Cornwall 2009

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Saturday 28th March: Arlesey to Higher Menadew Farm via Bristol

Despite our best attempts, we weren't really ready to set off on holiday on Saturday morning – Jeremy had been doing last-minute proofreading until 4am on Douglas's thesis and Helen spent the morning setting the agenda and printing the paperwork for the next BSR Council meeting. Nonetheless, we eventually left home at 2:15 with the house tidy, the bins emptied and only a few things forgotten.

The journey was remarkably good (apart from the Luton bit – we should have used the A1) and we arrived in Frenchay at 5 to see Simes & Rachel, marvel at how much Ollie had grown, and meet Elise for the first time. It was fantastic to see them and they supplied us with much-appreciated tea, fruit cake and apple strudel (Helen having rather more than her share of the last!). We left them (reluctantly) at 7.

Again, the journey was amazing – almost no delays anywhere apart from the occasional patch of roadworks with 50mph limits and average speed checks. We had originally said we hoped to arrive at about 9 (this was when we planned to leave the house at 11, but were being pessimistic about traffic) and amazingly, we managed it! Anita met us on the drive and waved us into our parking space; and then we got to see the amazing place we're staying for the next week. The ground floor has two bedrooms, a bathroom with spectacular walk-in shower, and a laundry/drying room; the upstairs is an open-plan kitchen cum dining room cum sitting room with lovely Vettriano-style prints on the wall and a wood-burning stove.

Sitting room of Trebowan	Bedroom at Trebowan

Thanks to a modicum of organisation and the wonderful food4myholiday.com, our fridge was ready-stocked with vegetables, local meats and a freshly-made fish pie for supper, which really took the edge of unpacking. There was also a fantastic cheddar from Worthy Farm, although we didn't find that until later. Jeremy sorted out the kitchen and dinner while Helen emptied the cases. Unfortunately we realised there were a few essentials missing from our packing/shopping – notably cooking oil and towels – but given the limited time we'd put into planning, we were delighted to be in such a gorgeous location, with friendly owners and almost everything sorted out – and nothing important to do!

Sunday 29th March: Polkerris, ReadyMoney Cove and Gribbin Head

It was fantastic to wake up with no alarm, in a sunny room with the whole day ahead of us. Breakfast was cereal (as usual), bacon and mushrooms on toast, and finally a scone each with strawberry jam and clotted cream. These had been left for us last night as a welcome by Andrew and Anita (who run Higher Menadew Farm) and we'd only eaten half.

We set off for St Austell to stock up on the things we'd forgotten (like towels) or hadn't found (like local OS maps). We found Tesco with no difficulty; sadly we'd obviously run out of our combined organisational capacity as we got there with neither purse nor wallet! Following a raid on the small stash of coins for the M6 Toll (which yielded £6.05) and a student-style trip round the supermarket adding up totals and buying the cheapest of everything, we had a newspaper, olive oil, bottles of water for walks and some deodorant. And 72p. But that's enough stuff to last for another day so we went on to our planned walk: number 17 from Cornwall walks in the pathfinder guide series.

We drove to Polkerris, where there was a pay-and-display car park (disaster!). Then Jeremy realised he'd put a handful of coins in his pocket before leaving in the morning, and that turned out to contain the requisite £2 coin for a day's parking. We walked down to the village and its lovely harbour:

The view down into Polkerris	The view up through Polkerris	Polkerris harbour

The walk began with a steep, dappled climb through woodland to the cliff tops along the South West Coast Path. It's a circular walk around a headland but we were doing the inland section first, so at the top we turned away from the sea towards Tregaminion.

Helen climbing through the woods	Dappled sunshine in the woods

The inland section of the walk was beautiful – not at all the quick route-march you expect when crossing from one lovely coast to another. We passed next to a field with some very new calves at Tregaminion farm, and got our first view of the sea "on the other side". After a gorse-lined track along a field, another patch of dappled woodland and some stepping stones, we met piglets at Lankelly farm. Finally we emerged into the edges of Fowey by a garden full of beautiful daffodils, wandered along a couple of lanes lined with wild primroses and down through woods, and emerged onto the coast for lunch.

Young calf at Tregaminion	First view of the opposite coast	Gorse-lined track
Piglets at Lankelly farm	Piglets at Lankelly farm	Daffodils near Fowey

We came out onto the coast above St Catherine's point and sat on a bench facing the sea to have our lunch. To our left we could see across the River Fowey to Polruan; to our right, along the coast to Gribbin Head with the Gribbin Tower daymark.

Gribbin Head from the West	Polruan, beyond the River Fowey	Polruan

We walked along the coastal path towards Gribbin Head, crossing Coombe Haven and getting some really spectacular coastal views. The gorse was in fantastic colour and we even spotted a wreck (just the crow's nest showing) on the rocks.

Gorse	View back towards Fowey	The crow's nest of a shipwreck	Coastal view towards Gribbin Head

The next cove around was Polridmouth. This bay used to belong to the Menabilly estate (which our walk encircled) where Daphne Du Maurier lived and wrote. There is a house right next to the cove – clearly very desirable holiday accommodation – and a landscaped lake with ducks and swans. As we climbed away from Polridmouth, we were also lucky enough to see a very friendly robin.

Polridmouth cove	The house at Polridmouth	Robin

We rounded Gribbin Head (after the imaginatively-named Sandy Cove) to reach Gribbin Tower, a 25 metre high daymark erected by Trinity House in 1832. It's clearly been painted more recently than that!

Gribbin Tower on Gribbin Head

The route back was very straightforward – we just followed the South West Coast Path along the top of the cliffs to Polkerris. The views didn't falter, and we even found hawthorn in bloom (and it's still March!).

View along the coastal path	Helen and hawthorn	Approaching Polkerris from the East	Polkerris harbour in the evening sun

We drove home and were again surprised by just how lovely our cottage – Trebowan – is. Jeremy cooked duck breasts (again, from the pre-stocked fridge) for supper.

Tuesday 31st March: Fowey

An easy day. In the afternoon we drove to Fowey to have a look round. It's a lovely quaint harbour village, full of steep slopes, steps and snickets. The parish church is delightful, and just behind it is what looks like a fully-fledged castle but is privately owned.

Fowey parish church tower		The hidden castle at Fowey	Fowey church in springtime bloom

We walked down to the waterfront for a view out along the estuary, with the two blockhouses either side, from which a chain used to be suspended to ward off invasions. Exploring within the village, we found the Grammar School Garden – a lovely little corner!

Estuary of the River Fowey	St Catherine's Point	Fowey street	Helen in the Grammar School Garden
Navigation light at Fowey	Blockhouse near Polruan	Blockhouse near Fowey

Wednesday 1st April: Charlestown and the coast to Pentewan

The weather was spectacular – even better than on Sunday – so we headed to the coast. Driving through St Austell, we went down to the sea at Charlestown, whose name we knew as the home of many of the best restaurants in the area. When we got there we discovered a small harbour complete with tall ships being actively repaired.

Tall ships at Charlestown
Charlestown harbour	Tall ship at Charlestown	Seagulls at Charlestown
	View from the end of Charlestown harbour		Boat under repair at Charlestown

We drove on south along the coast towards the Ropehaven Cliffs Nature Reserve, and parked above it (near Trenarren) where the South West Coast Path touches the lane. There we set off along the coast path, initially through woodland and then along cliff edges in sunny fields. After an hour or so we reached the headland of Black Head, which was apparently once a fort, and made that our lunch stop.

Helen climbing past hawthorn blossom	View back towards Charlestown	View of Gribbin Head	Black Head
May blossom	Memorial on the approach to Black Head	View north from Black Head	Twinkling seas from Black Head
The end of Black Head	Wild flowers		Black Head sign

On leaving Black Head, the walk continued to be beautiful (and not too strenuous) – there were young-ish lambs, dappled stiles, and of course the lovely coastal views.

Curious lamb	Helen at a stile	Heading towards The Vans
The cove before Sconhoe Beach	Field-side path	Chaffinch singing on a stile

At one point we encountered some slightly odd sculptures just as we were entering woodland at The Vans; we also saw some of the best primroses of the holiday so far!

Woodland sculpture	Primroses

Finally we rounded the last headland and got our view of Pentewan Beach. We walked on together to Pentewan, where Helen stopped. Jeremy did the inland hike back to the car (probably another mile and a half on top of the 3 and a bit we'd done already) while Helen sat outside the Ship Inn in Pentewan drinking lemonade and watching the crows.

Pentewan beach	Crow playing with a crisp packet	Crow in flight	Pentewan

Thursday 2nd April: Lerryn and St Winnow

We drove to Lerryn, a route that involved almost nothing bigger than a B-road, to do walk 1 of Cornwall walks. The weather was just as sunny but a little colder. Our route started in a car park which had fun notices saying it would flood at high tide! We went into the village to cross the bridge as the walk was on the other side of the river.

View from Lerryn bridge	The lane leading to the riverside

The outward half of the walk was along the bank of the River Lerryn (becoming the River Fowey as it heads downstream). The tide was out, which the book seemed to think would make life less picturesque, but the landscapes were beautiful. We stopped for lunch on a bench facing the river.

Boat on the mudflats	Ethy Woods sign	Tree growing ferns	Uniform density of canopy
View downriver	View from our lunch spot	Across the sandbanks

After crossing a couple of fields, we reached a stretch where the path was actually in the river bed. At high tide, apparently, we would have had wet feet. Here we came across the gorgeous St Winnow Church (favoured by film makers according to our guide), right on the edge of the river. We stopped for a drink in the churchyard.

St Winnow Church	Jeremy at St Winnow	Helen and the River Fowey	Looking upriver
Across the river	Boat on a sandbank	Looking downriver	St Winnow Church
St Winnow churchyard	Primroses in St Winnow churchyard

The return route was further inland, climbing through fields and passing the stately home of Ethy (which looked newer than we expected). We finished back at Lerryn, where we crossed the river on stepping stones directly to the car park.

Looking back over St Winnow church	Looking back over the River Fowey	Helen climbing a field
Private garden near Ethy	View downriver from the stepping stones	View of Lerryn bridge from the stepping stones

Friday 3rd April: Charlestown, Mevagissey and Dodman Point

We went out for lunch today – to Charlestown, which we'd visited on Wednesday and looked very attractive. After wandering up and down and inspecting the menus, we settled on "The Wreckers", a bistro-style café. Helen had a fishcake platter (two enormous home-made fishcakes with salad) and Jeremy a tempura fish fry. The fishcakes were better. After lunch we drove to Mevagissey, which has spectacularly narrow streets and a surprising car park at the end of the harbour. We parked and walked to the end of Stuckumb Point, then climbed steps up above the harbour and descended gradually round into the village. On the way back in we went in the tiny aquarium and were surprised by how good it was: lobsters attacking starfish and a massive conger eel!

Mevagissey lighthouse	Mevagissey harbour	Conger eel at Mevagissey aquarium	Stuckumb Point, Mevagissey

Next we drove to Penare for a rather short and blustery walk. We took a track from the National Trust car park to a small right-to-roam region on the end of Dodman Point, which has a circular walk around it. It's cut off by a bulwark, which is apparently the remnant of some old strip-farming settlement. As we went up the track it was lovely and sunny, but that soon disappeared and we had a quick yomp round the end of the point. From the end you're supposed to be able to see Goonhilly, but we couldn't even see the horizon. Impressively, right on the most exposed tip of land, the hawthorn was in bloom. The coastal section of this walk is part of a much longer walk that we may try (in better weather) later in the holiday.

Jeremy at Dodman Point	Hardy hawthorn at Dodman Point

Saturday 4th April: Moving day; Stepper Point from Trevone

We were packed and out of Higher Menadew pretty efficiently – only 20 minutes after the required 10 o'clock – and rang ahead to see if it would be OK to go to the next place and at least drop off perishables in the fridge and freezer. It turned out there had been no-one in the previous week so we had free rein: so after a quick stop at Tesco in St Austell, we drove straight to Trevennel Cottage and unloaded the car.

The new cottage is very different from the last: part of an old house and decorated accordingly, the kitchen and bathroom are rather small but the bedroom is huge with lots of storage space, and the living room very cosy and warm.

The weather was looking very good, so rather than unpack properly we dumped the cases and headed off for a walk. Even after all the moving we still had a very good start, so we decided to make use of it and head over to the north coast. We chose walk 10 of Cornwall walks, which explores the coast just west of Padstow.

The walk starts from a car park on Trevone Bay (a shocking £3.50 for the day!) and immediately heads along the cliffs on the South West Coast Path. The weather looked as if it might deteriorate and then didn't, which was a bonus. We had lovely views of the surf crashing on the rocks, and almost immediately came to the imaginatively-named Round Hole. This is an impressive, erm, round hole in the ground, quite a way inland, which goes right down to the sea below.

