Not content with writing Trails, we go on them too!

Last week when we were on holiday in Newquay, we went on three different Trails written by the Cornwall team! We had such fun and what made it so great, was they were all three very different.

Perranporth was the first one we did. On arrival in Perranporth, we thought it looked like a small touristy type of town which wouldn't be particularly interesting. As it happened, it most likely isn't that interesting because the Trail took us out of town!! Anyway, we had to start at the Tourist Information Centre which isn't that far from the front and then we headed towards the beach, picking up clues on the way. We left the beach and headed back towards town to find the answer to a great clue on the Museum. Really liked it and will copy it and incorporate it into one of our Herefordshire or Worcestershire Trails. It said ... "At the library, find how many letters are in the word after Heritage. What letter appears in the corresponding position in the name of the museum?" Made us stop, think and count!! The Trail took us into a gorgeous little park with a boating pond and then to a seat commemorating the guy who gave his name to the Austin Healey car - very interesting little plaque. Finally, we walked through a playground, up a big hill and out onto the cliffs and the most gorgeous views. Stopping on the way for a chat with a man who owns the castle at the top of the hill! Last clues were on a gigantic sundial which we NEVER would have seen without the Trail taking us up there! We met a pair of fellow trailers too - they were from Reading and it was their first one - virgin Trailers!!

A couple of days later we tackled the Truro Trail. This was a very different kettle of fish. Unlike the Perranporth Trail which was out in the countryside and incidentally, a spy mission. This was in the county town and murder mystery! We drove towards Truro and as we weren't sure where the start was and we knew we needed to finish by the cathedral, we decided to start the Trail half way round - at Clue 9 to be precise! There are so many great things about the Treasure Trails, and one of them is that you can start wherever you like! Lots of the Trail is written in rhyme as well which is fun! For example, Clue 11 says.....
Return to the Shops, left you go,
When the cathedral is in sight, take it slow.
Around this square of 2 buildings a name is engraved,
This man didn't do it - his reputation is saved!

We raced around the Trail, because we knew that at the end we had a lunch date and we wanted to spend a bit of time in the Treasure Trails Head Office too. The best part of the Trail was in the Victoria Gardens, close to the viaduct which we learnt was built in 1904 replacing Isambard Kingdom Brunel's original one. It was a lovely garden which fountains and band stands but we were a little early for the spring flowers which in a week or two would be gorgeous.

We gave ourselves another day of rest and then set out for our final Trail. This was a driving Trail called Carn Brea. More on that in my next blog!