Penzance and Perranuthnoe

Now that, in mid-November 2005, I have almost completed the Cornish Coast Path, I am beginning to regret that I seem to have left some of the boring bits (yes, there are a few) until last.  This walk, which I did as Perranuthnoe to Penzance, is one of those boring bits, relieved only by persistent views of St. Michael's Mount, gradually getting closer as you approach Marazion.  This was one of those relatively rare occasions when I was able to use a bus, parking in Penzance, right by the efficient bus station, and taking the bus to Perranuthnoe village, some half-mile from the coast.  It's an easy walk, with just one moderate climb.  The first part of the walk, as far as Marazion, is proper coast walking above a couple of attractive coves and, at the time of my walk, past field after field of recently harvested cauliflowers.  After Trenow Cove you leave the coast and make a moderate climb up to the top of Marazion village, an attractice place with several art and craft galleries.  Collins than suggests that you have to walk the beach to Penzance but there is now a cycleway from the former Marazion railroad station all the way into Penzance - but its not much fun walking beside the railroad.  Summer refreshments by the beach at Perranuthnoe, ample in Marazion, the Godolphin Arms bar has great views of St. Michael's Mount

Ordnance Survey Explorer 103.  The route is obvious.

This is cheating, shot against the light and saturation trebled

Perranuthnoe and Prussia Cove

In late August 2004 we had just one promised fine day in a period of heavy rain, so we decided to combine a visit to a special exhibition at our favourite Penlee House Gallery in Penzance (Newlyn School Country Scenes) with a walk starting at Prussia Cove, ancient haunt of John Carter, the Cornish smuggler known as the King of Prussia.  We used Jarrold Pathfinder Walk 6 but found directions inland confusing and might have found the shorter AA Walk 42 somewhat easier to follow - although then we would have missed the market garden at Little Trevean and a fascinating and well cared for small 'alternative settlement' near Rosudgeon Common.  We started our walk at Prussia Cove, approached from the Penzance-Helston road, parking in a small grassy car park at Trenalls.  Prussia Cove is now a fascinating spot with several big houses, one thatched, an unfinished mansion called Porth-en-Alls (harbour by the cliffs), which is now holiday rental apartments, thatched fishermen's huts and an air of mystery.  The coastal part of the walk is superb and relatively easy.  Views are over the great sweep of Mount's Bay with St. Michael's Mount rising from the waters in the distance.  We lunched at the inexpensive Cabin snack shack above Perran Sands;  it was busy so service was slow but food was good.  An alternative would be the Victoria pub in Perranuthnoe village.

Fishermens (or smugglers) huts above Bessie's Cove

Jarrold Pathfinder 6, AA 42, OS Explorer 102

Prussia Cove to Porthleven

The walk is described as from Prussia Cove to Porthleven but, when I did it on a gloriously warm sunny day in June 2005, I did it in a more complicated way than that, partly because the Number 2 bus only links Porthleven with Praa Sands, partly because Praa Sands interested me enough to visit more than once in the day.  So I parked in Porthleven, bussed to Praa Sands, walked to Porthleven, drove to Praa Sands and walked to Prussia Cove and back.  Done in one stretch, it is about 7 miles and of moderate grade.  This is a wonderful walk on a sunny day - one of the best on the south coast.  Views encompass almost the whole of Mount's Bay - though St. Michael's Mount is hidden - from Gwennap Head in the west to Lizard Head in the east.  In mid-June wildflowers are at their best.  The purple heather was already in flower, blue-and-yellow mesembryanthemum covered hedges and rock-faces, at one point a whole hillside was covered with foxgloves.  Two miles from Prussia Cove is the resort of Praa Sands, described elsewhere.  Beyond Praa are skeletal remains of Wheal Prosper mine on Rinsey Head.  Nearer Porthleven are more mine remains, Wheal Trewavas, superbly situated by granite rock stacks.  For refreshment try the beach café at Praa Sands or the Ship Inn or Smoke House bar on Porthleven harbour.

OS Explorer 102 and 103.  Collins grades moderate.

Rinsey Head just to the east of Praa Sands

AROUND THE LIZARD PENINSULA - From West to East

There is something special about the Lizard Peninsula, that great triangular projection below Helston.  It boasts the locations from which Marconi made his most important experimental radio transmissions, modern Goonhilly Satellite Station, and a massive airbase from which air-sea rescue helicopters operate.  Inland is dead flat farmland and heathland but the coast is another matter altogether.  High cliffs, serpentine boulders, jagged offshore rocks, charming small fishing villages and coves and the most wonderful walking.  Best known of the coastal villages is Coverack but it is probably the least interesting.  We prefer Cadgwith, Mullion and the strange Porthoustock.  If you are a golfer, you could take the chance to play on Britain's most southerly mainland course at Poldhu Point by Mullion.  If you like unusually located churches, look at Church Cove.   If you are a serious diver, you would head for Porthkerris to dive around the Manacles Rocks, site of many a shipwreck.  The coast path - of course - runs all the way around the peninsula and there is some great walking to be had.  Some of the finest walking is on the coastal part of the Lizard National Nature Reserve, between Mullion Cove and Lizard Point.  The Reserve also takes in Goonhilly Downs and areas near St. Keverne.

Porthleven to Gunwalloe Church Cove

A short break between tours in early August 2005, a glorious sunny day all over Cornwall, and I decided to fill in a gap along the east coast of the Lizard.  Jane and I had previously strolled from Porthleven to Loe Bar and back and had later enjoyed a delightful walk around Loe Pool on the National Trust's lovely Penrose Estate.  On this occasion I parked in the National Trust car park above Gunwalloe Church Cove and walked to Loe Bar and back.  There are other car parks - official and unofficial.  As always along the east coast of the Lizard, slightly hazy views across Mount's Bay were glorious, large yachts were visible on the southern horizon, and butterflies (including the small blue) were around in profusion, enjoying the masses of wild flowers.  As one who enjoys industrial archaeology, I found some unusual interest on the cliffs above Gunwalloe Fishing Cove.  And, of course, the views from the heights above Loe Bar, are superb, looking down on the bar with The Loe on one side and the sea on the other with Porthleven in the background.  Just off the coast path, eat at the superb Halzephron Inn or the nearby Trenoweth Farm tearoom.  Avoid the big white house above Fishing Cove, prices are extortionate.  Better the tea shack at Church Cove.

