Visitors Book 010

Lovely comment here from one of our guests: "We were lucky enough to be invited to stay at Helsbury Park last week, with my daughter and family. I want to express our thanks for a wonderful stay.It was our first holiday in 12 months since my husband's illness so it was special. The accommodation and facilities were excellent and the walks in the grounds were most enjoyable. I do hope that we will be able to return sometime in the future. I shall recommend Helsbury Park to all of my friends and acquaintances."

Cornwall Hosts a Feast of Food Festivals in the Fall

Cornwall has one of the finest reputations for food and drink in the whole of the UK which it celebrates in a feast of food festivals. For many, our celebrated harvest of the sea is at the heart of the festivals with Newlyn, Newquay and Falmouth Oyster Festivals showcasing the freshest fish and shelfish caught from around our coast, with cookery demonstrations from top local chefs and samples to tempt the taste buds.

Celebrate all things fishy on August Bank Holiday Monday in one of Cornwall's most distinctive and original fishing ports. Newlyn Fish Festival is the biggest of its kind in the country where you will find a huge fish display, six cooking demos from top local chefs, two fish auctions, a lobster workshop and the Big Fish Filleting Challenge. You can buy fish fresh, cooked or smoked from the best of Cornish seafood merchants.

Newquay Fish Festival runs from 9th to 11th September and grows in popularity each year with more and more to see and sample. Try delicious fish dishes, watch local chefs rustle up amazing food from local produce, purchase a range of Cornish food and produce. The Chefs are the characters of the Festival using their flamboyant demonstrations to show off their culinary skills - and you get to eat the results!! As well as live cookery, smoked fish, a pilchard BBQ, on site fish sales, crab sandwiches, oysters, fish filleting demos and all sorts of other ‘fishy'  will be on offer. There will also be Cornish a range of food and craft stalls as well as family fun and entertainment over the weekend at The Harbour, Newquay's hidden gem.

The imposing city of Truro is the venue for Cornwall Food & Drink Festival which draws thousands of visitors to the event which takes place from 23rd to 25th September.  The festival is the biggest celebration of Cornish food and drink in the county attracting artisan producers from chocolate to chutney; bakery to butchery; ice cream to clotted cream; or pasties to paella - whatever your fancy, this festival has got it licked, with the finest quality produce from all over Cornwall.  If that’s not enough, come and see at least a dozen of the county’s top chefs in action and learn new tricks and hot tips from selected food experts.  Kids can get creative in the Funky Food Zone and, new for this year, the festival fun goes on after sunset with some special treats for true food lovers.

The first weekend in October sees the Boscastle Food, Arts & Crafts Festival with eight fabulous Cornish Chefs demonstrating over the weekend, including high rising stars such as Nathan Outlaw, proud owner of 2 Michelin Stars  from the St Enodoc Hotel, Andy Appleton from Fifteen Cornwall, winner of this year's desert course for the Great British Menu,  three chefs from outstanding restaurants in Padtow including Paul Ainsworth from Number 6, Paul Harwood from Rick Stein’s St.Petroc’s Bistro and Adrian Oliver from Margot’s, also Phil Thomas from Rosewarne Manor and Aaron Janes  from Silks Bistro at Newquay’s Atlantic Hotel.  A host of stalls will be selling and sampling Cornish food and drink and original arts and crafts in the huge marquees in this picturesque harbour side village.

Britains' No 1 Food Spot...

Lincolnshire, are you sure? Vote for Cornwall now before this poll turns into a travesty and embarrassment for the whole country.

http://www.lovebritishfood.co.uk/votefoodspot/

Helsbury Dog Photo Competition 2012 Entry 10

Sharon and Paul Murdy were with us in the Farmhouse in May and sent this lovely shot of their dogs, Sharon said: "We stayed in the Farmhouse in May 2011 and attach the favourite picture of our dogs Merlin and Poppy galloping in the meadow, don't they look happy? We were just looking at Farmhouse availability for 2012 and better get our skates on and book something!"

Helsbury Dog Photo Competition 2012 Entry 9

Graham bassett and his family stayed in the Farmhouse for the first week in July. Graham sent these great shots and said: "We all enjoyed ourselves but none more than Buffee our 15 month old Bichon Frise. The walks down to the river and along through the woodlands where she could run off the lead were a delight to her and a joy to us. The Farmhouse was a lovely place to stay, so homely and very well appointed. We'll be back."

Helsbury Dog Photo Competition 2012 Entry 8

Sharon Etzel and her family travelled all the way from Germany to be with us, she sent this lovely review of her holiday:

"We drove practically non-stop for 13 hours from South Germany to get to Helsbury Park for our first visit. We arrived, unpacked the car and went out for a dog-walk down the valley. Literally within minutes of arrival, after a pretty exhausting journey, we were agreeing that it was worth every mile and that we would definitely be coming back in the future!

We had a fantastic fortnight at Helsbury Park. Over the years, we have stayed many times all over Cornwall, but in terms of accommodation and location, we have never had it so good.

Thank you so much for providing such a wonderful place to stay. As I wrote in our feedback form: We loved it, our teenage boys loved it (and that's an achievement in itself!) and of course, our bearded collie Talisker loved it.

OK, the weather wasn't wonderful, but that certainly didn't stop us having a fantastic time, because Marhayes was so comfortable, the grounds so lovely to walk in - and the weather often improved as we drove the short distance to the north coast.

We had a magical experience one morning at Helsbury down towards the river: we were stopped in our tracks by the sight of a fox close by, ears pricked, intently watching some small animal in the grass, leaping into the air and diving after its breakfast."

Helsbury Dog Photo Competition 2012 Entry 7

Julia Woodcock and her friends stayed, with their dogs Charlie and Doris, in Broadview recently, she said: "We had another great visit, despite the weather.   Our friends thought it was amazing and couldn’t get over how dog friendly everything was, not just at Helsbury but everywhere we went in the area. Here are a few photos of the dogs I thought you might like."

Even Cats want to be Dogs...

Check out this superb bit of footage from YouTube: