It was way back in 2006 that we stripped Myn Tea back to the stone and converted the two flat back into the house that it is now.

We didn’t do much other than plant the shelter belt of bushes, meaning to come back to finish the gardens, but until now that hasn’t happened.

Each year we have re-invested what the houses have brought in to gradually improved and update them. Last year Myn Tea’s investment was the gorgeous little fire that is a joy as soon as the temperatures start dropping.

This year we have finally attacked the gardens – and attack is the appropriate term.

We wanted to create seating options that would offer guests somewhere to catch the sun at different times of the day, as well as an area to gather around a fire in the evenings.

The fire circle – in progress

The soil at Tregiffian has tons of rab (ground up mine waste that’s mainly a granite gravel). This gives us good drainage, but it’s blinking hard to dig. John Murray and his team weren’t messing and got some heavy kit in to tackle the job, but even the mini diggers weren’t enough to shift one hearing great granite rock.

While the big rocks are a challenge to get out, they’re things of beauty once on the surface, this fellow will just get better when there’s some planting around him.

It’s work in progress still, but we’re hugely excited about the potential. Look out for another post soon.