OS Explorer 103.  Moderate.  The walk revisited in March 2007

Baulk Head, Fishing Cove and Porthleven Sands

Porthleven to Gunwalloe Revisited

When I did this walk in August 2005 the camera battery ran out and, as I didn't have a spare with me, I missed some photos.  So I did the walk again in March 2007, this time parking at Poldhu Cove to add a little distance.  It was a gloriously sunny day but, as so often on the Lizard, with a degree of haze making long views indistinct.  This time I was able to get some photos above Gunwalloe Fishing Cove.  I also spotted something I missed last time, blue rocks halfway along Porthleven Sands, between Gunwaloe Fishing Cove and Loe Bar.  And, for variation, when I got to Loe Bar I took an inland route for another good lunch at the excellent Halzephron Inn.

Halzephron Cove, Baulk Head and Porthleven Sands	The Blue Rocks on Porthleven Sands

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Loe Bar and The Loe - a Feature

This is a delightful spot and one which causes not a litle confusion.  Most people call The Loe Loe Pool but this is repetition.  The Cornish word Loe is the same as the Irish Lough and the Scottish Loch, meaning a pool.  And no one knows how the Bar formed, turning the estuary of the River Cober into a freshwater lagoon.  Some say it was Atlantic storms, some claim longshore drift, some suggest silt from upstream mines.  The likelihood is that it was a combination of all three.  From a distance Loe Bar looks like sand but turns out to be mostly very fine gravel with a sprinkling of colourful small sea-washed stones.  High seas can cover the bar.  The quickest way to get here is to park on the south-west side of Porthleven, close to the cliffs, and take an easy ½ mile walk.  But there are many alternatives:  also a mere ½ mile away is a car park at Chyvarloe, off the road to Gunwalloe;  1½ miles away are car parks in Porthleven and at Penrose Hill and Degibna;  and the free car park in Helston, just off the Porthleven road, is only about 3 miles.  A National Trust leaflet on The Loe and Mount's Bay shows all these and maps and describes a delightful walk on the Penrose Estate, around the Loe and taking in the Bar.  Classic Walks Cornwall, Vol 1, walk 13 also describes it.

Loe Bar seen from near Bar Lodge on the Penrose Estate

More images of Loe Bar and The Loe

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More Images of The Loe and Loe Bar

Tennyson's description in Idylls of the King, The Passing of Arthur is taken by some to suggest Loe Pool as the location where Sir Bedivere threw Ecalibur into the water.  "On one side lay the ocean, and on one lay a great water".  The alternative is Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor.

The Anson Memorial overlooks Loe Bar	Carminowe Creek on The Loe

The Anson Memorial, on the south-east side of Loe Bar, commemorates the the 100 men who lost their lives in December 1807 when MHS Anson was wrecked on Loe Bar.  The good thing that came of this disaster was that Helston man Henry Trengrouse was so affected by the loss of life that he devised a rocket apparatus to fire a line from shore to ship.

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Gunwalloe Fishing Cove - a Feature

The name, Gunwalloe Fishing Cove, distinguishes it from Gunwalloe Church Cove to the south, where the church of St. Winwalloe stands right by the beach, tucked into a cliff on a charming sheltered sandy cove.  Gunwalloe Fishing Cove is a very different place.  Although called a cove, there is little shelter here with cliffs on only two sides rather than three. The beach stretches all the way to Porthleven and at first glance looks sandy;  in fact it is a fine gravel, once used on Cornish driveways, and still used locally for concrete block making.  There was once a thriving pilchard fishery here, established in 1803 and, so it would seem, still operating in the 20th century.  Ruined buildings stand on the cliff top, one a winch house, the other pilchard cellars.  Four winches also stand on the cliff edge, one in use recently enough to have been driven by a petrol engine.  According to the National Trust's Loe Pool and Mount's Bay leaflet, these winches were used to draw the boats up the almost vertical cliff.  The NT also describes the large ruined building as a pilchard store.  To me, it looks to have been a dwelling, judging by the number of windows - though the seaward end looks as if it may have housed a processing plant of some sort.  A fascinating and slightly puzzling spot.

A rusting winch  above the cove

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St. Winwaloe's atGunwalloe Church Cove - a feature

Follow a lane off the main Helston to Lizard road, through Gunwalloe, past the excellent Halzephron Inn and down to the coast, and you will come to Church Cove, set below Mullion Golf Course.  There the little church of St. Winwaloe is tucked into the foot of the dunes.   Winwaloe was born in Brittany of Cornish parents in the sixth century.  The present church  is mostly in the perpendicular gothic style.  Inside are two earlier fonts and tiny rood stairs are still in place.  Two inner doors are painted with the figures of eight of the apostles.  Beyond the south porch a tower looks defensive but is really a detached bell-tower.  By the porch is a figure of St. Winwaloe.  In one corner of the churchyard is a Cornish cross.

St. Winwaloe's tucked into lovely Church Cove	Gunwalloe Church Cove from the cliffs to the south

Gunwalloe Church Cove to Mullion Cove

I would like to have done the eight miles from Porthleven to Mullion Cove but lack of connecting buses decided me on splitting it into a couple of out-and-back sections.  So, on a late July 2005 morning, I parked in the free car park by the Mullion Cove Hotel and walked to Church Cove and back, around three miles each way.  I set off in glorious sun but, as you can see from the photo, with a sea mist threatening to roll in.  And roll in it did.  By the time I got to Poldhu Point visibility was down to about 100 yards.  Happily, the path is easy to follow along this section of the coast and there are no difficult parts;  so I had no problem about continuing.  Along the way were:  ravishing views of Mullion Cove from above;  views north along the Lizard west coast;  normally views over the whole of Mount's Bay to Gwennap Head (not today);  the Marconi Centre on Poldhu Point, site of Marconi's first transatlantic radio transmission;  beaches at Polurrian, Poldhu and Church coves;  and the charming litle church on the beach at the latter.  With only three moderate ascents, none to more than 200 feet, this is one of the easier coastal walks.  Good bacon sandwiches at Poldhu Cove, refreshments also at Mullion Cove and Polurrian Hotel.

Sea mist rolls in ready to shroud Poldhu Point

OS Explorer 103.  Moderate to easy.

