A tea picking trip

There are few things more quintessentially British than tea. We are, after all, a nation that meets crisis with a kettle, living by the unofficial mantra: ‘there is no problem that a cup of tea cannot solve’. And yet, for all our devotion, the tea leaves themselves have always come from far-flung climes. Until now. 

Just outside Truro in Cornwall, Tregothnan is a historic 25,000-acre private estate perched above the River Fal. In the mid-1990s, the estate’s gardeners suspected that if their ornamental camellias thrived here, the tea variety might too. Extensive research followed, including trips to tea regions around the world to understand more about the processes and pitfalls of growing and harvesting the precious leaves. Head gardener Jonathan Jones completed a Nuffield Scholarship on the subject, and then in 1999 the first British tea bushes were planted.

Published June 2026 in the summer issue of British Travel Journal and online at britishtraveljournal