Spring comes early at Forda. Primroses and daffodils make an entrance in March, along with wood anemones, early violets and wild orchids in April. You may also see marsh marigolds and the occasional kingcup by the lakes. The many varieties of trees and shrubs are coming into leaf and blackbirds and song thrushes are busy getting nests underway, lining them with mud from the margin of the lakes. By mid-April the swallows and house martins begin to return, usually a little ahead of the cuckoos. By early May the badgers are out and about with their young.

Cornish summers at their best are long and hot and have no equal anywhere in Britain. Forda is a few short miles from the glorious sandy beaches and half hidden coves of the stunning Atlantic coastline. Early summer sees the roe deer's young born deep in the thickets surrounding the valley and the woods are carpeted with bluebells. In May the moorhen and her chicks are back on the ponds and the resident ducks are starting their new families. June finds cow parsley fringing the trails and buttercups crowding each other in the grass, the hedgerows coloured with campion, foxgloves and meadowsweet, whilst the air is filled with an amazing array of birdsong and a dazzling parade of butterflies.

The days can stay mild throughout the autumn and beyond and the season often brings a rich stillness, as the valley begins to settle down at the end of summer. The trees are especially beautiful now and there is still an abundance of green from the shrubs and conifers amid the ambers, yellows and vivid oranges in the woods. When evenings close in and the curtains are drawn, the warm, natural wood interiors of the lodges are the perfect setting for relaxation, a good book, a game of cards or perhaps a romantic dinner.

Winters are generally short and often mild - and snow, if it comes, adds another dimension to this sheltered valley. With or without snow, Forda takes on a very special atmosphere for Christmas and New Year.

Lesser celandine is already in evidence in January and the moorhens are already busy around the lakes, where by February, the newts and water beetles begin to stir. Snowdrops and crocuses are everywhere this month while kingfishers live here all year round. The occasional visiting yellow hammer or wax wing add vivid flashes of colour and the robin's song changes now to become its most melodious. By March the blackthorn is in flower, the toads are headed back to the ponds to breed and the first butterflies of the year emerge, heralding another Spring.

At all times of the year Forda is a friendly, relaxed place. You come and go as you please and fill your days with those things you choose to do – in your own style and at your own pace. Little wonder that Forda is so popular with families with children. It is also a secure and welcome retreat for couples or folk simply taking away-from-it-all breaks. Some come for the fishing, some for the Spa Treatments, others for walking, bird watching, riding, cycling, golf, sketching, taking photographs – or to develop or rediscover the art of simply ‘pottering’ – and all of them enjoying living a little closer to nature for a week or two, away from the stress, hustle and bustle of modern life.

Whether you come alone or with a partner, with family or with friends, whether you arrive in the spring, summer, autumn or winter, whether this is your first visit or your umpteenth – welcome.