Mullion Cove on the Lizard West Coast - a feature

For a small harbour in the care of the National Trust, Mullion Cove disappoints.  Neatly enough kept, few of the buildings are very interesting and, with enclosed harbour and high cliffs, there are no views and you get a somewhat oppressive feeling.  To get any views you will need to climb to a hotel high above the north side;  there is some parking here and in a quarry on the road down to the cove but there is none by the harbour.  The harbour walls suffer badly from storms and, in 2007, the National Trust has decided on a policy of 'managed retreat' which means that, in due course, they will no longer maintain the walls which, like those at Trevaunance Cove on the north coast at St. Agnes, will eventually crumble.

Harbour entrance at Mullion Cove	The better harbourside buildings

Mullion Cove to Lizard Point

Sometimes I have criticised south coast walks for lack of interest.  Not this one in June 2005.  Interest for the keen naturalist, is overwhelming - and the landscape is superb.  Once again I was able to make use of a local bus, parking on Lizard Town green (donations) and taking the bus to Mullion village.  I walked down to Mullion Cove to start the walk, followed the coast path to Caerthillian Cove and took a track back up to Lizard Green.  For someone like me, who needs regular doses of coffee, the walk could hardly be better - cafés at both villages and at Mullion and Kynance coves.  Collins rates the walk as strenuous;  there are three fairly stiff climbs but mostly it is relatively level clifftop, so moderate is quite enough.  This is a wonderful walk.  All the way from Mullion Cove to Caerthillian Cove (and on as far as Bass Point) is either National Trust property or part of the Lizard National Nature Reserve.  Wildflowers (many rare) proliferate, skylarks sing, redstarts gather, rare breeds of sheep and cattle graze.  Views over Mount's Bay to Gwennap Head are stupendous, cliffs are impressive, rocky islands stand offshore, coves are peaceful.  At Gew Graze Cove, a rock with a hole is known as Ogo Pons - Bridge Cave.  May 2007 - round walk Predannack Wollas and Kynance Cove

OS Explorer 103 and NT leaflet 14

Gew Graze Cove and Ogo Pons

Predannack Wollas and Kynance Cove - inland and coast

This walk, which I did in May 2007 as a round walk, makes a very pleasant variation on the standard coast path walk from Mullion Cove to Kynance Cove.  I used the National Trust's car park at Predannack Wollas, a couple of miles due south of Mullion village.  I walked inland, south on the Open Access land of the Lizard National Nature Reserve over Predannack Downs and Lizard Downs to approach Kynance Cove from the south.  Then, after coffee at the excellent café in the cove, I followed the coast path back.  The round walk was about 8 miles but easily extended to 12 miles to take in Mullion cove and village.  The coastal part I already knew.  The inland part came fresh and I was pleased to find a few ancient things along the way.  An abandoned farm north of Jolly Town and another on Lower Predannack Downs.  And a prehistoric settlement site on Lizard Downs.  Had I taken a more inland route, I would have had a better view of old planes on RNAS Culdrose's Predannack Airfield.  On the coastal part I saw a rock climber on Kynance Cliff, highland cattle grazing peacefully and, to my surprise, I met two long distance walkers, two miles apart, both doing the whole 750 mile Minehead to Poole South-West Coast Path trail!

OS Explorer 103 More images of  Predannack Wollas walk

Kynance Cove from the cliffs to the south

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Images of the Predannack Wollas walk

Most of Predannack Wollas is owned by the National Trust which has two of the three farms in the hamlet, the other remains privately owned. It is an attractive little settlement, probably largely thanks to the Trust. I have my suspicions of what the OS map shows as 'settlement' on Lizard Downs.  There are fairly clear signs of man's work but I have doubts about the 'hut circle'.  No doubts about the abandoned farm at Jolly Town, though I don't know whether it was replaced by the present house or was a separate entity.

An overview of Predannack Wollas	The abandoned farm at Jolly Town

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Kynance Cove - a feature

This must be just about the most photographable - and photographed - spot in Cornwall, and no wonder, it's ravishing and relatively peaceful, even on my visit, during a walk from Mullion to Lizard Town, on a fine Saturday in late June 2005.  Kynans is Cornish for ravine and even down on the beach you still feel as if you were in a ravine, surrounded as you are by vast isolated rocks rising from the sand.  The surrounding scenery is glorious.  The cliffs to the north are part of the Lizard National Nature Nature Reserve;  to the south-west thay are owned by the National Trust.  The car park is out of sight on National Trust land.  Down in the cove there are just a few privately owned homes and a good café where I enjoyed a cream tea.  A stream tumbles down the ravine, past the cottages;  just above it is an unusual seat, settle-like and apparently made from wood salvaged from a wreck.  Because of the fairly steep descent from the car park, and the restricted parking space, the beach doesn't get too crowded.  Sands are golden and firm but beware, at high tide there is no beach at all.  To get to Kynance Cove, from the A394 Falmouth-Penzance at Helston, by Culdrose air base, take A3093 for Lizard, and turn right before Lizard Town.

Kynance Cove at half-tide

OS Explorer 103 and National Trust leaflet 14.

Lizard National Nature Reserve - a feature

Lizard National Nature Reserve is highly unusual as natures reserves go in that it is not one clearly defined area but a number of separate areas spread across the southern part of the Lizard peninsula.  There is no cohesive pattern but a mix of heathland, grazing land, cliffs and beaches.  Largest area is near the strange dishes of Goonhilly Earth Station, which has an exhibition about the reserve in its visitor centre. Goonhilly Down is open heathland, best from June when gorse and many heaths and heathers bloom.  Here you may see adders, lizards, buzzards and owls.  Next major area is the most exciting, along the west coast from Mullion Cove to Kynance Cove, along Mullion, Predannack and Kynance cliffs, its two parts linked by the National Trust's Predannack Estate.  Many rare wild flowers abound:  Cornish heath and bell heather, green winged and marsh orchids, short stemmed ox-eye daisies and wild asparagus.  You may see peregrine falcons, ravens, choughs, skylarks and stonechats.  A herd of Highland and other rare cattle graze the clifftops. Smaller areas include Kennack Sands - where there are red serpentine pebbles on the beach and  basking sharks in the sea - and Main Dale, near St. Keverne, with its heath-spotted orchids and bog asphodel.

