| Oliver's Cornwall |
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Wild Moorland |
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| This is what we love most about Cornwall, the glorious landscapes of open moorland, secret valleys, soaring cliffs - and 350 miles of wonderful coast path. We hope you will enjoy our descriptions of our favourite parts - and will try them for yourselves. My reports are not detailed walk guides but, using OS Explorer maps, you should be able to follow them. I have divided this section into seven - this page is an introduction, others cover the north coast, the far west, the south coast, inland, inland trails and Bodmin Moor. |
ON THIS PAGE
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| Britain's longest
official trail is the South West Coast Path, from Minehead on the Bristol
Channel to Poole on the English Channel. Total length is said to
be 630 miles but it must be more. Of this, the greatest part is in
Cornwall where estimates vary from 260 to 320 miles. My own guess,
having walked every inch of it, is that, if you leave the path to walk
out to all the headlands and down to all the accessible coves, you will
do nearer to 350 miles from Marsland Mouth on the North Devon border to
Cremyll on Plymouth Sound. I have divided the trail into three - North
Coast, Far West and South
Coast to make a continuous north-south narrative.
Characteristics vary greatly along the way. The highest cliffs are near the North Devon border, rising at High Cliff to 731 feet. Along the north there is generally less vegetation and, while many small streams tumble over cliffs, only one serious river, the Camel, intrudes. Between Newquay and Hayle there are 'towans', vast sand dunes where you may have to walk on the beach. The West Penwith peninsula, beyond St. Ives and Penzance, contains the most difficult walking with many steep ascents and much rock-scrambling. The south coast is more wooded and the rivers have drowned valley estuaries - Helford, Fal, Fowey, Looe and finally the great Tamar on the Devon boundary. |
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| I buy my walking gear from Country Wise of Wadebridge - great service, especially from Bill upstairs, who sold me my Meindl boots. |
Fascinating St. Enodoc church is just out of shot. |
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Cornwall is the surfing
Mecca of Europe and the most of the best beaches are spread along the north
coast. Surfers have brought a whole new culture and our favourite
part of it is the beach café. Although we are walkers rather
than surfers, we can think of nothing better than to pause for lunch to
eat good value food and enjoy panoramic views of golden sands, surfers,
windsurfers and kite surfers. Amongst our favourites:-
Newquay - Fistral Blu above Fistral surfing beach Harlyn Bay - Food for Thought summer snack shack above the beach Chapel Porth - Open air café, superb baguettes, hedgehog ice cream Portreath - the little 'greasy spoon' below the car park, above the beach St. Ives - the two above Porthminster and Porthmeor beaches We also like the look of The Beach at Whitesand Bay and the beach café at Praa Sands; and we strongly approve of the tiny van that serves fresh brewed coffee (in all its modern forms) at Constantine Bay. And, though not on the beach, the excellent Bedruthan Steps café in the National Trust Carnewas car park. Below- the Terrace Bar, Headland Hotel Newquay |
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Terrace Bar at the Headland Hotel Newquay
| Things changed at the Headland in 2008. What was the Sand Bar and Brasserie is now the Terrace Bar and the former elegant restaurant is now an evening brasserie. I don't usually review hotels or restaurants - only country pubs - but we have been so impressed by the Terrace Bar at the Headland Hotel on Towan Head at Newquay that I had to fit it in. We had enjoyed lunch there in October 2007 so, when it came to a celebratory 70th birthday lunch in November, we were sure that my sisters Mary and Frances would enjoy it too, combined with walks to the harbour and to Pentire Point East. The rather forbidding massive red brick exterior could put you off. Don't let it, the interior is warmly spacious, the staff are welcoming, the standards high. Food in the Terace Bar is mostly locally sourced, nicely presented and very tasty. Our lunch included celebratory lunch lobster bisque, Newlyn haddock and chips and the inevitable sticky toffee pudding. My vegetarian sister Mary found plenty of choise. It was all delicious, prices were quite reasonable and service was both friendly and efficient. And what a pleasure to eat overlooking Fistral beach and its surfers. On warm days (it's always sunny in Newquay) you can eat alfresco but sheltered from the wind. A definite recommendation and one we return to time and again.. |
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| Enter Newquay on the A392 and head for Fistral Beach |