Trevone bay	View across Trevone bay	Waymark on the cliff edge
Cliff view	Helen looking down Round Hole	Round Hole

We walked along the north coast, looking at the impressive rock strata, and a rather good double rock bridge at Porthmissen. There was a startling pinnacle of rock offshore, and we stopped to have our lunch in the shelter just before a local top, with a view of Gulland rock.

North coast near Trevone	Rock strata	Porthmissen bridge	Contorted rock strata
Spectacular rock pinnacle	Gulland rock	Rock pinnacle	View westwards towards Trevose Head

The next section was mostly a gentle climb, slightly windy, but over springy turf and very enjoyable walking. The last bay before Stepper Point is called Butter Hole, and has some very blue slate strata in its cliffs. The daymark on the point gradually came into view; known as the Pepperpot, the book claims it's dangerous to explore, but it looked pretty solid to us.

First glimpse of the Pepperpot		Butter Hole	Looking back from Stepper Point
Helen at the Pepperpot	View through a Pepperpot window		View straight up through the Pepperpot

Beyond Stepper Point, we cut down in front of a Coastguard lookout, and came out of the wind and into views of Padstow Bay. We descended to the beach and stopped for coffee and biscuits and watched a family learning how to fly a stunt kite (quite fun, but we were glad to be out of string's length!).

Helen descending from Stepper Point	Padstow Bay	Looking out over Padstow Bay
Out to sea from Padstow Bay	Inland from Padstow Bay

We followed the Coast Path along almost to the outskirts of Padstow, where there is a War Memorial overlooking the bay, with lovely views. The rest of the walk was a rather functional yomp back across the headland to Trevone Bay, except that as we topped the head and came down towards our start point there were fine twinkling seas in the lowering sunshine.

Entrance to Padstow War Memorial	War Memorial	Last views of Padstow Bay
Approaching Trevone Bay for the end of our walk

We drove home, pausing for petrol and a couple of things we'd forgotten in the morning, and had a relaxed evening of prawn risotto and unpacking. The low table in the sitting room turned out to be just what the jigsaw needed.

Sunday 5th April: St. Mawes and St. Just

The weather was the best yet, so we decided to have a walk with no car transport involved. Mr. Morse had told us there was a permissive footpath down through the farm to Percuil Creek, so we planned to use this to the coast, then follow a footpath round to St. Mawes and (if it was running) take the ferry across to St. Anthony Head and walk 9 of Cornwall Walks.

We had a little difficulty at the beginning of the path – the first stile was very overgrown – but we'd seen a footpath arrow so we had confidence. Then we came to a place where there was a sturdy fence right across the path. Since we had the official word of the landowner, we carried on with confidence, climbing the fence and following a delightful dappled footpath along the side of the stream.

When we came to the end of the Creek the path turned right, and us with it; and it gradually became more private-feeling, with stone benches and steps and a general aura of "garden belonging to a big house". Eventually we rounded the next headland (where a proper footpath was marked on the map) to find a thick layer of barbed wire between us and where we were supposed to be. We walked in the bed of a stream and climbed in over a bridge to reach legality.

From there on it was straightforward – the footpath stayed mostly at the water's edge and we had pleasant views of the eastern outskirts of St. Mawes. We reached the main harbour – the first really touristy-feeling place we'd been – at about 2:30.

View from the end of Percuil Creek		Looking east from the St. Mawes peninsula
Quayside east of St. Mawes		Approaching St. Mawes

St. Mawes harbour is lined with hotels and cafés, filled with yachts and small boats, and well-populated with seagulls. Unfortunately the ferry to St. Anthony Head doesn't run until Easter (next week) but there is a chap with a boat who essentially runs a taxi across the bay. We decided to make today's walk into a circuit around St. Mawes itself, and save the other headland for another day. We took some steps down onto the quayside and ate our sandwiches (and wrote our postcards) in the sun.

Petrol station at St. Mawes	Seagull	View out from our lunch spot
Boats at St. Mawes	The sea wall	Sailing past St. Anthony Head

Next we headed along the coast towards St. Mawes castle. This is one of a pair with Pendennis Castle at Falmouth, and bills itself as "Henry VIII's most picturesque fort". We didn't go in, but the path around the outside – lined with hawthorn – was very attractive.