Cornish Hedge covered with wildflowers, on Predannack Cliff

You can download a leaflet from English Nature

The Lizard - Around Lizard Point

This oddly named peninsula - Cornish  'als arth' may mean high cliffs - juts into the Atlantic to the south of Helston and the Helford River.  Lizard Point is the most southerly point on the British mainland.  The coast is all jagged cliffs and picturesque coves.   Inland is flat heath and farmland, dominated by the dishes of Goonhilly Earth Station, site of the first satellite communications between Britain and the USA, entirely appropriate since Marconi's first 200-mile transmission was from Lizard Point to the Isle of Wight, and his very his first transatlantic signal from Poldhu Cove to Newfoundland.  We walked from Lizard Town, with an NT leaflet and OS Explorer map.  Our route took us west down a track and path to Caerthillian Cove, round the coast by Lizard Point and Bass Point to Landewednack Church Cove and back up to Lizard Town on a quiet road.  There are cafés in Lizard Town and by the little car park between Lizard Point.and the lighthouse.  Ample parking in Lizard Town.

A logan stone at Bass Point, Housel Bay in the background	The renowned Lizard Lighhouse, subject of limericks

Lizard Point to Carleon Cove by Poltesco - in reverse direction

A great wallk  (Sep 2004) with lots of interest along the way.  To make use of the bus I did it in reverse, parking on Lizard Green and bussing to just short of Kuggar to walk down through Poltesco to Carleon Cove, then all the way round to Lizard Point and back up the lane to Lizard Town.  Carleon Cove once had a flourishing pilchard fishery.  After 1846 the buildings were added to and operated as a serpentine factory.  Only the capstan house and a couple of other buildings survive.  Cadgwith is a delightful little fishing harbour where the pilchard cellars and net lofts have been converted to restaurants and shops.  And there are more thatched cottages here than anywhere else in Cornwall.  Just south of Cadgwith is the Devil's Frying Pan, a massive cliff blow-hole.  Landewednack Church Cove takes its name from the church just up the hill dedicated, like that at Gunwalloe Church Cove, to St. Winwalloe.  Here the pilchard cellars, round house, winch house and old lifeboat station are now holiday homes.  The lifeboat house pointed in the wrong direction so the boat had to turn through 90 degrees for launching.  Collins decribes the walk as 'strenuous'.  I prefer 'moderate to stiff'.

Landewednack Church Cove

OS Explorer 103.  National Trust coast leaflet 15.       More images

More Images of Lizard Point to Caerleon Cove

Looking north from Landewednack Church Cove Quarry	Cadgwith Cove seen from the old Watch House

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Carleon Cove to Carrick Luz by way of Kennack Sands

The first day of November 2005 and sun was predicted for most of the day, so I set off for the Lizard to walk the coast path between Carleon Cove and Carrick Luz headland.  I would have liked to make a round walk of it but nothing practicable offered on the map so I parked at Kennack Sands and did an out-and-back in two directions - first to Carleon Cove and then to Carrick Luz, a total of about 6 miles.  I was delighted to find at Kennack Sands that the snack shack just above the beach was open and I enjoyed an inexpensive bacon bap between the two legs and a good fresh coffee after the second.  It opens throughout the summer - the beach is popular with families - and, during the winter, at weekends and whenever the weather is right for surfers to use the eastern part of the double beach.  Climbs out of Kennack Cove are fairly severe in both directions and  heavy overnight rain and mud meant footing was a bit precarious where the rock is serpentine, polished by walking boots.  View are bounded by Treleaver Cliff to the east, Bass Point to the west.  Main historical interest is at the two extremities of the walk:  to the west the former serpentine works at Carleon Cove, to the east the blackthorn covered rampart of an iron age promontory fort on Carrick Luz.

Kennack Sands - view to Carrick Luz and Treleaver Cliff

OS Explorer 103.  Collins grades moderate/strenuous

Carrick Luz to Coverack

For us, living in Wadebridge on the north coast, West Penwith and the Lizard are not speedily accessible.  It needs 1½ hours to get to both so I set off fairly early for Coverack on the east coast of the Lizard for this walk in late October 2005.  It was as well that I did.  Problems with the camera took some while to sort out and I didn't set out from the 'honesty' car park until 11.30.  The round walk turned out to be longer than expected.  Classic Walks reckons it is 7 miles but - if a coast path sign to Kennack Sands is to be believed - it is at least 8.  Not the most enjoyable coast walk I have done.  Setting out through the village of Coverack, the first couple of miles offer little in the way of views.  Only when you get to Black Head, with its old coastwatch hut, do you begin to get views and you have to wait until Treleaver Cliff to enjoy the expansive view to the headlands of Carrick Luz and of Bass Point in the distance.  I turned inland at Carrick Luz and the walk went downhill from there.  First a filthy farm lane and then too much road for my liking.  Back in Coverack I had coffee in the Paris Hotel, named for a liner that went aground off Dolour Point in 1899.  Other refreshment opportunities at the Harbour Lights café and a shop which does carry-out.

Classic Walks, Book 2, Walk 52.  OS Explorer 103.

Downas Cove and Carrick Luz seen from Treleaver Cliff

Coverack, Porthoustock and St. Keverne - a round walk

My sister Frances came to stay for a few days at the end of November 2005.  The forecast was dreadful but the weather turned out OK and we had two terrific walks, one from Tintagel, the other this 7½ mile round walk, starting from Coverack, following the coast path to Porthoustock, then back inland by way of St. Keverne.  The walk does not appear in the guides but the route is obvious from the Ordnance Survey map.  We parked in the 'honesty box' car park, right by the coast path.  The coast part to Porthoustock is so level that it would be easy were it not for a section where you have to pick your way over sea-rounded rocks just above the beach.  Once past Lowland Point the beaches become dark, covered with granules of quarry spoil, as at Porthoustock.  No surprise as you soon pass right through Dean Quarry where gabbro is quarried for harbour construction, coast protection and road surfaces.  Leaving Porthoustock we took a path up through woodland to St. Keverne where we lunched at the simple but excellent Three Tuns - sausage and onion doorstep toasties for me, tuna and a vast basket of fries for Frances.  The walk back to Coverack was easy, gently downhill all the way but very muddy in places.  Images of Dean Quarry below.

Frances on the low cliff approaching Lowland Point

Collins grades coast part as moderate; agreed.  OS Explorer 103.

