| Oliver's Cornwall |
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RIVERS and
their valleys - and a canal
One odd thing about Cornwall is that there is no major river. Not that you would get that impression on a circuit of the coast where several estuaries give the impression of serious rivers, particularly those of the Tamar, Fowey, Fal, Helford, Hayle and Camel. But what you are looking at are rias or drowned valleys. Thanks to the narrowness of the Cornish peninsula, no river rises more than 40 miles from the sea. Our particular favourites are the Fowey for its moorland source, its falls at Draynes Bridge and its lovely estuary; and the Camel for its superb dune-lined estuary and its surfing beach at Polzeath. |
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WEST PENWITH
- Mostly on the high moorland
Cornwall's tiny far west sub-peninsula - the land beyond St. Ives and Penzane - is a mere 15 miles long from Lelant to Land's End, and just 9 miles wide from Pendeen Watch to Lamorna. Yet within this area is some of Cornwall's most spectacular scenery. The central high moorland can be difficult to access, thanks to few roads and to heavy scrub and bracken growth on the un-grazed land. But views can be tremendous; our favourites are those from Castle an Dinas on Trenowin Downs, Trencrom Hill on St. Michaels Way and Chapel Carn Brea near Land's End. |
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MISCELLANEOUS
INLAND
This miscellaneous section covers a wide variety of landscape and interest and again is largely concerned with walks in the countryside. There are great estates - Godolphin, Lanhydrock, Mount Edgcumbe and Penrose; some major and striking hills - Carn Brea, Carn Marth and Kit Hill; a walk around St. Clether seeking a holy well and Cornish crosses; a literary walk in Daphne du Maurier country. There are also items on two very differant industrial landscapes - clay country north of St. Austell and slate country in North Cornwall. And more! |
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One sees and hears
so much about the Cornish coast, its soaring cliffs, its sandy beaches,
its sheltered harbours and the wonderful Coast Path, that it is easy to
miss the fact that there is lots of glorious scenery and some superb walking
inland too. Thank goodness that's the case because there are times
- at school summer vacation and bank holiday weekends especially - when
the roads to the coast just get too congested. At these times we
tend to head for the moors or the mineral tramways and get well away from
the crowds. I have divided the Inland section into three. On
this page Miscellaneous includes clay country around St. Austell
and one of the great estates; these walks tend to be easy. Rivers
flow to both south and north coasts and I include walks in their valleys,
again easy walking. West Penwith covers mostly the high moorland
to the west of St. Ives and Penzance. I have separate pages for Inland
Trails and for
Bodmin Moor.
Bodmin Moor speaks for itself, high open moorland that rises at its highest to 1400 feet; in places the walking tends to be rocky, steep and difficult but the views are often of both coasts. Since few paths are waymarked on the moor, it is wise to carry both large scale map and compass. The Inland Trails page includes the Saints Way, St. Michael's Way, the Camel Trail, Clay Trails, the Land's End Trail, Mark Camp's enterprising Copper Trail and Mineral Tramways trails. The latter reflects my own interest in industrial archaeology; since these trails all follow former horse-drawn tramways that served the tin and copper mines, walking (and cycling) is easy. |
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A 'logan' stone is dish-shaped and will rock under pressure |
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 and on the Lizard.
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 |
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River Allen - and a short walk along it
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The little River Allen
rises near Higher Pendavey, a couple of miles north-east of Delabole, and
flows in a general southerly direction until it joins the River Camel at
Sladesbridge to the east of Wadebridge.
Until 2007 I only knew it from the delightful wooded valley through which
it flows along the A39 (Atlantic Highway!) from Knightsmill to Kellygreen.
On a dull January day I decided to find Castle
Killibury, claimed by some as an Arthurian
site. As Killibury is only a couple of miles from Wadebridge
I was able to walk from home - south east to Sladesbridge, north east up
the Allen Valley to Dinham's Bridge, west by Killibury to Three Hole Cross
and Tregorden, and finally south along a track to Ball.
Castle Killibury was a disappointmernt, overgrown and quite difficult to distinguish, but the 2¼ mile walk up the Allen Valley was a delight, even in muddy, leafless January. The path follows the river closely, through light woodland, passing a lot along the way: a copper stained stream flowing from an adit, a waterwheel at Hingham Mill, a weir and two clapper bridges (but no mill) at Lemail Mill, and interesting cottages at Dinham's Bridge. This should be a lovely walk in spring and summer. Three Hole Cross is an oddity, an intended 4-hole cross on which one hole was never bored right through. |
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On OS 106 & 109. |
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Jane and I have walked
the Bude Canal on many occasions, often as part of a round
walk from Bude, on one occasion walking a different section starting
from Tamar Lakes. Originally constructed in
1823 to carry sea-sand inland to enrich poor farming soil, the canal has
long been out of use. However, when we walked into Bude and back
from Woodlands Tea Garden at Helebridge in September 2007, we discovered
that a major regeneration project is underway at a cost of £3.8 million.
Under the aegis of North Cornwall District Council, the two miles from Bude to Helebridge is being dredged and the two locks are being restored. By Spring 2009 full navigation should have returned as far as Helebridge. While there is no question of the Marhamchurch inclined planes being restored, the towpath will be improved all the way to the lower inclined plane and the 'Planekeepers Path' will be re-opened to Marhamchurch. Whilst strongly approving of this project, and looking forward to its completion, we have just one worry. The towpath will be 'upgraded to allow better access for all users'. We hope this won't mean that cyclists will treat it, as they do the Camel Trail, as their own personal race-track. |
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One thinks of the Camel as a river of Bodmin Moor. Indeed you do encounter it on parts of the northern moor, but not on the heights and it cannot be said, in any way, to drain the moor, except that it is joined near Poley's Bridge by the De Lank River which really does drain a part of the moor. The Camel itself rises on the very northern extremities of the moor near Davidstow. On its way to the town to which it gave ts name, Camelford, it passes through Slaughterbridge. The owners of Worthyvale Manor there like to claim it as an Arthurian site - indeed the place where Modred slew Arthur at the Batle of Camlaan - but the basis of their claim, an inscribed stone by the river, never recorded any claim to commemorate Arthur's death. After Camelford the river runs through farmland and light woodland until it reaches Wenford Bridge. Here a trail joins it, the Camel Trail, as it continues through woodland all the way to Wadebridge, before the countryside opens out alongside the Camel Estuary to Padstow and beyond for the river to enter the Atlantic between Stepper Point and Pentire Point. This is definitely our favourite section of the Camel, the broad estuary beyond Padstow where it is now followed by the Coast Path and offers glorious views across the water to Rock, sand dunes, Brea Hill and Daymer Bay. |
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| We don't usually walk
with groups - though many years ago in London we joined the Independent
Ramblers and did quite a lot of Chilterns walking. Nowadays Jane's
walking is mostly of the dog variety and, except when sisters or friends
stay with us, I usually prefer solitary walking. However, in November
2006 we were delighted that we made an exception and joined the Camel
Group for their AGM Day. A full day consisted of a walk, lunch
at the Old Inn at St. Breward, a presentation
to Anthony Hawkey, founder of the Cornwall Ramblers, and a fascinating
presentation by Mark Camp about his Copper
Trail. As non-members we didn't atend the AGM itself. Jane,
my sister Frances and I had a great day.
The walk was an easy one - though with an abundance of stiles - down into the Camel valley by way of Lower and Higher Lank and Coombe Mill, then back up to St. Breward by way of Fellover (but nobody did). Just four miles on the map wheel but more like five taking into account terrain and stiles. Although I have done a vast amount of walking on Bodmin Moor, and this walk is just within the confines of the moor, I hadn't been on most of these paths before; it was most enjoyable. Highlights for me were two clapper bridges and the remains of a quarry tramway bridge. |
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| On OS Explorer 109 but not Open Access |
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Looking across the mouth of the River Tamar at Plymouth you would think you were seeing a great river; not so. Looking across the mouth of the River Fal from St. Mawes, you would think you were seeing an even greater river. At this point, where the estuary is known as Carrick Roads, the river is a mile across and that width stretches for four miles inland. Appearances mislead. What you are really looking at is a drowned valley (ria) with a lot of minor rivers leading into it. The Fal itself, depending on which authority you believe, is a mere 19 or 23 miles in length. It rises on Goss Moor, north of St. Dennis and winds its way through china clay country, even at Grampound Road and Tregony still being little more than a stream. The drowned valley begins at Ruan Lanihorne, water at high tide, mud at low. It's only when the Truro River joins it, just north of Trelissick Garden, that it looks like a serious river, some 200 yards wide and deep enough for out of commission ships to anchor. Soon after, at Turnaware Point, it widens out to a mile or more. This is now serious sailing country, yacht clubs and anchorages by most of the creeks that join the river. Where the Penryn River joins at Falmouth there are important docks and Tudor and later forts - Pendennis, St. Mawes and St. Anthony - guard the mouth of the river. |
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A Fal Creeks walk |
Fal Creeks - Pill, Lamouth and Cowlands Creeks and the Truro River
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The only truly satisfactory
way to see the maze of creeks around the River Fal is
slowly from a small boat on a reasonably high tide. My way, also
very satisfying, was on foot in July 2007. I parked at Trelissick
Garden and took a walk that allowed me to explore Lamouth Creek and
Cowlands Creek and took me eventually - by way of Old
Kea - to the Truro River at its junction with the Tresillian
River. On my way to park at Trelissick I had already taken a
look at Feock and at Loe Beach and Pill
Creek on either side of the village.