Lighthouse on St. Anthony Head	Coastline from St. Mawes	St. Mawes castle
Crenellation at St. Mawes castle	Jeremy and St. Mawes castle	St. Mawes castle

We headed along the coast from the castle, through National Trust property along some delightful mown paths. We were always by the sea and got some lovely views of yachts sailing. At one point we walked down to the shore and found sea anemones in a rock pool.

View back towards St. Mawes castle	Tregear Vean sign	Hawthorn on the coast	Path between hawthorn and gorse
Yacht on the Fal	Looking back at our path	Two yachts	Yacht at Messack Point
Yachts near St Just	Sea anemones in a rock pool		St Just in Roseland

Our path came out into the village of St-Just-in-Roseland itself, which seems to be a single road down to the quayside. The church is very attractive, and has tropical plants all around it. We took a gently climbing footpath back to the main road, which came out almost opposite the entrance to Trevennel Cottage.

The quay at St. Just		The church at St. Just	Looking across the bay from the footpath home

In the evening we decided to go out for dinner – for the first time this holiday – and booked into the Roseland Inn in Philleigh. This is a proper gastropub, with a dining end but happy for you to eat very good food in the bar area. Jeremy had scallops followed by a three-seafish dish; Helen had a venison and cashew nut stew. We finished with a shared hot chocolate fudge cake. Everything was really excellent – including the seat by the fire. On the way there, and again on the way back, we saw an owl by the side of the road. First it was on the hedge, then on a Give Way sign, and finally we saw it flying alongside the road. Very impressive!

Monday 6th April: Tregew to Trelew and Turnaware Point

Today was predicted (rightly) to be a bit rainy so we took it easy in the morning, with brunch and crossword in bed and a general air of relaxation. After lunch it perked up a bit so we decided to go for a short walk on the other side of the River Fal. We drove to the King Harry chain ferry (runs every 20 minutes for most of the day) and were lucky to catch the 2:10. From there we drove through the charmingly-named "Come-to-Good" and down just north of Penryn to a tiny place called Tregew.

We walked down through some horrible cabbagey fields into Flushing, and from then on we were on the front for practically the whole time. We had good views of Falmouth and the ships in dock there; we saw two small girls with a large collection of live crabs they'd caught, and lots of very energetic dogs being walked (or run). We finally came round to the Mylor Yacht Club, where we stopped to drink our coffee and Jeremy helped a chap put the string through the cover of his boat. Then we turned inland for the muddy climb back up to the car.

Small boats at Flushing		Very low in the water off Trefusis Point
The Clipper Beaune and the Nord Organiser	Huge ship waiting outside Falmouth	Mylor yacht club
Mylor Creek		Tranquil Trelew

On our return via the King Harry ferry we made a detour to Turnaware Point, from where many troops embarked for Omaha Beach in the D-Day landings. There was a long concrete approach road, built for the purpose, and a wide concrete apron – but of the "biscuit" construction into the water there was only a single chunk of concrete remaining. Frankly a bit disappointing!

War memorial at Turnaware Point	Single biscuit at Turnaware Point

In the evening we drove to Portscatho to eat at the Plume of Feathers. It was very friendly but not quite as impressive as the night before. We shared fish goujons to start, which were really excellent; then Jeremy had mussels (not quite hot enough and with some crunchy bits) and Helen a vegetable curry (fine but not very exciting).

Tuesday 7th April: Veryan to Nare Head and Portloe

We had a very laid-back morning of laundry and jigsaw, and had lunch at home before heading out to Veryan (not a long drive). The walk was number 20 of Cornwall Walks (the last one rated medium, or blue, before the dangerous red ones). We parked in Veryan a little way away from the path – and a long way away from the official start point; we started about 3/4 of the way round and cunningly got the longest stretch of road walk out of the way at the beginning.

Veryan is very pretty, with an old church, a scenic pond, and a pair of unusual round houses which were apparently supposed to provide no corners for the devil to hide in. From there, we walked down the road to a "working" watermill at Melinsey, where they were pumping the water up to make the wheel turn! Once we turned off the road, there was a very attractive woodland walk down to the sea, cutting through a farm at Lower Mill over a stream.