Images of Dean Quarry

Dean Quarry, elevator on the stone-loading pier	Gabbro Mountains and a recumbent mechanical dinosaur

Porthoustock, Porthallow and St. Keverne

Mid-November 2005 and I am getting close to completing the coast path around the Lizard peninsula.  This walk is the last but one there, just leaving the section from Coverack to Porthoustock which I hope to do with my sister Frances when she visits at the end of November.  To make a round walk of it I went to Classic Walks, parked in St. Keverne and walked from there.  A word of warning - the direction of the description is not the same as the arrows on the sketch map!  For a 'coast path' walk this is an oddity.  Because of the vast stone quarries along this stretch of coast, the path runs inland for a couple of miles and you only get to the sea at Porthoustock and Porthallow - but they are both well worth seeing.  You can also (as I did) get down to Porthkerris, where there is a private beach and diving school, and find an unmarked path to Porthallow.  You may also be able to get along some of the coast towards Porthoustock but the map shows no path.  Route from and to St. Keverne is pleasant, mostly through woods.  Do allow time to enjoy St. Keverne - shops, pubs and  church.  You will find refreshments at the Five Pilchards in Porthallow (not Monday) and at the St. Keverne pubs - the Three Tuns has a good local atmosphere.

A giant stone hopper overlooks Porthoustock beach

Classic Walks 2, Walk 7.  OS Explorer 103.  Easy.    Porthallow images

Images of Porthallow

Porthallow, boats on the shingle beach	Porthallow, thatched cottage by the beach

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Porthallow to Flushing on Gillan Creek

May 2005 and, looking at the 'walks covered' map on my study wall, I decided it was high time I did more walking on the Lizard peninsula.  Jane and I had previously visited the unusual village of Porthoustock.  Just up the coast is Porthallow and I worked out a walk from there, round the coast to Gillan Creek off the Helford River and back on inland paths and lanes.  It proved to be one of the most enjoyable south coast walks.  Porthallow has a lot in common with nearby Porthoustock, a large hard cove with fishing boats drawn up on it, presumably working lobster, crab, mackerel and sea bass.  Cottages are attractive, one by the beach is thatched.  I was there at the wrong time for the Five Pilchards Inn but would try it for its seafood.  The coast as far as Gillan offers good views over Falmouth Bay to St. Mawes and Pendennis Point.  From woodland before Gillan to Flushing (confusingly there is another one opposite Falmouth) you are above Gillan Creek.  If you are continuing on the coast path towards Falmouth you can wade across the creek at low tide - the stepping stones are too slippery.  I returned on an inland route by Tregasso and Treglossick, part lane but mostly footpaths.  A great walk.

St. Anthony-in-Meneague, across Gillan Creek from Flushing

OS Explorer 106.  Collins decribes coast path as easy.

Helford River and Frenchman's Creek

I first did this walk - taken from AA Cornwall Walks 33/34 - in (I think) 2003 with my sisters Mary and Frances and Frances's friend Victor.  I wrote a report then and see that, despite a dull day, I enthused about the walk.  It must have been the company because when I returned in March 2007, largely to take good weather photographs, I was much less impressed.  This time all I really enjoyed - apart from the seven miles of exercise - were the village of St. Anthony-in-Meneage, lunch at the New Inn in Manaccan and the mystery of Frenchman's Creek.  I felt that far too much of the walk was in woodland with, even before the leaves were on the trees, little more than glimpses of the Helford River and Gillan Creek.  I parked in the car park above Helford village and walked through the Bosahan estate along the Helford River to Dennis (Dinas) Head.  Good views from there to St. Mawes and Nare Head and, in spring, plenty of bluebells in Bosahan woods.  On down to St. Anthony, where I liked the church and cottages, then through woods again to Manaccan.  Fields to Kestle before plunging into woodland again along Frenchman's Creek.  Then inland for a while before dropping to Penarvon Cove and Helford village.  All in all, too much woodland for a coast and river walk, I felt.

Looking scross the Helford River to Durgan

Images of Helford village and Frenchman's Creek, and of St. Anthony

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Images of Helford Village and Frenchman's Creek

Ten miles from Helston, by narrow lanes, Helford is an awkward place to live unless you are a boat-owning second home owner, which much of Helford's population is.  If you are a small-boat owner it's an ideal place with a boat club, pontoon and river anchorages and sheltered waters.  Disadvantage is that you can't get much benefit from village anchorages as the tide leaves them high and dry for half the day.  The National Trust owns the land on the east bank of Frenchman's Creek but Landmark Trust seems to own, and presumably rent out, the cottage in the woods at Frenchman's Pill.  This is a secretive feeling place where trees grow right down to (and in) the creek and where dead trees litter the banks and rot in the mud.  At low tide there is little water in the creek, at high tide the water is eerily still.  An atmospheric place.

Helford village at low tide	Fallen tree in Frenchman's Creek, one of many

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Images of St. Anthony-in-Meneage

Like so many of Cornwall's attractive small villages by the water, St. Anthony-in-Meneage (the word probably means Monk's land) is second-home territory for small boat people.  Gillan Creek pretty well dries up at low tide so there is little anchorage;  instead boats are pulled up on the hard.  Next to the church is Lantinning Farm so Anthony may well be a corruption of Intenyn, perhaps the founder of the original small monastic settlement here.  There are traces of the Norman period in the church but it was largely rebuilt in the 15th century.  Inside are rood stairs, a nicely carved 15th century font, a 15th century German carving of the Last Supper, carved bosses on the wagon roof and a holy water stoup in the porch.  Outside is a much degraded Cornish cross and, in the graveyard extension, a tiny stone well-housing.

St. Anthony-in-Meneage parish church	Boats on the hard on Gillan Creek

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Helford River, Maenporth and Mawnan Smith - A Round Walk

Early March 2004 and the first proper coast path walk we had been able to take together since Jane hurt her knee while gardening!  We parked on the beach at Maenporth, just south of Falmouth, and followed the obvious coast path round Rosemullion Point and along the Helford River to Durgan village, at the foot of the National Trust's Glendurgan Garden.  We had planned to walk up through the garden to Mawnan Smith;  bad planning, it was Monday so it was closed!  We carried on up to Mawnan Smith anyway for a good lunch at the Red Lion then across fields back to Maenporth.  This was six miles of fairly easy walking from Jarrold Pathfinder Walk 11.  Durgan is an attractive little creekside village owned by the National Trust;  cottages are mostly available for holiday rental.  On OS Explorer Sheet 103

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Maenporth Cove		Durgan Village