My route - on OS 105 - took me down a well made bridleway through Delabole Wood, briefly on a road towards Cowlands, then along a former wagon road to Roundwood Quay where Lamouth and Cowlands Creeks join the Fal. Back along the wagon road and right to Cowlands where I followed a creekside path to Coombe. Next a woodland path to Halwyn and a mile of quiet lane before turning east to Trevean and north across fields to St. Kea. I then continued north to the confluence of the Truro and Tresillian rivers for an unusual view of Malpas. Returning I followed obvious lanes past Cowlands then detoured east through National Trust woods to revisit Roundwood Quay, A lovely walk with beautiful tranquil creek scenery. |
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Parking at Trtelissick costs £3 if you are not a member of the NT |
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The Tamar
is Cornwall's major river but, forming as it does the boundary with Devon
(England if you prefer), it is only half Cornwall's. So I prefer
to think of the Fowey, which drains Bodmin Moor, as our most important.
You could scarcely call it a major river. It is only 30 or so miles
long but that is hardly surprising in a county only around 40 miles at
its very widest. The Fowey rises on Bodmin
Moor, on the eastern slopes of High
Moor, although this is confused by the existence of Fowey Well on the
eastern slope of nearby
Brown Willy
- but then Bodmin Moor was originally Fowey Moor.
The Fowey runs more or less south to Draynes Bridge, then west to the Lanhydrock Estate and south past Norman Restormel Castle and through Lostwithiel to reach the sea at Fowey. In the middle ages the river was fully navigable to Lostwithiel, which was a major tin-exporting port. But mining debris silted the river and now the only port is at Fowey, from which china clay is shipped. The most scenic feature along the Fowey's course is Golitha Falls at Draynes Bridge. It is just a shame that, apart from there, the only paths along it are on the Lanhydrock Estate, at St. Winnow and at Golant; not that anglers, who fish the Fowey for salmon and sea trout, will mind that. |
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Images of the Fowey at Lanhydrock, Golitha Falls and Fowey |
Golitha Falls at Draynes Bridge on the Fowey River
| Although this is one of the few places where you can walk along the Fowey River, at least it is both the prettiest and the most exciting. Park in the large free car park, signed just off the road from Doublebois to Minions, and walk the half-mile along the river to the falls. The way is through lovely beech woodland, at first on a firm path but then on less even ground and, at one point, along an old mine leat. Don't expect one great waterfall. Instead, for a couple of hundred yards, the river tumbles over separate cataracts until it has fallen some 100 feet. Thanks to the moist micro-climate, the ground and rocks are rich with ferns, lichens and mosses. A word of warning - this is dog-walking territory. |
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| It is surprisingly difficult to find out anything about the River Hayle. Usually I rely on the Cornish Rivers Project as a source of information but, this time, nothing. Looking at the Ordnance Survey map, it seems to me that it rises at Trelabnas, about 1½ south-south-west of Crowan (near Praze-an-Beeble). It then flows westwards, passing through the northern edge of the Godolphin estate on its way to Tregembo, where it turns north-west on its way through the villages of Relubbus and St. Erth and on to Lelant Saltings, where the estuary begins, joining the Atlantic in St. Ives Bay. All seem to agree that its length is about 12 miles. Its first recorded name is heylpenford though the penford bit sounds English. There are two meanings suggested for heyl - estuary or fordable river. I am now familiar with three parts of the Hayle. I have walked along it for a little way on the Godolphin estate, from Trannack Mill to St. Erth [doing Leedstown to St. Erth on the Land's End Trail], and on both banks of the estuary. The only other part that appears walkable is a short section south of Trannack Mill as far Relubbus. Between Trannack Mill and St. Erth a wide grassy bridleway follows the west bank of the little river. Here the Hayle has been dredged, its banks cleared and revetted in places. A delightful walk with parking by the charming church in St. Erth. |
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| The item below is about the Hayle Estuary |
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The name Hayle is
from the Cornish word heyl, which simply means estuary. That
makes sense because it rises only some 12 miles away from its tidal limit
at St. Erth, while the estuary is relatively vast. For so tiny a
river the Hayle has considerable historic importance. Since around
2000 BC it was vital as a trans-shipment point, allowing vessels to avoid
the incredibly dangerous waters off Lands
End. They would sail up to St. Erth and offload goods there for
portage to Marazion and St. Michael's Mount
on the south coast.
The same was as true of people as of goods. Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Britanny were linked by their common Celtic roots and, in the early Christian era in the first few centuries AD, missionaries and itinerant monks would pass through Hayle and Marazion on their way. The great estuary, far less silted up than now, was the reason why Harveys, the great engineers, flourished at Hayle. Nowadays, with Harveys and the Cornish Copper Company long gone, the navigable channel is so narrow and shallow that only small fishing boats use the harbour. The inland part of the estuary is now a nature reserve where wigeon, teal, shelduck, dunlins, curlews and grey plover over-winter |
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| It is marked on the map as the Helford River, and that's what everyone calls it, but really it is just a ria, a drowned valley. A few unimpressive un-named streams debouch into it in the course of its six miles from the sea to the tidal limit at Gweek, the longest, of about three miles, looks to rise just to the east of Helston. More striking are the many creeks that these streams enter the Helford River by. Best known is the sombre Frenchman's Creek, made famous by Daphne Du Maurier. Most attractive is Porthnavas Creek, filled with small boats, lined with expensive second homes and location of the Duchy Oyster Fishery. Helford village, too, is second home and boating territory. Gweek, at the tidal limit, has a boatyard, houseboats and an engineering works - and is home to the renowned National Seal Sanctuary. The best way to enjoy the Helford River is undoubtedly from a small boat. As a walker, it saddens me that there is so little foot acess - really only one bank of Frenchman's Creek and the coast path as far as Helford Passage on the north bank, Helford Village on the south. The two are linked by a summer ferry and each has a pub, the Shipwright's in Helford, the Ferryboat in Helford Passage. On the north bank several valley gardens run down to the river - Glendurgan, Trebah, , Meudon Hotel's garden and Carwinion, where, if you exit at the bottom, you can continue down to Porth Saxon. |  |
| You will find it on Ordnance Survey Expolorer sheet 103 |
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Inny Valleys - a six or eight mile round walk from Altarnun
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It's difficult to know how to classify this walk, which I did on a soaking wet day in late July 2006. It's right in the centre of Bodmin Moor but there is no moorland in the walk. It is described as a trail but is only a short round walk. So I shall call it a river walk since you encounter the River Inny several times on its loop, and meet up with Penpont Water, too. It's a pleasant, largely farmland walk, easy except that its 60 plus stiles - many 6 feet high - make it feel more like a 10 mile walk. It can be extended to 8 miles, adding a 2 mile loop from Trethinna to Trerithick, by way of Polyphant, mostly across fields. There should be a trail leaflet in the village shop in Altarnun, where the walk starts, but they were out of print so I needed OS Explorer 109 as there are no trail signs out of Altarnun or for the first mile. Thereafter trail signs are confusingly and inconsistent. All that may make it sound like not much of a walk but, in fact, it's worth doing and I enjoyed it. Notable along the way are Laneast Church, the bridge and former mill at Gimblett's Mill and the former manor of Trethinna. Altarnun itself is charming. There are no refreshments along the way, the nearest hostelry is the King's Head at Five Lanes where I have enjoyed excellent beef and onion baguettes a couple of times. |
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Park Altarnun church. If no trail guide, use OS 109. Another Inny walk |
Vale of Lanherne - Between St Columb and Mawgan Porth
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For my last walk in
November 2006 I abandoned the rigours of Bodmin
Moor and settled instead for a fairly level walk for which I could
use the bus from Wadebridge to St.
Columb. I did a straightforward out and back walk, following the
course of the little River Menalhyl from
St.
Columb to Mawgan Porth. On a previous occasion Jane and I had
walked from the porth to St. Mawgan and
back so I knew that part to be pleasant. I had expected less of the
other part but enjoyed that, too. The walk was about 11 miles but
to and from buses added a couple.
