Women’s Health UK – September 2019

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SEPTEMBER 2019 | 125

TRAVEL WELL

CORNWALL

New skill: Foraging

Where? Landulph

How much? £67 for a day

course with Totally Wild;

totallywild.co.uk. Standard

rooms at the Cornwall Hotel

Spa & Estate start at £135

per night; thecornwall.com

Foraging, is it

really a skill?

I know what

you’re thinking

• foragers are
  bearded old
  men who live in
  forests and have
  an encyclopedic knowledge
  of plants. Well, turns out only
  the last part is true, because our
  Totally Wild forager is a young
  mum of two. She’s also a fount of
  knowledge, I quickly discover,
  as she serves our group a cup of
  dandelion coffee she’s foraged
  and roasted overnight. We’re
  plonked in a meadow replete
  with delicate wildflowers and a
  distant sea view. So far, so pretty,
  but nothing screams lunch or
  dinner. ‘Don’t worry, it’s out

Perdita Nouril,

WH Beauty Editor

there,’ we’re told. And almost

on top of us is our first morsel.

Elderflower. Now, I’m used to

adding the cordial to a vodka

spritzer, but picking it from

a bush? Not so much. However,

it really does make a delicious

drink when added to water.

But can I make a proper meal?

Further through the meadow

and woodlands, we learn how

to spot cleavers, herb Robert,

meadowsweet and pennywort.

No, these aren’t magical words

from a Harry Potter spell, but

IRL plants that do somersaults

on my taste buds. Back at base,

we cook up delicious batches

of nettle soup, wild garlic pesto

and noodles with wild greens

before heading off to the beach

to collect rock samphire, sea

lettuce and hawthorn. The

six-hour course whizzes by and

I leave completely full, not just

literally, but figuratively, too.

I may not have a beard or live in

the woods, but foraging is a skill

that I’ve well and truly honed.

And if I want a bit of luxury

along with my sea lettuce?

Totally Wild’s courses are

available all over the UK, but

I made a weekend of it with

two nights at the nearby

Cornwall Hotel Spa & Estate.

The grand 19th century house

is the centrepiece, but I stayed

in one of the 56 forest cabins

set in the estate’s 43 acres. A

30-second stroll led me to the

spa, where the swimming pool

offered a panoramic view of

the grounds and the gym was

well kitted out. The food at the

arboretum restaurant was

sublime – I heartily recommend

the melt-in-the-mouth fish pie.

The charming village of

Mevagissey is nearby, and I

stopped in for fish and chips,

which, although not foraged,

were devoured with gusto.