The Cornwall hamlets hiding in the shadow of Truro – Cornwall Live

"They shouldn't down be here". John Dyer, our tour guide for the day and lifelong resident of Tregavethan, pulls over to the left-hand side of the road as several large vans attempt to drive through an extremely narrow lane framed by tall hedges and trees.

In the Tregavethan valley, this is a daily spectacle. Despite a "quiet lanes" scheme prohibiting motorised traffic, except for access, the area is almost only known as the rat run between Shortlanesend and the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

The valley has an impressive network of rural lanes. It is also dotted with tiny hamlets so, with John's help, we decided to discover this rather unknown part of Cornwall which is hiding in the shadow of Truro.

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Tregavethan is part of the Kenwyn parish which, itself, only has a few thousand inhabitants. According to its residents, it is the best of both worlds. On the one hand you can enjoy nature, miles and miles of fields, its wooded areas and its fords, but on the other hand you are also within a couple of miles from the city, its hospital and its retail parks.

It is a world where driving is slow, where reversing skills have to be flawless and where a tarmacked road is considered a main road.

John, parish councillor for the area, has lived in the valley his whole life. He only moved three times and lived at Treworder, across the valley, and Threemilestone. The eldest of eight children, he has been dedicating most of his life to farming as well as parish and Cornwall Council duties.

"I'm supposed to be retired, but farmers don't retire, they merely go to heaven with their boots on," the 79-year-old said. "The hamlets have changed in my lifetime. They were named after farms in the area.

"What you name Tregavethan is something that was created in my lifetime after Tregavethan postal round. There are families that have been around for generations - since the 1700s.

"The valley is still lived in by the farming folk and the other houses are owned by people who like living in the countryside in the fringes of Truro. People here principally work in Truro, at the hospital or County Hall."

John remembers his grandfather, a dairy farmer who retired in the 1950s, doing his milk round in the valley, first with a small horse, then with a Vauxhall.

And, actually, although Truro is extremely popular and the area between the train station and Chiverton Cross keeps expanding, the valley, on the other side of the A390, has not changed much in the last few decades.

"It's because of the steepness of the valley," John explained. "It's not economic to build here. I remember when Threemilestone was a hamlet three miles out of town."

So we got into John's car and he drove us around the hamlets of Tregavethan. They are so close to Truro, and yet, we had never heard of most of them before. We saw Little Canaan, Boscolla - we counted ten houses there - and Newmill. Most properties around the area are either working farms or converted barns, farms and even chapels. Most have the most spectacular valley views.

John also took us to the site of Tregavethan Manor, which burnt down in the 1800s.

"The manor house burnt down and they took the remaining stones from the walls and with horses and carts they took them where Causilgey Manor now is," John explained.

During the World War 1, Causilgey Manor became one of the 247 Womens Land Army training centres set up around England and Wales. Called Tregavethan Farm at the time, it welcomed trainees who were willing to do land work while men were away. There, they learnt agriculture, timber cutting or forage.

The valley is full of history. Close to Treliske, we spotted Penventinnie Round, an Iron Age fort standing in the hillside.

Continuing our tour, John explained that, to live in the valley, you have got to have a bike or a car.

"There are no buses here," he said. "Cars must be robust with these lanes. It's only the likes of me who know the lanes, where they go and where they are.

"I think they should be tarmacked to make them more appropriate. You can't really have 'damn nice cars' here. I can't see that if you've got a nice Bentley, like the Queen has got, you would drive down these lanes."

The main issue in the valley is obviously traffic. The lanes are narrow and traffic is effectively not allowed for most people.

"The police don't come here very often. There is too much traffic, particularly at rush hour when drivers try to find a shortcut. What I call the rat runners charge through the lanes because it's a shortcut to Treliske, Truro College, etc. They take a chance."

The 'Quiet Lanes' scheme has been in place since September. Its aim is to make a 15km (just under ten-mile) network of roads safer for people wanting to walk and cycle in the area by banning through traffic. According to recent monitoring, around 200 vehicles use the lanes during peak hours.

Only residents and their visitors, as well as companies delivering to properties within the zone, are allowed to use the lanes during the six-month trial. You can read more about this here.

But, when traffic is quiet, one can only admire the beauty of the valley. It is, after all, truly the best of both worlds.

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The Cornwall hamlets hiding in the shadow of Truro - Cornwall Live