My walk started from near St. Columb church and along Victoria Street till it became Halveor Lane. I followed the lane - no traffic - to Little Halveor farm and entered the Carnanton Estate. Carnanton is a sporting estate and thousands of noisy pheasant were killing time waiting for the guns to kill them. The track through the woods to St. Mawgan is so well made I think it must be a former coach road. Pleasant woodland, the Menalhyl always close-by and an ancient park wall following it. In St. Mawgan I crossed the river and continued to Mawgan Porth on the far side. I had coffee at the Merrymoor on the porth and enjoyed good soup for lunch in the attractive Falcon Inn in St. Mawgan on the way back. |
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Route obvious on OS Explorer 106 |
Litle Petherick Creek - off the Camel Estuary
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Half-a-dozen tiny
streams rise on the land below Trelow and St.
Breock Downs, coverging near Melingey, just before the tiny village
of Little Petherick. There the nameless stream becomes tidal as Little
Petherick Creek. It flows for a couple more miles before joining
the estuarine River Camel. We have crossed the
narrow packhorse bridge at Little Petherick many times on our way to Padstow.
In January 2007, still recovering from a nasty cold, I decided on a short
easy walk there. I had intended to follow Jarrold Pathfinder walk
19 (about 6 miles), which follows the west bank of the creek, then the
Camel Trail, and returns by St. Issey. Something I spotted along
the way changed my mind - and route.
The first part of the walk - to the Camel Trail at Padstow - was familiar as the beginning of the Saints Way, perfectly waymarked, through woodland and up over Denis Hill to the edge of Padstow. I then crossed the Girder Bridge on the Camel Trail and turned right up a track to attractive Tregonce, then over fields back to the creek. There, at Sea Mills, I found the remains of a tide mill, the pound silted up but part of the sluice and wheel pit still in place. From there the path is on the foreshore (very muddy for some way) then through new woodland and over fields back to Little Petherick. |
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OS Expl. 106 + Jarrold Pathfinder Cornwall 19 |
| I had wanted to revisit the Luxulyan (pronounced Luxilian) Valley ever since encountering it while walking the Saints Way in 2006. Then I had loved the glorious beech woodland. I had also been impressed by the Treffry Viaduct and had wanted to see more of what had to be associated with it. There is some parking near the viaduct but when Jane and I walked there in early June 2008 we parked at the bottom of the valley at Pont's Mill, where parking is ample. This is now a lovely peaceful valley and, except for some stone quarries, would have been before local landowner and industrialist Joseph Treffry (of Place in Fowey) decided to construct tramways to carry mineral ores and china clay to his new harbour at Par. The vast viaduct - 650 feet long and 100 feet high - carried both his horse-drawn tramway and a leat to power the 34 foot water wheel that operated the steep Carmears incline. The leat continued on south to power Fowey Consols mine. The tramway continued north to Bugle. Treffry planned to continue to his new harbour on the north coast at Newquay but that had to wait until the 1870s when a consortium acquired the route for their Par to Newquay railway, still operating as a branch line. Treffry's viaduct now towers empty over the modern railway but still holds water in its leat. |  |
| On OS 102. Pont's Mill is off A390 near St. Blazey |
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The River Lynher rises
on the north-eastern fringes of Bodmin
Moor and meanders for some 22 miles (according to the Cornwall Rivers
Project - I would have thought it longer) eventually joining the River
Tamar within sight of Brunel's famous Royal
Albert Bridge. Though rising in granite country its course takes
in slate, limestone and grit as well. Much of its catchment area
is dairy farmland with some beef, some sheep and a little arable.
It is very much a fisherman's river with salmon, sea trout and brown trout
- though the salmon fishing has deteriorated in recent years. It's
confluence with the Tamar, known as the Hamoaze, is a designated Site of
Special Scientific Interest and supports otters, kingfishers, dippers,
avocets and black tailed godwits. Information gleaned from
the Cornwall Rivers Project website.
A little disappointingly there is hardly any part of the river that you can walk along, though I encounter it often enough on walks - for instance from North Hill to Trewortha Tor and on a section of the Land's End Trail. My favourite spots along the river include Starabridge and the wobbly bridge at North Hill, both pictured below. But my favourite view of the Lynher is looking across to Antony Passage (left) from Antony Woodland Garden. |
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Mylor Bridge and Restronguet Passage - off the River Fal
| After our exertions on the Caerhays, Dodman and Gorran Haven walk, we decided it was time for an easier one. After visiting Truro we used Jarrold Pathfinder Walk 4 between Truro and Falmouth. No high cliffs, no tough Cornish stiles, mostly lovely creekside walking. We parked at the Pandora Inn at Restronguet Passage and did the inland bit first (partly along quiet roads) returning from Mylor Bridge along Mylor and Restronguet Creeks, both filled with small boats. Very different from the Coast Path, a very enjoyable five miles in under two hours and commended by us as one of Cornwall's easier walks and welcome respite from the rigours of the coast. Use OS Explorer 105 |  |
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Mylor Creek and the Penryn River
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before Christmas 2006 and really only chose it as it gave me the opportunity
to call into Truro on the way home to do
some last minute Christmas shopping. I parked at Mylor Harbour, at
the mouth of Mylor Creek, followed the creek to Mylor Bridge, headed inland
on a fairly busy road to Penryn, followed the Penryn River to Flushing
and finally headed through the Trefusis Estate, on the edge of Carrick
Roads, back to Mylor Harbour. It proved to be a pleasant and
easy seven miles or so but, in gloomy weather and at fairly low tide, it
was much less interesting than it might be under more summery conditions.
Jane remembers Mylor Harbour (at Mylor Churchtown) as having little more than a few small boats. Now it boasts a marina, a yacht club, a seafood restaurant, a bar, a café and a substantial boat lift. It is clearly a wealthy place to match the other wealthy places along these creeks off the Fal. Flushing is one of these with some lovely restored cottages, some large houses, a couple of pubs and an admired restaurant, the Sticky Prawn. Flushing's odd name was given by the Duch engineers from Vlissingen (which we called Flushing) who built Falmouth's harbours. |
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| On Ordnance Survey Explorer 105 |
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Pentewan Valley Trail - South of St. Austell
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At the end of October
2005, on a bright sunny Sunday, Jane and I were looking for a shortish
level walk within half-an-hour or so of home and with a decent pub along
the way for lunch. We decided to try a section of cycle trail (part
of National Cycle Network route 3) that runs from the south side of St.
Austell to the little former harbour village of Pentewan.
I already knew Pentewan from a walk
I had taken from Mevagissey to Black
Head and was sure Jane would enjoy it.
We could have parked close to the St. Austell by-pass and walked about four miles each way. Instead we chose to use the small car park just south of Levalsa Meor, walk just a mile-and-a-half each way and allow time to explore Pentewan and walk along the beach. A surprisingly varied short walk takes in the canalised St. Austell River (also known as the White River from the china clay), a nature reserve in Kingswood, and a section of former mineral railroad. Some woodland is more like swamp as trees grow at crazy angles out of dark pools. We lunched at the Ship Inn in Pentewan village and enjoyed excellent hot filled baguettes, bacon and mushroom for me, egg and mushroom for Jane. Now (2006) the trail links with the clay trails at Wheal Martyn. |
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Also parking in Pentewan, opposite the Ship Inn |
| Update June 2008. I learned from surveyor and map maker Ernie Biddle that there are now off-road links to Heligan Garden and Mevagissey. |
| The Tamar forms a natural boundary with Devon, rising in the far north-east of the county, to the north of Bude, winding its way south to Plymouth Sound, tidal for its last dozen miles. Although Brunel built his great rail bridge in 1859, until 1961 the southern road crossing was the medieval 'New Bridge' at Gunnislake and crossing from Plymouth was only by Torpoint Ferry. Once the Tamar Valley was a major daffodil growing area; now they flourish on the National Trust's lovely Cotehele estate. Up-river the pretty village of Calstock has a railroad viaduct over the river, an acceptable pub and several cafes. |
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Tamar Lakes and the Bude Canal
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The Bude
Canal is a real oddity. When you think of canals, you first think
of the Industrial Revolution and all the canals that were built in the
18th and 19th centuries in the English industrial north and midlands to
carry the raw materials and the heavy goods of industry. In hilly
Cornwall horse-drawn tramways served the tin and copper mines. Cornwall's
major canal was a very different affair. The Bude Canal opened in
1823 to serve agriculture, mainly to carry lime-rich sea-sand inland from
Bude
to improve the very acidic soil of northeast Cornwall and northwest Devon.
It closed in 1891, having struggled to make a profit.
