Cornwall with four schnauzers, days six and seven: the Springer Spaniel, seals and Trebah Garden

Day six brought the rain back, almost as heavily as day four. Day seven, our last, gave us the opposite: sunshine and a bit of a breeze, and the longest drive of the week to round things off. After a holiday of dodging showers, it felt like Cornwall had saved a treat for the end.

Day six: a lazy morning and lunch at the Springer Spaniel

With the rain hammering down again, we gave in to it and had a slow morning in the cabin. By the time we stirred ourselves it was a late lunch we were after, so we drove over to the Springer Spaniel at Treburley, an 18th-century gastro pub on the road between Launceston and Callington.

I had called ahead to book a table and to say we would have the four ladies with us. It was no trouble at all, which is always a relief with four dogs in tow. The welcome when we arrived was just as warm. There were treats waiting on the table and the lovely waitress brought over a bowl of water for them. It is a cosy, stylish place inside, all dark colours, checked fabrics and a gorgeous fireplace, with the original beams still in place. We did not have room for the pop-up pen this time, but there was space between our table and the wall to put the ladies’ mats down, and they settled there happily.

The food was delicious. I had sausage and mash with seasonal greens, and Ros had a chicken Caesar salad with skin-on chunky fries. For pudding I had strawberries and cream, which turned out to be strawberries in a balsamic and strawberry purée with meringue, clotted cream, ice cream and mint. A lovely thing to linger over on a wet afternoon.

By the time we drove back to Deerpark the rain had cleared and the sun was out, so we took the ladies for a walk in the forest. The ground was still soaked, and they came back with very wet, muddy undercarriages, so the drying coats earned their keep one more time. We finished as we had most evenings, with a glass of fizz in the hot tub while the ladies snoozed. A quieter day, but a good one.

Day seven: seals at Gweek and a garden by the sea

For our last day we made the longest trip of the week, about an hour and a quarter west to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, on the bank of the Helford River. It was well worth the drive.

It is a rescue and rehabilitation centre run by the SEA LIFE Trust, and they do genuinely good work. They take in and care for around 70 seal pups a year, each one costing roughly £2,000 to nurse back to health, and release the ones that recover. The seals in the pools are either pups partway through their recovery or residents who, for one reason or another, cannot go back to the wild. There are sea lions too, and some very sweet and funny puffins who are absolutely gorgeous. It is thoroughly dog-friendly, the staff were welcoming, and there were plenty of other dogs visiting when we were there. A woodland walk takes you past a beaver enclosure, empty when we visited, and some lovely sheep and goats, with stunning views out over the Helford. I would happily recommend it to anyone in Cornwall.

From Gweek we drove about twenty minutes along some very narrow, winding and very pretty lanes to Trebah Garden, a subtropical garden that runs down a steep wooded valley to its own shingle beach. The ladies were welcomed with a treat at the entrance, and we spent a couple of hours wandering. There are around four miles of paths through 26 acres, planted from the 1830s by the Fox family, who turned a wooded combe into a garden of tree ferns and subtropical planting that tumbles all the way down to the cove.

The beach has a remarkable history. In 1944 it was an embarkation point for American troops heading to the D-Day landings, and there are memorials on the cove that remember them. We walked down to the water, then back up for a delicious lunch at the Trebah Kitchen, which had plenty of choice and food that was very good. It paired beautifully with the seal sanctuary for a full day out west. Then it was the hour and a quarter back to Deerpark for one last hot tub.

Looking back on the week

That was our week in Cornwall, and home beckoned the next morning. The weather did its very best to spoil it, with rain on more days than not, but we made the best of it and found no shortage of lovely things to do. Forest Holidays Deerpark turned out to be a perfect base, within reach of days out all across the county, and coming back each evening to the cabin, the hot tub and that quiet, private deck made even the soggiest day end well. We loved how dog-friendly the whole place is, which matters enormously when you travel with four.

There is still plenty on my list that we did not get to, which is no bad thing, because it means there is a reason to go back. If you have been to any of these places with your dogs, or you have a favourite corner of Cornwall we should try next time, I would love to hear about it in the comments. Thank you for coming along with us and the ladies for the week.