The '99 Solar Eclipse - A Cornish Experience

Pencarrow House, the beautiful Georgian Stately Home of the Molesworth-St.Aubyn family lies on the Bodmin to Wadebridge road. No stay in North Cornwall is complete without a visit to the House and its magnificent and justly famous gardens; 50 acres of azalea, camellia, rhododendron, oriental shrubs and exotica brought back from overseas by members of the family in the 18th and 19th centuries.

After our eclipse picnic overlooking Cardinham we shall take the short drive to Pencarrow to tour the House and Gardens, At teatime we shall relax in the old stables now converted into a quaint tearoom, and enjoy a traditional Cornish Cream Tea of scones with homemade strawbury jam and clotted cream, and Saffron Cake. This is definitely not a day to count the calories!

Pencarrow House has a fine collection of family portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first President of London's Royal Academy. He was befriended by the Molesworth-St.Aubyns and earned his keep by the strokes of his brush. As well as lovely furniture and silver, the House also boasts a fine collection of Jacobean glass, which took my particular fancy last time I was there.

At that time I was the Town Mayor of Bodmin, and Molesworth-St.Aubyn's cousin, Lord St.Levan, the chatelain of the 12th century embattled castle atop St.Michael's Mount, was the Sheriff of Cornwall, a Crown appointment dating back to early medieval days. Pencarrow House was venue for the annual summer Reception and Garden Party given by the Sheriff for all the Mayors and Dignitaries in Prince Charles' Duchy of Cornwall - a spectacular backdrop for such an occasion on what was a balmy summer day.

There are many wonderful Houses and Gardens in Cornwall which are open to the public. Pencarrow tops my visiting list.

The Travel Sleuth's Golden Goblet Award for Best Historic Houses Association Property in the Westcountry.

Wildly beautiful Dartmoor in Devon is also in the path of eclipse totality. A favourite place to stay is the sleepy picturesque medieval town of Chagford, with its early gothic embattled tower church and 13th century inn, The Three Crowns Hotel.

I stayed in this old-world hostelry with its oak beams and vast fireplace many years ago. My information is that it is as good now as it was then, but you

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