One arm ran south to Launceston, one east past Holsworthy, and water was sourced from a reservoir now known as Lower Tamar Lake. After the canal was abandoned an upper lake was constructed and the two provided much of North Cornwall's water. Some restoration is underway but it is unlikely that much will be back in water other than the 2 miles from Helebridge to Bude. Land has been sold and inclined planes are long gone. In April 2006 we parked at Lower Tamar Lake to walk south for a few miles on cleared towpath. A pleasant level walk in which we passed a proposed interpretive centre and crossed the old earth-embanked Bude Aqueduct. |
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Car park, visitor centre and cafe (good food, slow service) at Upper Lake |
| Lying roughly between
Falmouth
and Truro is a land of muddy tidal creeks.
The Tresillian River is one such: just a couple of miles of tiny
stream from source to the old main gates of Tregothnan,
a couple more miles of tidal creek to Malpas, where it joins the Truro
River, itself soon to join the River Fal. We walked along it in May
2007 as part of an outing to Truro's Boscawen Park, where our friend Carol
Richards was involved with the Companion Dog Show. We parked in St.
Clement, walked along the river to Tresillian and back, ate our sandwiches
at St. Clement and then took an inland green lane up to Park Farm and down
over the fields to Boscawen Park, on the Truro River on the south side
of the city. A pleasant and varied walk of around 6 miles in all.
If you would like to make a longer river walk of it, park in Truro, take the bus to Tresillian and follow the path along the Tresillian and Truro Rivers, through St. Clement and Malpas. The path to St. Clement is well made and level and stays close to the river, that on to Malpas is up and down through woodland; from Malpas to Truro you have to use quite a bit of road. Altogether the walk is around 5 miles. If you fancy a spot of refreshment along the way, you could do worse than try the Heron Inn at Malpas. |
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| Parking by the creek in St. Clement or in a lay-by in Tresillian |
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Our neighbour Jim had told me about walking up the Valency Valley in his long-ago youth so, on a warm sunny day in June 2008, I decided to devise a round walk to take in Boscastle, The Valency Valley, St. Juliot Church and some coast path. I parked in Boscastle, wandered around taking photos, then walked up the valley beyond Newmills before continuing over fields to St. Juliot Church at Hannett. From there I took lane and field paths to Trebyla, Higher Beeny and the coast at Beeny cliff, following the coast path back into Boscastle. Looking at the little river in Boscastle, it is hard to imagine the devastating floods of August 2004. But further up-river you can see that it is by nature a spate river to which, apparently, trout and salmon are beginning to return. The valley is beautiful, steep and heavily wooded. Much of the woodland is National Trust and paths lead uip through it to Minster Church. A firm path leads all the way to Newmills where there are some attractive cottages tucked away. My walk had several Thomas Hardy connections: It was at St. Juliot, where there is a lovely memorial window to him, that he met his first wife; and Beeny Cliff, where I joined the coast path, had special meaning for the couple. Adelightful walk with only one tough part, the severe down-and-up at Pentargon on the coast. |
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Walk easily followed on OS Explorer 111 |
WEST PENWITH - Cornwall's Wild Far West
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Other than walking
the coast of West Penwith as part of my completed Cornish Coast Path project,
and visiting some of the antiquities in the area, I had previously done
little walking there and had spent little time beyond St. Ives and Penzance/Newlyn/Mousehole.
My first inland walk was one in July 2006 from St. Buryan in search of
Cornish Crosses and the stone circle at Boscawen-Un. It was only
when I developed such a love of the high moorland of Bodmin Moor that I
thought it time to explore some of West Penwith's moorland and to look
for more out of the way antiquities hidden in the hills.
West Penwith's moorland has proved to be very different from Bodmin Moor in more ways than one. For one thing, on Bodmin Moor you have only occasional glimpses of the sea. On the West Penwith moors wherever you are you usually have a view of the sea on one coast or the other, sometimes both. The other big difference, the vegetation, makes planning a walk a lot more difficult. On Bodmin Moor, cattle, sheep and ponies graze on much of the open land and there is relatively little in the way of brambles, furze and bracken. West Penwith grazing seems to be restricted to enclosed farm fields and the result is that many of the hills are almost impenetrable. So, despite more moderate heights, the challenge is tougher. But the views are great! |
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The area is covered by OS Explorer 102 and Open Access |
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 simple 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 |
A Walk around St. Buryan in West Penwith
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In mid-July 2006 I worked out a figure-of-eight walk on the southern side of the West Penwith peninsula that promised easy walking on paths clearly shown on the Ordnance Survey Explorer sheet 102, a short section of coast, several Cornish crosses, some promising-looking farms and, importantly, Boscawen-un stone circle, a new one to me. I reckoned I would have an easy 8 miles in all, a 5-mile loop south from St. Buryan, then a 3-mile loop to the north. I had reckoned without Cornwall County Council, which is more concerned with the Coast Path and Trails than with signing ordinary paths where they leave roads, and without farmers who here are unconcerned with keeping paths open. My morning loop, to St. Loy's Cove, went well enough, just one problem with impossible access to a path and another with paths obliterated by fields of hedge-to-hedge maize. The afternoon loop, to Boscawen-un, took me miles out of my way, hardly ever finding the expected paths; I made it worse by trying a short cut which had me scrambling through gorse and brambles. However, I found everything I was looking for (eventually), loved the brief coastal views, watched cricket on television during two coffee breaks in the St. Buryan Inn opposite the church, and got in more exercise than I had expected. So, on balance a walk worth doing, however awkward. |
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Carn Galver - an abortive but scenic antiquities search
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Sometimes my map reading lets me down. This walk was one of those occasions. In September 2006 I had parked in the little car park by the ruins of Carn Galver Mine, planning to find a beehive hut I had read about in the area of Bosporthennis. I had pinpointed (I thought) its exact location from the co-ordinates quoted on both Megalithic Portal and the Modern Antiquarian. My intention was to approach it by climbing Carn Galver and Hannibal's Carn in order to line up a precise direction of approach. I failed. I found the settlement remains where it should have been but I never found the beehive hut. No matter, I had a great if difficult walk. The walk up Carn Galver was fairly easy. I walked the length of the ridge and back for the most glorious views. Getting up Hannibal's Carn might have been easier if I had had Hannibal's elephants; furze and brambles made for a real struggle. From the top I located Bosporthennis settlement but then came failure. I then tried to find a path to take me towards Nine Maidens. More failure, it petered out in impenetrable growth. So I made my way back by Bosporthennis Farm, a fascinating place. Once it must have been important. An original medieval farmhouse had been abandoned, as had a row of Georgian cottages. Field walls are massive, some of carefully coursed granite blocks. |
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Carn Galver Revisited. OS Explorer 102 and Open Access |
Carn Galver Revisited October 2007
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In October 2007 I
enjoyed two walks from the car park at Carn Galver Mine, the first on a
dull day, the second in good sun for better photos. The first walk
took me up the clear path on the west side of Carn Galver to the Nine
Maidens stone circle. From there I headed towards Brook Cottage
to find the first of a long line of boundary stones that runs across Bosporthennis
Common towards Higher Kerrowe. A detour took me to Bodrifty
for the little known iron age roundhouse settlement. On Bosporthennis
and Treen Commons I found more standing stones and a barely visible cairn
on the Beacon. I returned along the road from Treen to the car.