Maenporth to Falmouth Waterfront - Out and Back from Falmouth

This needs a feat of memory.  Although I write in late 2005, Jane and I actually did the walk before we had even moved to Cornwall.  We had arrived at noon and checked-in to Falmouth's Greenbank Hotel.   We set off to look for somewhere for an evening meal - shod only in light shoes - and just kept walking.  Through the town to the docks, round Pendennis Point and along the town beaches - Castle and Gyllingvase - then on the coast path to Swanpool beach and on to Maenporth beach.  After turning back, by now in twilight, we stopped for coffee in the Three Mackerel above Swanpool beach.  By the time we got back into town we had walked a totally unexpcted 8 miles and our feet were sore from our entirely unsuitable footwear.  All we were fit for was a light fish supper before we headed back to our hotel. If you are walking the coast path, for a largely urban walk this is much more interesting than you might expect.  There is usually activity on the beaches and you have the chance to visit Tudor Pendennis Castle and the superb Maritime Museum.  You then walk though narrow but partly pedestrianised streets on the way to Prince of Wales Pier.  There you take the ferry to St. Mawes and another ferry across to Place.

Falmouth's inner harbour

Physically, you couldn't ask for a much easier coast walk than this

St. Anthony Head and Portscatho - along the Coast Path

The last day of November 2004 and Jane was visiting old friends in Portscatho for morning coffee.  Although the day was dull and a bit wet, I went with her and walked from Portscatho as far as St. Anthony Head, about five miles of easy walking, except perhaps for the final steepish climb up the headland.  This is one of the least interesting coast walks and the day was disappointing.  On the other hand, I have a great attachment to the area;  I met Jane in Portscatho and St. Anthony was one of the first places we visited together, more than 30 years ago.  Portscatho has a small fishing harbour, several art and craft galleries, a couple of tea shops and a couple of pubs.  Above Towan Beach is the 'wreck post' formerly used to fire a line to practise a breeches buoy rescue.  Recently revealed on St. Anthony are its late 19th century defences, an artillery fort to protect Falmouth harbour in conjunction with the castles at St. Mawes and Pendennis Head.  The keepers' cottages at St. Anthony lighthouse are now holiday rentals.  Jane collected me from St. Anthony and we had a good lunch at the King's Head, a gastro-pub in Ruanlanihorne.

Walks in most guides.  On OS Explorer 105

Portscatho's little harbour

St. Anthony Head and Portscatho - Round Walk by Rivers and Creeks

Having walked between St. Anthony Head and Portscatho on the Coast Path, I decided to take the opportunity of another of Jane's visits to Gerrans - this one for a charity lunch hosted by Father Douglas at the Rectory - to do the walk along the rivers and creeks of the Fal estuary.  I achieved two things. First I completed a fascinating circuit of this extremity of the Roseland Peninsula.  More importantly to my ambition to walk the whole of the Cornish Coast Path, I did the missing link from St. Anthony Head to Place.  To get from the Roseland to Falmouth:  ferry Place to St. Mawes, another St. Mawes to Falmouth.  This is a very different walk.  None of the high cliffs and crashing surf of the coast path;  instead, peaceful tidal rivers and creeks, light woodland, wading birds grazing in the mud, and views of boatyards, at Percuil and across the river in St. Mawes - this is very much small boat country.  Place has an interesting history.  Its present owners call it 'Place House', a spot of repetition as Place means 'Palace' or 'big house'.  The taller of two spires is of the church, with likely origins in the 7th century.  It was rebuilt in the 13th century and became the focus of a small priory.  Place itself incorporates part of the priory.  After Henry VIII closed the monasteries it became the home of the Spry family, notable for its admirals whose memorials are in the church.

OS Explorer 105.  An easy 6 mile walk.

Place, Roseland's 'great house' on the Percuil River

Portscatho to Portloe - but walked in the other direction

When I had first walked this section of the coast path, I was rather disappointed in it, compared with the north coast and West Penwith.  So when Jane had another Portscatho charity lunch, she left me in Portloe on a beautiful sunny day and met me later in Portscatho.  This time, after taking some photos in Portloe - a very photogenic little harbour village - I decided to add some interest by taking a different route, heading first inland across the fields to Veryan (more photos), then on lanes and paths to Carne Beach, finally on the coast path for the last half of the walk.  On the way out of Portloe I found a beautifully converted former chapel;  on Carne Beacon I passed a massive bronze age barrow, close by it an unusual stile with concrete steps but topped with an old field roller.  Carne Beach was looking lovely at low tide, its great sweep of sand almost empty of people.  I have to say, I really enjoyed this walk with its inland variations.  On OS Explorer 105

The stile at Carne Beacon, the bronze age barrow behind	View of Nare Head from Treluggan Cliff

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Portloe to Porthluney Beach at Caerhays - walked the other way

I am much more a fan of the north coast than the south when it comes to walking.  However, I have to admit that this walk, in late February 2005, was one of the most enjoyable I have done anywhere in Cornwall.  I guess it helped that the day was gloriously sunny and the breeze gentle, so I scarcely felt February's chill.  Jane was going to church in Gerrans to hear the banns read again for Jeremy's wedding, so she dropped me at Porthluney Beach, just below Caerhays Castle.  I walked four miles west to Portloe where we met in the Ship Inn, up the hill from the Lugger Hotel.  On the map, you might think the views in these parts rather restricted;  in fact there is a glorious sweep of bay from the Dodman in the east to St. Anthony Head in the west (with Black Head on the Lizard in the hazy distance) and the walk is all along Veryan Bay.  There are four ascents on the way, none more than moderate, even though there are steps in two places.  Along the way is the small double village of Portholland, divided by a headland into East and West.  Part of the Caerhays Estate, a few of the cottages are permanently lived in but most are second homes or holiday rentals.  The approach to Portloe is a delight.  If you keep to the lower path, you cross the ramp of the Old Lifeboat House (now a private home) and enter the village along a path just above the tiny harbour.