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| We were back again in May 2008 when all the cousins came down to Cornwall to help celebrate Jane's 70th. The unanimous verdict - including that of soem serious trenchermen (and women) was that the food is simply great and the location terrific. |
Walking Trail Books - Our Preferred Guides
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CIRCULAR WALK GUIDES
Jarrold Pathfinder Cornwall Walks 28 walks, most include coast, distances 4 to 11 miles. Good large scale Ordnance Survey maps, good descriptions and information. AA 50 Walks in Cornwall Mostly coast but includes about 10 inland, 3 to 8 miles. Good descriptions and information, sketch maps could be much better, good on severity. Classic Walks in Cornwall 2 volumes, each of 60 walks, all but 5 include coast, 3 to 6 miles. Good descriptions and information, poor sketch maps, good on severity. Circular Coast Walks Cornwall, by Moor, Dale and Mountain Press. 36 walks, 3 to 10 miles. Good information, routes not too clear, sketch maps. Ramblers Association 14 volumes of 6 or so walks. See their web site Bodmin Moor Walks Best of Bodmin Moor by Mark Camp; 18 short walks in three volumes. TRAILS - all the inland ones are on my Trails page Collins Walk the Cornish Coastal Path Spiral bound turnover, in 62 sections, 3 to 7 miles, with lodgings and refreshments. Detailed sketch maps, brief descriptions. Saints Way by Michael Gill - 30 miles, Coast to Coast, Padstow to Fowey National Trust Leaflets Series of 25+ trails (8 to 16 pages) on NT coast and inland property. Camel Trail Follows the old rail track 18 miles inland from Padstow, brief guide from TICs Mineral Tramways Coast-to-Coast Porthreath to Devoran, brief guide from TICs Great Flat Lode Trail 7 mile circular trail south of Camborne, brief guide from TICs Copper Trail by Mark Camp - 60 mile circuit round Bodmin Moor. Official Copper Trail web site |
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Open Access - the Countryside Agency 'Right to Roam' website
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I have found the Countryside
Agency's Open Access website an immense help in my Cornwall moorland walking,
not just on Bodmin Moor but also in West Penwith. The recently introduced
'Right to Roam' legislation - long agitated for by the Ramblers Association,
and initially opposed by many landowners - has resulted in vast areas of
land all over England, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall being opened up to
the general public. Essentially these rights are for walkers only
- suits me.
To get an overview of access to the countryside, go to the Countryside Access website. To access the maps, go to the Open Access page. If you already know the specific location that you want to check on, go to the Search page. You will first need to check that the location you want is shown on the appropriate Ordnance Survey Explorer map. Click 'next' and then enter and search for your location. Maps show restrictions and can be zoomed up to very large scale. A word or two of warning. I soon discovered that 'open access' may not be as straightforward as that. I have encountered barbed wire fences, locked gates and even one gate on Bodmin Moor, leading to access land, that has a 'no walkers' sign on it. And then, in West Penwith, where moorland is lower, I have found impenetrable furze and bramble. So don't expect it to be easy. |
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Ordnance Survey Explorer maps now show Open Access land as yellow |
Ordnance Survey Maps - The 1:25000 Landranger Series
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My earliest walking
was done with Jane with the Independent Ramblers, based in Ealing.
With them we learned to love the Chilterns and the Cotswolds. But
we soon graduated to our own independent walks, first from walk books,
later of our own devising. The Ordnance Survey 1:25000 series became
our bible. The current 2005 Explorer series still is my bible (to
a degree) particularly as it now shows Open Access
land. But, as with the Bible, you learn not to believe every word.
I use OS maps - and a compass - on almost all my walks, especially on Bodmin
Moor and on the moors of West Penwith.
But I have lost trust in OS.
Since completing Mark Camp's Copper Trail during winter 2006, I have been walking routes of my own devising on Bodmin Moor and have been horrified to discover just how unreliable the Ordnance Survey can be. A couple of walks in December 2006 proved that. A path shown from Butterstor to Garrow simply does not exist yet OS quite fails to show a well waymarked path from Brown Willy to Garrow (and on to King Arthurs Hall). Below Garrow the OS fails to mark a footbridge over the De Lank River. It also fails to show a footbridge and clapper bridge that cross the river at the southern foot of Garrow Tor. Elsewhere I have found marsh that isn't shown, probably because it is not low-lying. So be advised, take your map, take your compass and expect the unexpected. |
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Don't expect all antiquities to be marked either |
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