My second walk deviated at the Nine Maidens to go via Boskednan for a couple of mine engine houses and via Tredinnick for some attractive cottages. I then spent more time at Bodrifty Settlement before heading over Bosporthennis, Porthmeor and Treen Commons to Treen. This time I took the footpath through Higher and Lower Porthmeor farms and Bosigran farm, passing a standing stone at Higher Porthmeor and mining and settlement remains beyond Bosigran farm. Later I took an extra short walk up Rosewall Hill. On both occasions I tarried at the now first class Gurnard's Head Inn. |
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OS Explorer 102 |
Castle an Dinas, Rogers Tower and Baker's Pit
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I learned about Baker's Pit from the promotion for heathland restoration and an article in Cornwall Today. Not that the Cornwall Wildlife Trust nature reserve was what interested me, rather I wanted to see what I could find of the former china clay workings. When I looked at OS Explorer 102 to locate it, I realised there was a lot of other interest not far away: the other Castle an Dinas iron age hill fort (the well known one is near St. Columb), an 18th century folly on it and a nearby working granite quarry. So in early October 2007 I parked in the car park at Chysauster and set off on a walk that should have taken three hours but took five. I set off down the road for half-a-mile then took a path (initially through woodland) north-east to Gulval Downs. There I followed a path south-east to Castle an Dinas granite quarry, an impressive working site. Next it was roughly north east up to Castle an Dinas hill fort, easily spotted not by its rudimentary earthworks but by a folly known as Rogers Tower. The banks and ditches are badly degraded but the views magnificent in all directions. Next I headed north west to find Baker's Pit and associated engine house and dries. I had intended to make my way directly back to Chysauster. Instead I made it dreckly - by way of Woonsmith, Conquer Downs, Kerrowwell Cottage and Carnaquidden Farm. A rewarding walk. |
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| Castle an Dinas quarry is still a working granite quarry with some impressive modern machinery. I have been able to find out nothing about Rogers Tower except that it is thought to have been built in the 18th century, a time when so many follies were constructed, by a local land owner named Rogers. Partly built on the outer bank of Castle an Dinas hill fort, the views looking south over Mount's Bay are superb. The folly looks a little like a child's sandcastle. China clay was worked at Baker's Pit from about 1758, not long after its discovery by William Cookworthy at Tregonning Hill in 1746. It acquired tha name Baker's Pit when William Baker bought it in 1868. It was Baker who built the engine house that stands near the main pit, pictured below. On Baker's death the business was acquired by his partners Loverings, eventually to become part of English China Clays. The pit and associated works finally closed in 1942. Not far from the pit you can see a tall brick chimney; behind it are the old clay dries. You can find more about it on the Trevithick Society's website. |
Nine Maidens - and Men-an-Tol, Men Scryfa & Ding Dong Mine
| Jane and I did this short, easy walk in West Penwith after visiting Bonython Garden in September 2006. It is from Classic Walks Cornwall, volume 1 number 6. In its three or so miles you first follow a firm track past abandoned farm buildings and massive field walls, then leave the track to the right for Men-an-Tol and to the left for Men Scryfa. At the end of the track you pass another abandoned farm and climb gently to reach the Nine Maidens stone circle. Then you follow another path in a gentle curve to reach the remains of Ding Dong mine, its engine house visible for miles from much of West Penwith. Finally a path descends to Lanyon Farm, not far from the starting point. Park by the road at Bosullow, where there is space for several cars. The Land's End Trail passes these sites |
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ThreeQuoits Walk - Zennor Quoit, Sperris Quoit and Mulfra Quoit
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On a lovely warm but
breezy day in September 2006 I set out to find three quoits - Neolithic
burial chambers - that I had not seen before. I was delighted to
be able to park inexpensively in one of my favourite villages, Zennor,
and before setting out I visited the church
and took a number of photos in the village. My route took me up Zennor
Hill, along to Zennor Quoit, up Sperris Hill, across to the Try Valley,
up Mulfra Hill and back along an easy path to Zennor.
Zennor Hill is fairly tough going. The very narrow path to the top is through sometimes shoulder-high furze but the views and the Carne rock formations are worth it. The path to Zennor Quoit - very impressive - is easy and obvious but the way up and down Sperris Hill is through furze and heather. I never did find Sperris Quoit and only later learned that there is almost nothing to see. Tracks and field paths then lead to Mulfra Hill; the path up it is obvious and the climb easy. Mulfra Quoit is slightly less impressive than Zennor but still well worth seeking out. The site has great views of St. Michael's Mount and across Mount's Bay to the Lizard. To my pleasant surprise I met three other walkers - and a cyclist - up there. Afterwards I had a coffee in the excellent Tinners Arms in Zennor Village. Images of Zennor and Mulfra Quoits are on my Antiquities page |
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On Ordnance Survey Explorer 102 and Open Access |
A Walk around Botallack, Boscaswell and Pendeen
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have reported on this October 2006 walk as a coast walk. I choose
not to, partly because I have already done so under 'Far
West', partly because my main purpose was to explore country and villages
inland from the coast. So the glorious coastline on a warm sunny
day and the superb collection of mine remains along the coast were really
just an added bonus. I parked by Pendeen Watch and first walked the
coast path as far as Kenidjack Head, then turned inland to get lunch at
the Queen's Arms in Botallack. Along
the way, apart from taking dozens of photos, I found the former Botallack
Mine Count House.
After lunch I set to the real purpose of the walk, Poldark and fogous. I succeeded in the first part, failed in the second but found an unexpected bonus. In the BBC TV series, Ross Poldark's Nampara was largely a composite of Botallack Manor and Pendeen Manor. I found both with no trouble. What I failed in was finding Boscaswell fogou and Pendeen Vau fogou; the first I just missed, the second is on private land at Pendeen Manor and the farmer was not in to ask permission. The bonus was at Boscaswell where Dave Weddle (he appeared in Wild Cornish Summer) showed me the holy well and a bronze age pit that he and others recently found on the edge of the village. I returned later for Pendeen Vau fogou. |
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| OS Explorer 102. Park free at Pendeen Watch. |
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Bartine Castle, Bartinney Downs and Tredinney Common
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In February 2007,
on a gloriously warm and sunny day, I went back to West Penwith to revisit
Chapel
Carn Brea, St. Euny's Well and Carn
Euny. I parked below Chapel Carn Brea (a car park much favoured
by dog walkers) and after walking up it, came back past the car and crossed
the road to the path to the well and iron age village. It always
surprises me to find no-one elso at such a fascinating spot as Carn Euny
though, to be fair, it is not very easily accessible by car.
On the way back, just after the well, I decided to turn up a path onto
Bartinney Downs. The downs, like so much high land in West Penwith,
are covered with furze and brambles but, happily, paths have been cut through
for horse riders. On the way up the hill (740 feet) I found a probable
cairn. At the top was the almost unidentifiable iron age Bartine
Castle. There was a possible cairn close to the trig point.
I continued north towards Bartinney, turned west to Numphra Common, then
south to Tredinney Common to find a boundary
stone. The path then took me back to close to my car park.
Partly Open Access land |
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OS Explorer 102 |
| When my sisters Mary and Frances came to stay in November 2007 to help me celebrate my 70th birthday, the weather was kind and we all took the opportunity to expand a short walk I had done recently. We parked in the Rosewall Hill car park, intending to include Rosewall Hill, Trink Hill, lunch in St. Ives and the coast path back to Hor Point. We had not allowed for the lack of clear paths on the hills or for their unevenness and tight scrub cover. In the event, reaching Halsetown after 4 hours, we had to omit St. Ives and the coast path. It was a glorious, if chilly, day and views over St. Ives Bay were superb. Mine remains on Rosewall Hill are of Ransom United. Climbing to its eastern peak was easy, the descent less so; we should have gone to the lower of two chimneys to find the path so we had a circuitous struggle. Easy then, by Bussow Farm and southwards, to the engine house near Cripplesease. Footing both up and down Trink Hill was awkward but, in due course, we reached Balnoon. Busy road then until we found the path to Halsetown. We clearly couldn't complete our planned walk before dark so, sfter coffee in the Halsetown Inn, by road back to the car; by car to St. Ives and pasties on the harbour wall. A lovely day even if uncompleted. |  |