OS Explorer 105.  Collins says moderate.   More Portholland images

East Portholland, seen approaching from the east

Caerhays, The Dodman and Gorran Haven - A Round Walk

Serious walks with Mary and Frances in 2002 encouraged us to take on a  fairly strenuous one on our own.  We had planned to visit Caerhays Castle Garden at the end of the walk but were too weary for that - the nine mile walk took well over four hours and involved quite a bit of serious up and down.  It was, nonetheless, a glorious walk - first through bluebell woods, steep enough for steps to have been cut, then along high cliffs to Dodman Point, where long views took in Lizard Point to the west, Berry Head in Devon to the east.  After some good sandwiches at the Lawnroc Inn at the top of the hill in Gorran Haven, we then returned on an inland route by Gorran Churchtown and Treveor.  We had expected this to be a great deal easier going - after all much of it was on the level or gently downhill - but we had not reckoned on the never-ending tall Cornish stiles which were topped by ancient granite field rollers!  It was quite a struggle for tired legs to get over some of them.  Coming back down to the car, the descent was a delight with views to the castle and across peaceful Porthluney Cove.  Weary, we found the seasonal beach café in the car park above the cove a welcoming retreat.  Of course, I had my inevitable bacon sandwich and a mug of strong tea went down a treat.  In season there is also a tearoom at Caerhays Castle - but you may have to pay the garden entry fee.

Porthluney Cove by Caerhays Castle, looking to Nare Head

OS Explorer 105.  Jarrold Pathfinder Walk 28 rates strenuous

Gorran Haven and Mevagissey - Out and Back or use the bus one way

This is a walk I have done a couple of times in the past, first with Jane, later with Jane and Mary.  This time (late February 2005) I just had a morning outing to Mevagissey and Port Mellon to take some photos.  While in Port Mellon I walked up to Chapel Point, on the way to Gorran Haven, to take the photo on the right to illustrate this item.  Gorran to Mevva (as the Cornish call it) is about four miles.  There is no worthwhile way of making a circular walk of it so either do it a an easy out-and-back or use the bus that runs between the two villages.  A pleasant but not outstanding walk with long views only eastwards, the greatest interest along the way is the cluster of buildings on Chapel Point, built in the 1930s as a private house and looking for all the world like a Mediterranean monastery.  To its west is Bodrugan's Leap where Sir Henry Bodrugan is said to have escaped his Edgcumbe enemy.  Mevagissy is an oddity:  once a charming fishing village, the old part is now very touristy and modern development has disfigured the hills.  Port Mellon is a tiny resort on a cove with a good beach.  Gorran was also a fishing village with a small beach but is now vastly overgrown.  Best place to eat along the way is the Rising Sun in Port Mellon;  the Lawnroc Inn in Gorran, is acceptable.  Sadly I can recommend nowhere in Meva.

On OS Explorer 105.  Collins classifies as easy.

Chapel Point seen across Colona beach from Bodrugan's Leap

Mevagissey, Pentewan and Black Head - partly a Round Walk

When I set out on this walk, in early March 2005, I had little idea of just how tough I would find it.  I hadn't counted the number of climbs along the way, eight in all, amounting to around 2000 feet.  I parked in Pentewan village, caught the bus to Mevagissey, walked to Black Head then took a field path and a lane from Hallane Mill back to Pentewan, a total of about seven miles.  I thought that was a good walk but, in the Ship Inn (pleasant place) in Pentewan I chatted to a fellow walker;  he was doing Fowey to Gorran Haven, all of eighteen miles!  It was a great walk with terrific views - just back to Chapel Point to the south but the whole sweep of Mevagissey, St. Austell and Whitsand bays all the way east to Rame Head.  Lots of interest along the way, too:  the lost fishing cove hamlet of Porthgiskey, Pentewan Sands and its empty trailer park, fascinating Pentewan village with its port history and elegant Terrace, and isolated Hallane Mill where the owners, unless they arrive by sea, have a rough quarter-mile walk with their bags down a narrow, muddy, stony track.  For the last mile, on the lane back to Pentewan, I was joined by a collie who headed back home when we reached the first cottages of Pentewan.  I ended with coffee in the Ship Inn, decent menu but probably very busy in summer

Superb beach at Pentewan Sands Holiday Park

OS Explorer 105.  Collins rates as strenuous.

Porthpean, Black Head and Trenarren - Round Walk from Porthpean

Early November 2004 and we combined a visit to the dump with garden waste, and one to St. Austell to pick up a garden shed, with a walk on St. Austell Bay.  We had long wanted to walk here because our hero - the great Cornish philosopher, Shakespearean, poet, historian, author and egotist, A. L. Rowse - had lived at Trenarren and had his ashes scattered on Black Head.  We parked above Porthpean Beach and followed the coast path to Black Head.  Collins describes this part of the coast as 'severe'.  We have to agree;  the staircase that Jane is descending is the easy one, the one by Silvermine Point is steeper and has 172 steps in it.  At Black Head we were pleased to find an enormous granite slab commemorating Dr. Rowse and, although we were unable to get a close-up view of Trenarren House, we did get a long view of it from the steps down to Vags Cove.  Views from Black Head eastwards are as far as Berry Head in Devon.  As we passed through Trenarren village on our way out to Black Head, we were joined by Ruby who acted as walk leader for the next three miles back to Trenarren.  On OS Explorer Sheet 105

Jane and our Walk Leader Ruby	Steep Descent to The Vags Cove

Porthpean, Charlestown, and Par Docks - Out and Back from Porthpean

This March 2005 St. Austell Bay walk stopped short at Par, leaving the bit to Polkerris for later.  Once at the main gate of the China Clay Works, there is an urban mile-plus before the last stretch to Polkerris so  I decided to walk from Porthpean to Par and back, around 10 miles.  I was amazed at the variety.  First cliffs alongside suburban gardens, then historic Charlestown Harbour followed by more suburban gardens and hotels.  Next came Crinnis Beach where developer Ampersand has begun a vast apartment complex right on the beach.  There have been problems over planning consents, and vocal objections by some residents, but 'The Beach' should be quite something and will provide a lot of jobs for depresssed St. Austell.  Then came a mile along Carlyon Bay golf course as far as Split Point with its view of tiny Polkerris across the bay. Finally by a dedicated narrow path through the China Clay Works as far as the main entrance on the road.  This vast complex must cover the best part of a square mile, has its own harbour for export of the finished product, and is Cornwall's largest employer.  I could have included other more Cornish photos than this one but I liked the idea of a visual pun about Par golfers.  On my return I stopped for refreshments in the Pier House Hotel in Charlestown, the only choice on the direct path.

Golfers in the shadow of Par China Clay Works

On OS Explorer 107.  A genuinely easy walk.

