Last full day in Plymouth and the weather turned to rain overnight. We knew that it was predicted to be drizzly this morning and wet after lunch and so we planned accordingly. We left the hotel and got a bus away from town to the coast where we caught the ferry for a short journey from Admiral’s Hard, Devon to Cremyll, Cornwall.
Mount Edgecumbe House & Country Park
The reason for visiting Cremyll was to go to Mount Edgecumbe House & Country Park which covers a vast area on the headland. Looking at the website it appeared that the house and gardens were shut on Fridays but you could still walk the grounds which is what we intended to do. Immediately we walked through the entrance gates we were met by a guide who told us that everything with the exception of the house was open – result!
This turned out to be good news indeed as the gardens were lovely, not quite as nice as Saltram, but still very attractive. The other piece of good news was that the weather decided not to do as predicted and remained dry all the time we were there was was an added bonus.
After a long walk yesterday we decided not to do the four mile loop around Edgecumbe and instead returned to the ferry and back to Plymouth.
The Box
By this point it was beginning to spit with rain so we headed for our wet weather option – The Box which is a contemporary museum and art gallery.
Regular readers will know that I do like a provincial museum and The Box has to be one of the very best I have been to. It helps, of course, that it was only opened in 2020 which will explain why everything looks so modern and high-tech – walls of screens showing intersting videos, interactive computer screen, good lighting and lots of informative panels of information.
In addition to the permanent displays were several temporary exhibitions including one called “The Time is Always Now” which is on loan from The National Portrait Gallery and is in Plymouth before it goes to the US on tour. A guide at the entrance impressed on us how lucky we were to be seeing this for free when it had been £16 to see it in London. If I’m brutally honest I don’t think I’d have paid £16 to see it anywhere but I was, however, impressed that they were able to put it on and not charge. Similarly, I was impressed that there was no entrance free to The Box at all which is something I think the UK can be very proud of. We did, however, donate.
It was a good way to spend some time out of the rain and it was one of the very few things in Plymouth City that I would recommend you visit if you are ever down this way.
Oh, and if I ever decide to start a band I am definitely going to call it Edgecumbe and The Box!