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| Although the iron age hill fort that tops Trencrom Hill - also known as Trecrobben Hill - provides the historic and archaeological interest, the unfailing attraction of the hill is the magnificent views from the summit, despite its moderate height of only around 700 feet. As you look clockwise from the west you see Rogers Tower, Trink and Rosewall hills, St. Ives Bay, the Hayle Estuary, Godolphin and Tregonning hills and St. Michael's Mount. The feeling from this vast panorama is utterly ravishing. I have been up on Trencrom Hill on many occasions: first when walking St. Michael's Way from Lelant to Marazion and later when walking The Land's End Trail between Bosullow and St. Erth. If you are just visiting the hill itself, you don't have to walk that far; there is a small car park at the southern foot of the hill, on a minor road from Lelant Downs towards Cripplesease. On one of the paths leading north off the hill I discovered a well, sealed off with a padlocked metal cover. Apparently it is reputed to have holy properties but its great depth is considered to be a danger, hence its sealing. Below the hill, to its north-west, is the attractive hamlet of Trencrom with remains of a defunct mine, Wheal Alice. |  |
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A Round Walk from Land's End - with a bit of coast
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This 10 mile round walk in April 2008 had several purposes. First to take another look at the ruination of the dreaded Land's End (recently slightly improved). Second to find Tregiffian Chambered Cairn. Third to walk a bit of coast I had only seen in fog. Finally to revisit Sennen Cove in better weather than last time. I parked in the vast car park at Land's End (£3 is acceptable) and set off on the first stage of the planned west to east Land's End Trail as far as Chapel Carn Brea. This took me over fields to above Sennen Cove, over more fields and through farms to Tregiffian, where I saw the cairn, finally up Chapel Carn Brea. From there I devised my own return route, first using a part of the Penwith Round to Nanquidno Downs, then heading back to Tregiffian to join the coast path above Gwynver beach. There, to my surprise, I spotted the medieval field system in the photo. Along the coast path to Sennen I found more ancient fields on the cliff edge. In Sennen I enjoyed good soup at The Beach café and got some better photos of Sennen Cove. By Pedn Men Du I took a stupid tumble; three days later I am still suffering bruised ribs and a black eye! Further on I was delighted to see that the National Trust have cleared impressive Maen Cliff Castle. A great walk on a lovely day. |
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On OS102 The Land's End Trail starts here. |
| Although I had been close to Watch Croft on several occasions, I had never actually been up West Penwith's highest hill - 830 feet. I had three reasons for going there in June 2008: to find a cairn and a standing stone, to see the mine remains, and to find out whether a path to Carn Galver, shown on the 1996 OS map, but not on the 2005 one, still exists. I parked at Bosullow, by the path that leads to Men-an-Tol, walked a little way up the Morvah road and turned right on the lane to Garden Cottage - a surprise to find in such a location but probably the former mine count house. The winding engine house was easily accessible but I also found a large number of well hedged shafts down the path leading towards the sea. Getting to the summit of Watch Croft was a little more difficult but, opposite the entrance of Garden Cottage, I spotted a narrow path winding through the heather and bracken. Be careful here, the land is riddled with ancient uncapped mine shafts. At the top the ground was easy and the standing stone obvious though only about 6 feet tall. To the north of it, on the summit, is a cairn with a trig point on it. I assume it to be a burial cairn but, if so, it has been much messed with and a recent small enclosure constructed on one end ot it. Views are terrific: across Mounts Bay to the Lizard, south to Ding Dong Mine and north to Pendeen Watch. The path to Carn Galver no longer exists. |  |
| On OS Explorer 102 and its all Open Access land |
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MISCELLANEOUS INLAND COUNTRYSIDE
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There is a great deal more to see and do at Cotehele, one of our favourite places, than just the house and garden. Indeed, if you visit Cotehele and see only the house and garden, you will have failed to get the best out of a wonderful place. If you leave the house by a gate from the back garden, you can walk across meadow to the Prospect Tower. Leave the house downhill, through the Valley Garden, keeping right, and continue right to the Chapel of St. George and St. Thomas a'Becket, better known as the Edgcumbe Chapel, built in 1485 by Richard Edgcumbe after his escape from Richard III's soldiers. Continue through woodland to the River Tamar for the Discovery Centre, with its displays on Cotehele's history and estate, the restored Tamar Sailing Barge Shamrock, Lime Kilns and refreshments at the Edgcumbe Arms. Contunue on the lane to a handsome Bridge; just before it take a path to the right to find a Working Watermill, alongside it a Saddlery, Forge and Wheelrights Shop and a Sawpit. If you want a longer walk, from the Edgcumbe Chapel head up-river for three miles to find the fascinating village of Calstock with its impressive rail viaduct over the Tamar. If you can do all that in much less than a day then perhaps Cotehele is not really the place for you. It is for us. |
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Car parking at the House and down by the Quay but not at the mill |
Godolphin Estate and Tregonning Hill
| In 2003, Jane and
I had walked on the Godolphin estate, owned by the National Trust,
going up Godolphin Hill and enjoying the superb views from there, taking
in the moorland of West Penwith, the north coast
and St. Michael's Mount, just visible in Mount's
Bay. We had also walked by the Hayle River to see the Count House,
once part of Godolphin's mining interests. This time I extended the
Godolphin Hill walk to take in more mining interest (the Great Work Mine)
and to include Tregonning Hill. I parked near the house and took
a track and lane to Trescowe Common. From there I used Rocky Lane
to climb Godolphin Hill; this time views were poor but I did spot
a probable bronze age barrow. Down then to the Great Work and up
Tregonning Hill.
Tregonning Hill was the real object of the walk. On top I found a war memorial and toposcope, the pit where William Cookworthy discovered china clay in 1746 and a granite quarry used in the 18th century as a 'Preaching Pit'. I think I found the hill fort but it was so overgrown I couldn't be sure. I followed the ridge south-east to the end of the Open Access land - and found a boundary stone, then retraced my steps and headed north-west to Tregonning Farm. I hoped to take a bridleway from Lower Sparnon to Godolphin Cross (interesting roadside well there and a pub where I had a good sandwich) but the landowner won't allow access. Back onto the Godolphin estate to return to the car. |
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Lanhydrock Estate - Good Walking on a National Trust Property
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Mid-February 2003, a lovely mild sunny day and we decided to walk at Lanhydrock. We know the house well and have walked in the woodland garden previously; this time we decided to explore some of the 600 acre estate - a little smaller than in the days when former owners the Robartes family owned some 40,000 acres in Cornwall. We set off from the house, down the Avenue to Respryn Bridge on the River Fowey (salmon and trout), following the river through woodland. On this occasion we continued beyond the estate as far as Restormel Castle (a steep climb but well worth visiting) before returning through Lanhydrock's woodland and the woodland garden. We saw fascinating features - evidence of early tin-streaming and parts of the vast park wall dating from when a herd of fallow deer was kept in the park at Lanhydrock. In early May we returned with Mary and Frances. This time we extended to 8 miles by including the northern part of the estate. It was another lovely walk and wildflowers - bluebells, allium, wild garlic amongst them - were prolific and colourful. The spring garden behind the house was in full bloom, too, and was also immensely colourful. This is one we shall remember to visit every Spring; happily it is less than a half-hour drive from our home in Wadebridge. |
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National Trust Country Walks: Lanhydrock Leaflet; OS Explorer 107 |
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In March 2007, Jane's
sister Mary and her husband John were down from Northumberland and staying
in a lovely rented cottage at Brixton in Devon.
We decided to meet up for lunch and settled on the Edgcumbe
Arms in Cremyll, just across the water from Plymouth.
Mary and John used the Torpoint Ferry from Devonport. We met at the
Maker Church free car park, at the top of the long hill down to Cremyll.
It was a glorious sunny day so, to work up an appetite for our lunch, we
walked for the best part of a couple of hours on the Mount Edgcumbe Estate.
The people of Plymouth, and those of south-east Cornwall, are fortunate to have such a wonderful place to walk. The estate is very extensive, covering thousands of acres between Cremyll and Kingsand and continuing as a coastal strip beyond Kingsand, to Rame Head and then on all the way to Whitsand Bay. A path leads across fields from Maker Church to the Barrow car park and down towards the house. We headed off south before the house and took in the Folly, the Temple, the Blockhouse and the Italian Garden, finishing up on Cremyll waterfront for our lunch. A delightful walk in a delightful estate, which even included part of Mount Edgcumbe's famed National Camellia Collection - and all that for free, including the car parking. |
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Parking at Cremyll and two locations on the estate |
| Jane and I were at
Mount Edgcumbe again in April 2009. It was a glorously sunny
day and again we parked in the free car park by Maker church. Walking
down to the house, the views over the Hamoaze and Plymouth were superb.
Though we didn't go round the house, we did go round the Earl's Garden
where rhodos were lovely. After lunch in the Orangery we wandered
around the formal gardsns and along the waterfront before making our way
back to the car past the National Camellia Collection. A delightful
day.
