country lanes and past the house where my mother lived for a part of the war (a large house, called "Oakenhayes"). Once at Calstock, we used to sit in a restaurant beside the River Tamar for strawberries and cream! Funnily enough, I never recall it raining!

Cornish CALSTOCK faces the fields of Devon across the slow, muddy glide of the River Tamar, spanned here by a tall railway viaduct which dates from 1909 and has a surprising elegance. Calstock was a port, a railway town and an industrial and agricultural centre for hundreds fyears. Its commercial stature has declined, but the village has survived and is now a delightful focus of river cruises and more lesurely rail journeys on the picturesque Tamar Valley Line. A short way upstream, and still on the Cornish side, is the National Trust's Cotehele, a well-preserved Elizabethan house of great charm.

Magnificent woodland and lush river scenery make Cotehele (pronounced Coteal) one of the most delightful spots on the River Tamar and a rewarding day can be spent exploring the estate. Far from civilization, tucked into its wooded fold in the Cornwall countryside, Cotehele has slumbered for 500 years. The main attraction is the house and valley garden at its centre. Built mainly between 1489 and 1520, it is a rare example of a medieval house, set around three courtyards with a magnificent open hall, kitchen, chapel and a warren of private parlours and chambers. The romance of the house is enhanced by colourful terraced gardens to the east, leading via a tunnel into a richly planted valley garden. The path through this garden passes a large domed medieval dovecote and descends to a quay, from where lime and coal were once shipped. There are fine views up and down the winding reed-fringed Tamar and a gallery on the quayside specializes in local arts and crafts. The estate includes a village, riverside quay with a small maritime museum, working mill buildings, ancient lime kilns and a number of shops complete with 19th-century equipment. (We have found a way to get in here - from the Quay - for nothing! :))

Back onto the Devon side of the River Tamar, and Buckland Abbey can be found nestling in the lush countryside. Founded by the Cistercian monks in 1278, Buckland Abbey was converted to a house after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and became the home of Drake from 1581 until his death in 1596. Many of the monastic buildings survive in a delightful garden setting, the most impressive being the huge 14th-century tithe barn. Part of the house explains Drake's life and times through paintings, maps and memorabilia (Drake's Drum).