Par Docks to Polkerris - Round Walk from Polkerris

This walk, done in March 2005, completes what I had originally hoped to do in the previous walk (Porthpean to Par Docks) but had chickened out of as not only did I not fancy the mile-and-a-quarter of very urban road walking from Par Docks to Polmear, I didn't want to add another half mile of road at each end needed for the linking bus.  So, to complete the two-and-a-half miles from Par Docks to Polkerris, I parked up the hill above Polkerris, to walk to Par Docks and back.  It turned out to be a more entertaining walk than expected and led me on to other things.  I set off inland, passing Daphne du Maurier's last home, Kilmarth, and picking up the Saints Way down to Par Sands.  Here the coast path turns inland but I walked across the beach, up through dunes and woods to a road where I turned left.  I found myself trespassing in Par Docks but a kindly security man directed me to the main entrance.  To return, I used a bit of road but found an official path (that the Coast Path authorities seem not to know) back to the beach that saved half-a-mile of road.  I then used the coast path to Polkerris.  Passing the du Maurier home persuaded me to research further to try for a photo of Menabilly and find Castle Dore and the Tristan Stone.

Odrnance Survey Explorer 107.  A very easy walk.

Dog walkers on Par Sands;  china clay works in background

Polkerris, Gribbin Head and Fowey - Round walk from Readymoney

My sister Mary came to spend Christmas 2003 with us.  Our walks included this one, Lamorna also on the south coast and Stepper Point on the north.  We parked south of Fowey at Readymoney Cove;  the charges there are far too high out of season - which may be why we had the car park almost to ourselves.  Our route, following AA Walk 18, took us to Polkerris on the coast path, then returned by an inland route.  The coast part was tough with severe climbs and muddy paths and rocks!  Definitely easier to do this bit in summer when it is dry.  The path climbs steeply out of Readymoney Cove, past St. Catherine's Castle, drops down again to Polridmouth Cove (on the Menabilly Estate) and climbs again to the massive red and white striped daymark tower on Gribbin Head.  A long descent takes you down again to Polkerris. We lunched at the Rashleigh Arms in Polkerris, named for Charles Rashleigh who built Charlestown Harbour.  We had disliked the Rashleigh when Jane and I took our friend Craig there but Mary and I enjoyed it this time.  The inland return route mostly follows the Saints Way, through Tregaminion and Lankelly, easy apart from the initial climb.

AA Walk 18 and OS Explorer Sheet 107

Polkerris, approaching from the south

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Fowey, Hall Walk, Pont Pill, Lantic Bay and Polruan - Round walk

During January 2005 most of my walking has been on the north coast but, in the last week, I had a couple of walks on the south coast.  One from Portloe to Portscatho was somewhat disappointing but this one is probably the most enjoyable, most interesting and most scenic I have done on the south coast.  I parked in Fowey by Bodinnick Ferry and crossed to Bodinnick, where the church is a converted barn.  A path leads into Hall Walk, created in Tudor times, which runs through woodland high above the Fowey River, past a memorial to Q, author Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, to Pont Pill where a board still shows the ancient harbour dues.  Up through woodland to St. Wyllow's church at Lanteglos, then over fields to Lantic Bay, a quiet sandy curve.  Up again to the heights above Polruan, with long views across St. Austell Bay along the way.  At Polruan, down to the point where the remains of a 15th century blockhouse overlook the river;  from here a chain crossed the river to St. Catherine's Fort, protecting Fowey from attack by sea.  On through quaint streets to Polruan harbour for coffee at the Lugger Inn (good food, moderate prices), then back to Fowey on the little Polruan Ferry.  Time in hand, so south to Readymoney Cove, passing Q's house, before heading back through Fowey.  Six miles of sheer enjoyment.

Former lime kilns at Pont Pill

Classic Walks Cornwall 45 and OS Explorer 105

Polruan to Polperro - using Polruan Bus from Polperro to Polruan

Jane, Mary and I had previously done a round walk that took in Lantic Bay and Polruan so, rather than walk from Polruan in June 2005, I made use of the excellent little Polruan Bus (service 290), parked at the top of Polperro, bussed to the nearest stop to Lantic Bay, and set off from there to walk back to Polperro.  The full bus route is Looe-Polperro-Polruan.  No praise is too high for the owner-driver of Polruan Bus, who gave us a gentle, smooth, careful journey along narrow lanes.  Some local buses make me feel quite nervous;  this this time I felt safe and comfortable.  Collins grades the five mile walk as 'strenuous' but I thought they were exaggerating until I got to the landmark at West Coombe and realised that there were three or four climbs to 400 feet, two of them with 150 or more steps set into the slope.  Nonethless it was an enjoyable walk.  Views to the west took in Gribbin Head and Black Head, to the east Rame Head and Devon's Berry Head beyond.  As you might expect in June, wild flowers proliferated, the tall foxgloves outstanding.  The approach to Polperro offered good views of the harbour from Chapel Cliff.  I enjoyed coffee in the Blue Peter Inn then wound my way the mile back to the car park, stopping for a superb Treleavens chocolate ice cream and a chat with the walking-fan assistant.

Little Lantic Beach andf Pencarrow Head

OS Explorer 107.  Collins grades as 'strenuous';  it is.

Polperro and Looe - Out and Back from Looe

Looe and Polperro are trippery resorts best in winter with no crowds.  We can see little to commend Looe, bar its fish and chip cafés, but Polperro from the coast path is a delight - as far as the harbour!  On a dull late June day we parked at Hannafore, west of Looe and walked to Polperro and back.  The path is steep enough to need steps in places but the walk is worth it.  Cliffs rise to 300 feet above rocky inlets;  views are to Rame Head in the east, Lizard Point in the west.  Along the way we were accompanied by the sounds of naval gunnery practice over the horizon, and by a small herd of horses at one point - a surprise to find them roaming free on the cliffs.  For variety we returned to Talland Bay over Talland Hill for fine bay views.  Food was a high point of our day. We enjoyed bacon sandwiches at the Smugglers Rest at Talland Bay on the way out, crab sandwiches in the Blue Peter Inn on Polperro harbour, apple pie and cream at the Smugglers Rest on the return!  Pigs!

Looking down on Talland Bay from Talland Hill	Whitewashed, slate-roofed cottages at Talland Bay

In May 2008 Jane and I, before calling into Looe to collect Treleavens Ginger Ice Cream for Jane's birthday celebrations, walked from Looe to Talland Bay and back.  We again enjoyed lunch at the Smugglers Rest, eaten in warm sunshine.

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Looe to Seaton - Out and Back from Seaton