NEWS FOR 2009 When work has finished in the yard adjacent to the house there will be a new restaurant/café there. |
| I visited the estate was in March 2007 on a gloriously sunny day for photos of The Loe, Loe Bar and Porthleven. I used the car park where the Porthleven road leaves Helston and did a clock-wise circuit extended to 10 miles by walking into Porthleven and back from Loe Bar to lunch at the Ship Inn. The Penroses were here for at least 500 years but sold to the Rogers in 1771. The latter gave it to the National Trust in 1974. During WWII Penrose House was used first by the British Army, then the Americans. Loe Bar was mined and booms prevented enemy seaplanes landing. Lower Pentire (now holiday rental) was a centre for torpedo research. This is a delightful place for an easy walk - nowhere do you climb to more than 100 feet and tracks are in good order. Where the River Cober leaves Helston it would be marsh were its course not contained by man. The marsh around it is filled with water tolerant trees, mostly alder and willow - a bit eerie and like a mangrove swamp. In 2008 Jane, My sister Mary and I had another pleasant Penrose walk, this time parking in Helston, walking the estate and continuing into Porthleven where we enjoyed good fish and chips, sitting in the sun by the harbour. |  |
| OS Explorer 103 and NT leaflet |
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Like most of the great estates open to the public in Cornwall, Trelissick is a National Trust property. Most who visit Trelissick go for the delightful gardens. They are missing a fascinating estete. Jane and I have walked all around it several times, basing our walks on the National Trust's Cornwall booklet number 17. The estate extends to both sides of the road down to the River Fal and King Harry Ferry. To the south is open grassland, with views across the Fal to Turnaware Point, and woodland along the river to King Harry Ferry. To the north is woodland to and around Lamouth Creek and back around the river to the ferry. Our preferred walk is to stay south of the road to Old Lodge, cross the road to a path through Namphillow Wood to Lamouth Creek, then head west to a byway then east through Lambsclose Plantation to Roundwood Fort and Roundwood Quay. We then like to head back along Lamouth Creek to a bridge and follow the creek and River Fal through Stitches Plantation and North Wood to King Harry Ferry. Depending on the time of year, we may then follow the river south through South Wood, returning to the car park across pastureland; or we may take the lower garden entrance to enjoy a gentle wander around the garden. |
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| Roundwood Quay, now a tranquil spot with delightful views across the Fal, was once a hive of industrial activity. In the 18th and 19th centuries it shipped tin and copper smelted and refined on the quay. When the trade declined in the 1830s it continued to be busy building ships of up to 60 tons. There was also a maltings and a lime kiln. West of the quay, in Round Wood itself is an iron age promontory fort. Roundwood Fort has two massive bank and ditches and an oval earthwork. Outlines are a bit unclear due to plant growth |
| When we did this walk in early February 2009 it was primarily to see the effects of the recession on world trade. The Fal, as a drowned valley (ria) is a deep water river and ships pout of commission park up north of King Harry Ferry. We saw seven ships, including a couple of massive car transporters. We were told that three more were parked up a bit further north. I remember seeing several back in the 1950s but never that many. |
Clay Country - Alien Landscape North of St. Austell
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South of the A30, north of St. Austell and covering in all some 25 square miles, is a ravaged and alien landscape. As you drive along A30, or the southern A390, or the northern A39, you get hints of it - a long range of flat topped hills with occasional white conical peaks which gave the area its old nickname of the Cornish Alps. But you need to drive up onto the clay lands to appreciate what the area is really like and why. Until 1746 fine porcelain had been a Chinese monopoly. But then apothecary William Cookworthy found china clay (kaolin, a form of degraded granite) near Helston. Now the main area mined is above St. Austell. Without its china clay industry this would be high moorland, much of it around 1000 feet. As you drive through it you get only glimpses. To see more you need to leave your car and climb protective banks to look down into vast white pits where high pressure water cannon scour the rock. Once the processing was done on site; now it happens in vast factory sites. To learn how the industry worked, and to get a view of a working pit, visit Wheal Martyn Museum in the heart of the clay fields. And you should also make a point of seeing Charlestown Harbour, built in Georgian times to export the china clay but now a visitor destination for its tall ships and Shipwreck Museum. Now clay is shipped from terminals at Par and Fowey |
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June 2005 - Now you can see more of Clay Country on the Clay Trails |
Slate Country - North Cornwall around Tintagel and Delabole
| Slate is a Devonian
metamorphic rock formed by pressure on mudstones or shales. Wales
has always been Britain's main slate producer but North Cornwall has a
belt of slate, the best of which is found in the area around Delabole,
Tintagel
and Trebarwith. Slate has certainly been quarried in Cornwall for
1000 years and more. Once men hung from the cliffs near Tintagel,
hacking out the slate. Those quarries are long closed and slate,
once a cheap roofing material, has become more of a luxury item.
Major working quarry is now Delabole which employed 1000 men in 1859. Now its workforce is just 40, albeit it with much mechanisation. The five Delabole quarries united as one in 1841. From 1977 to 1999 it was owned by RTZ but is now back in private local hands and producing the same 120 tons daily as in 1859, thanks to modern equipment. The vast waste tip (modern quarrying produces litle) has been landscaped with walks, seats with views and, on the top, a modern Slatehenge. A visitor centre is promised to complement the seasonal daily tours. A walk round the quarry perimeter takes a good half-hour but what was once the largest hole in Cornwall is now dwarfed by some of the great china clay pits to the north of St. Austell. |
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| Parking at Delabole Quarry |
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A visit to Carn Brea
in 2002 was little more than a taster. At that time, in spite of
Jane's Cornish roots, we knew little about its history, landscape and archaeology.
So, when a window opened in the generally poor weather of November 2006,
I took the chance to revisit. I parked by Cowlin's Mill, used the
Great
Flat Lode trail to the eastern foot of the hill, and climbed the hill
for a more thorough east-west exploration. Afterwards I walked down
to the excellent
Countryman for lunch
and returned using another part of the Great Flat Lode trail. The
weather was good on the hill but, after being battered by a hail storm
on the way down I was glad of the Countryman's fire.
I was struck by the sheer length of the hill - a full mile - by the superb views - the Cornish Alps to the east, St. Agnes Beacon to the north, St. Ives and West Penwith's hills to the west - and by the surprising number of rocky tor outcrops along its length. Even more than the tors and Carn Brea Castle, the most outstanding feature is the Bassett Monument, visible for miles around. The archaeology is a disappointment; all that is visible among the furze, brambles and bracken are some hut circles and the odd standing stone. Despite that, it was a great experience, and I was pleased to have taken the chance to revisit Carn Brea. |
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More images of Carn Brea and Carn Brea's archaeology. |
Carn Brea 2007 - an archaeological and industrial guided tour
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I suppose this item
might equally belong in the Industrial
History section of my Museums page.
However, while the guided tour, ably led by ex-miner Mark Kaczmarek with
occasional assistance from Frank Richards, was part of the County Council's
programme of events relating to the World
Mining Heritage Site, it also included some archaeological interest
up on Carn Brea and a fair sprinkling of tall tales from Mark about the
Giant Bolster. So here it is on a countryside page.
A strong turnout of 30 or so met in the car park of the Countryman at Piece on a September 2007 Saturday. We headed up the western end of Carn Brea, stopping to learn about the burrows (mine spoil heaps looking for all the world like gigantic long barrows) that litter the hillside. As the sea mist roilled in we were shown archaeologial remains, strangely shaped rocks and an ancient well below Carn Brea Castle. Coming down off the hill, we visited West Basset Stamps and the comprehensive remains of South Wheal Frances. We finished back at the Countryman where some of us lunched, some enjoyed the real ale and, sadly, some who had enjoyed free car parking left without even having a coffee. Thank you Mark for another entertaining guided tour. |
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| The most prominent feature of Carn Brea is the massive monument to Francis Bassett, Lord de Dunstanville. Bassett (1757-1835) was prominent in both mining and banking. The family, Norman in origin, had lived at Tehidy, to the northwest, since at least the 13th century; sad that they are no longer there. They must have had interests in Falmouth as the most charming street of all is Dunstanville Terrace. Francis Bassett features, in a sympathetic role eventually, in the Poldark novels. |
Carn Marth - the next hill east from Carn Brea
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When we did the Redruth
and Chacewater guided mineral tramway walk in August 2007 Jane was
very much taken with the detour we took up Carn Marth. I had been
up there before and liked it so I was happy to take up Jane's suggestion
that we revisit the hill and take a circular walk on clear paths.
We parked in the same place as on the tramways guided walk - close to the
covered reservoir at the very top end of Lanner. The great attraction
of this spot is that it is handy for several trails and paths - the Redruth
and Chacewater, the Tresavean Trail
and a track heading towards Seleggan and the Great
Flat Lode Trail.
It surprised us to learn that Carn Marth, at 775 feet, is actually 20 feet higher than Carn Brea. But, when you get up there, you realise how much better the views are. North-east to St. Agnes Beacon, east to the hills of clay country, south to Carrick Roads and Pendennis Point. There is a fair bit of interest up on the Carn, too: three granite quarries, one with a small amphitheatre created in it, another filled with deep blue water when the sun is out; and several attractive farmhouses on the lower slopes. Our route took us past Myrtle Farm, Carn Marth Farm and Gordon Farm. Back at the car we enjoyed Jane's superb pasties before taking a walk along the short but interesting Tresavean Trail. |
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Carn Marth is on The Land's End Trail. |
Goss Moor - A National Nature Reserve and 'Multi-User' Trail
| Not long after the new A30 was completed around Goss Moor, avoiding the dreaded iron bridge, the moor was dedicated as a National Nature Reserve and an 8 mile 'multi-user' trail was opened with great fanfare in April 2008. Jane and I dedcided to take a look in June 2008. We were disappointed from almost every point of view though, not being naturalists, we can't comment on the quality of the nature in the reserve. My first criticism is that for walkers too much of the trail is on roads (admittedly quiet) and that there is not a singl;e seat all the way round. For horse riders only the northern and southern sections have suitable surfaces. For cyclists it's probably fine. Second, the most interesting section, the southern leg, is ruined by a double row of massive electricity pylons. Third, there is not yet signage pointing to the trail start points and none along the trail itself where options occur though I understand that they will be installed, as will some seating. Fourth, and the list does seem to go on, it has been suggested on local radio that you can park for free at the Screech Owl Sanctuary and get refreshments there. Neither is true unless you are prepared to pay the full entrance fee. All in all, definitely not one for walkers. Probably fine for cyclists, bringing their own bikes or hiring at the Sanctuary. |  |
| For a map of the trail and reserve see Natural England's web site |
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| A map in Natural England's Goss Moor brochure suggests that a trail continues to link with the Clay Trails at Bugle. I investigated this. In July 2008 there is no cycle trail; a horse trail has been started but runs only for a mile and is closed off at present because of the danger of negotiating the old A30 Iron Bridge. Work is proceeding slowly towards Roche and the Iron Bridge problem remains to be resolved. |
Gweek - a walk to find a clapper bridge
| My Guild of Cornish Hedgers friend Robin Menneer had told me about clapper bridges at Ponson Tuel near Gweek so, at the end of March 2008, I set off to find them. I parked at Gweek - difficult in the season - and did a walk of my own devising (OS103). I headed west above the Helford River to Mellangoose, south to Rose-in-the-bush, then roughly east on byways and (on a difficult to find path) down to Ponson Tuel. Finally, roughly north on busy Gweek Drive back to the little village. I was a dull day and, happily, the only shaft of sunlight came at the clapper bridges. A delightful spot, on a quiet lane in beech woodland, with a ford and the two clappers, the smaller presumably over a former leat - the Cornish Pons an Tywel means bridge by the conduit. Unfortunately, the woodland, like most around the Helford River, is private. I had hoped also to post an item about Gweek but tide and weather prevented decent photos - the one below is an old one - so later, I hope. What I can now tell you about Gweek is that the tea garden opposite the pub is excellent. |
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| We chose a perfect day in February 2006, when sister Mary was staying, to walk on Kit Hill before visiting Tavistock. There is a lot of interest up here. Remains vary from a bronze age cairn, through a great Georgian earthwork folly and quarries that exported granite as far as Singapore, to mines that worked into the 20th century. On the crest a handsome mine chimney stands on the folly. Views are ravishing, south to Plymouth Sound, east to Dartmoor, north and west across miles of Cornwall. There is ample parking near the park entrance and near the top of the hill. A seasonal café is across the road just before you reach the entrance. This is definitely a place we must revisit with more time to spare. |
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Around Menabilly - a Literary and Antiquarian Walk
| When walking between
Par
Docks and Polkerris I had passed
Kilmarth,
Daphne
du Maurier's last home. Since my circular coast path walk was
only 5 miles, I decided to do some further research to see if I could take
a photo of Menabilly (Manderley),
and find the Tristan Stone and the
related
Castle Dore.
I moved the car from Polkerris to the Menabilly Barton car park (the honesty box is a milk churn at the farm) and set off down to Polridmouth Cove. This is the southern limit of the Rashleigh family's Menabilly Estate. From there I walked up through the National Trust's Coombe Farm Estate, up the lane beyond Lankelly Farm, then right for the Tristan Stone. Returning to Lankelly, I turned west on the Saints Way and then back down to Polkerris before I remembered that the car was no longer there. Back I trudged, up through the woods and across the fields to get to the lane down to Menabilly Barton and the car. To my delight, on foot this time, I found the west lodge to Menabilly and a photographable distant view of the house. A successful day concluded by finding a pull-in close to Castle Dore for photos of this historic site before heading back home, tired from ten or a dozen miles walking. |
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| All on Ordnance Survey Explorer 107. Generally easy walking. |
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| I walked in Tehidy Country Park for the first time in September 2007, in the course of a different walk from Portreath to Gwithian, part inland, part coast. My purpose was to see what progress had been made on the Portreath Branchline Trail (little yet) and to see whether the Tehidy Trail was complete. The Portreath Branchline has some way to go but, except for its beginning at Portreath, where it will share the Portreath Incline with the Branchline Trail, the Tehidy Trail is more-or-less complete. I entered the park at East Lodge, walked along past the golf course and through fairly dense woodland to Coombe before heading north to join the Coast Path. The Tehidy Trail has been constructed to cycle and wheelchair standard but seems to be used mainly by dog walkers. It's not really my kind of walking anmd it seems to me a great shame that so many trails in Cornwall that have been made to a high standard at great expense should be so little used. After I had completed ny Portreath to Gwithian walk, I parked at South Lodge for some photos of the lake. I have to confess that, like the trail through the park, I didn't find the lake very interesting either. |  |
| OS Explorer 104. Parking at East Lodge |
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Three Ancient Manors near Bude - a countryside walk
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Late September 2006 and I had just bought new boots - Meindl Burmas - and decided to avoid the hazards of the coast path and the high moors for their breaking-in walk. I had read recently about a long abandoned moated manor house in Poundstock parish but near Week St. Mary, a late Norman manor called Penhallam. Consulting the appropriate Ordnance Survey Map, I figured out an easy country walk using the Penhallam car park. A half mile woodland walk took me south to the site, then I headed east to Ashbury to find a primitive farm and some iron-age earthworks. Back past Penhallam, south to Sudcott, an expensive looking farm with overly neatly massacred hedgerows, no Cornish hedges in these parts. West and north then on lanes and field paths to find a beautiful longhouse and a sunken green lane at East Hele farm. Over more fields to find my second manor, the elegant Georgian Gothic fronted Newmill Manor; in August 2004, when Boscastle was so badly flooded, the river here rose about 10 feet and must have flooded the house. I continued north to my third manor, Penfound, where owner Richard Betts clearly enjoys his privacy but at least I was able to get a good look at the ancient Manor Farm, very Thomas Hardy! I returned by much the same route but omitting Sudcott and Ashbury. One of the few Cornish walks that has felt like English country. Great boots! |
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On OS Explorer 111. |
| Richard Betts, owner of Penfound Manor, clearly enjoys his privacy and chains and a 'Not open to the public' sign discourage a close view. A shame as the Tudor and Stuart house is built around a medieval hall. But I did like his Victorian private post box. At least I was able to get a good look at the farm - modern red-brick front hides an older building and the farmyard behind looks like something out of Thomas Hardy and parts probably date from Tudor times. East Hele looks considerably more prosperous and the handsome longhouse (the animals occupied the left part) is probably now a holiday renta |
Tywarnhayle - a round walk - Chapel Porth, Porthtowan, Mount Hawke
| A mild and wet October 2006 had gone, in its place a chill and bright November. Peter Stanier's Cornwall's Mining Heritage had a description of Tywarnhale and Wheal Ellen mines, behind Porthtowan so I walked from Chapel Porth to Porthtowan along the coast, then over the hill where the mines are sited to Mount Hawke and back by Mingoose. The coastal section was superb with long views south to Godrevy Head and Light. Porthtowan is a dreadful little holiday and surfing village with one saving grace, Blue, the parent bar to our favourite Blue South in Falmouth. I had a good coffee there. It was a truggle up to the mines and worse coming down again as I missed the path but the mine remains were worth it. A 'Gold Path' then led up to Mount Hawke village, through delightful beech woodland and past a well hung with votive offerings. Mount Hawke's pub is in the old Victorian school; more good coffee. Then by Mingoose and down Chapel Combe, past the remains of Wheal Charlotte, to return to Chapel Porth. The sun was leaving Chapel Porth but the superb beach café was open so more coffee to finish the day. Altogether I did around 8 miles of relatively easy walking. |  |
| OS Explorer 104. NT parking at Chapel Porth |
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Hamatethy Down and Helsbury Castle - walked from St. Breward
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The purpose of this
walk - my last of 2006 - was to take a look at Helsbury Castle, an iron
age hill fort just off the road from Camelford to Bodmin
and fairly close to Michaelstow. I didn't choose a very good day
for it. The forecast had promised sun until midday but when I left
St. Breward there was already heavy cloud and long before I got as far
as Helsbury Castle it was absolutely bucketing down. The result was
that I could get no decent photos of the fort which I shall revist in better
weather. However, that didn't spoil the walk which had a lot of interest
along the way.
My route took me north from St. Breward on the road, then down a lane towards Hamatethy and then up over Hamatethy Down to Henon and Trecarne. The Down was clearly highly populated at one time as cairns, hut circles and field boundaries are clearly in evidence (if not on the map). At Trecarne Ford I was grateful for the clapper bridge as the River Camel was in spate. Lanes (and a bit of busy road) to Helsbury Castle, then a mixture of lanes and cross country back to St. Breward by Treveighan, Michaelstow and Fentonladle. A fairly easy walk of six miles or so with a total climb of around 900 feet. Usual great panini - in front of a roaring fire - at the Old Inn. |
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OS Explorer 109. |
St. Clether and the Inny Valley
| In May 2007 I parked by St. Clether church to find St. Clederus holy well and chapel and some Cornish crosses. First an out-and-back, north-west up the Inny to find the chapel and well; then a short out-and-back west for the two crosses; lastly I looked at Elizabethan Basill Manor to start a four mile round walk to the south of St. Clether. I found the chapel and well with no trouble. On the second leg I found a very impressive 8ft tall cross by walking the wall of a leat that once served Basill's derelict water mill . Another cross I found by entering a field on the right at the top of the hill beyond Basill; very truncated, it is invisible from the road. My third leg took me south from Basill Manor, through woods and fields to Trecollas Farm, then south-west on a lane to the Rising Sun Inn, and finally north-west by Polgray Farm, up a delightful green lane and over fields down to the River Inny and up again to St. Clether. An enjoyable walk. Another Inny walk |
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