Round houses in Veryan	Stream at Lower Mill

We reached the coast at Pendower Beach, where we briefly went down to the shore. There was an option of walking the next stretch along the beach, but as the tide was in we couldn't take that path. Instead we used the Coast Path to Carne Beach – the official start point of the walk – where someone had enterprisingly converted a pillbox into a sort of summerhouse.

Pendower Beach			Converted pillbox at Carne

We followed the Coast Path (which was getting rather blustery by then) past Tregagle's Hole (haunted, according to the noises you hear in stormy weather!) and on to Nare Head. This was a slight detour but worth it to be absolutely on the end of the headland.

Tregagle's Hole	Nare Head sign	Helen at Nare Head	Jeremy at Nare Head

Once we rounded the headland it was, if anything, even windier, but we had views of Dodman Point (where we'd been on Friday). After descending to Kiberick Cove there was a pretty strenuous zigzag climb up below a grey-white house. When we reached it it displayed a notice saying it was available for B&B, and had been the location of "The Camomile Lawn" on TV several years ago. After that climb, we decided to pass on the option to descend into Portloe (a picturesque village but it didn't look better than Fowey) and instead skirted it on a path through fields.

Lemoria Rock	Clifftop grasses	Setting of the Camomile Lawn	Portloe

The walk back to Veryan was a pleasant, gradual climb through fields and coming out into the recreation ground by the church. As we got back to the car, it started to rain for the first time – perfect timing if only we hadn't left the washing out! In the evening we finished the jigsaw.

Finished jigsaw

Wednesday 8th April: St. Anthony Head and St. Mawes Harbour

The weather looked pretty good, so we headed off slightly more efficiently this morning to walk 9 of Cornwall Walks. We drove over to the next headland to the East – not a long drive and certainly not worth our earlier plan of walking to St. Mawes and getting the ferry across – and parked at Porth Farm.

The path was very quick to the coast – coming out at Towan Beach – and we immediately turned right along the low cliffs. The views were good from the very beginning, and when we reached Killigerran Head with its sight of the ships queueing for Falmouth we stopped for lunch and a laze in the sun.

Rocks at Towan beach	Towards Killigerran Head	Seagulls being sweet	View over Veryan Bay

The next stretch of cliff led to St. Anthony Head (with a peek over Zone Head towards St. Mawes on the way). There is a disused gun emplacement (used until 1956) at the end, and further round the working lighthouse – closed to the public, of course, but we were able to get close enough for a good look.

Pendennis castle from Zone Point	St. Mawes headland	St. Anthony's lighthouse
Oystercatchers off St. Anthony Head	St. Anthony's lighthouse

We continued on the South West Coast Path past the pretty Molunan Beach, and round Carricknath Point, from where we got proper views of St. Mawes and the yachts (and lobster-fishing boats) in its harbour. The castle was looking particularly good in the sunshine.

Scots pines near Molunan Beach	St. Anthony's lighthouse	First view of St. Mawes
Gathering lobsters at St. Mawes	St. Mawes Castle

We cut inland past Cellars beach and behind Place House, with its yellow frontage, and the 12th/13th Century St. Anthony-in-Roseland Church.

Blossom at Place House	St. Anthony-in-Roseland church		Place House

Just beyond Place House is the place where the ferry from St. Mawes comes in (after Easter at least) and a signpost saying it's just 1 and a half miles back to Porth Farm; but the book warned us it would take an hour. The path was very pleasant – winding through woodland with primroses and other flowers underfoot – and came out onto fields just before Froe, where it crossed a scenic inlet (or pill) on a long footbridge. From there it was a short pull back up to the car.

Footbridge across the pill head at Froe	Porth Creek at Froe

In the evening we went out to Veryan and had dinner in the New Inn. Jeremy had chilli King Prawns (good but very messy) and steak and kidney pie; Helen had garlic mushrooms and lasagne. It was all excellent but we were quite thoroughly full by the time we'd finished.

Thursday 9th April: Helford and Manaccan

The weather finally let us down today (it was bound to happen). After having lunch at home, we had an expedition that started out being for provisions – primarily milk, with a few add-ons – and ended up containing a short wet walk as well. We drove to Helford, not far from Helston, and parked. We were loosely basing our route on walk 12 of Cornwall Walks, but with an abrupt shortcut to avoid getting totally soaked.

We walked straight to Manaccan by the most direct route – the road – and were surprised to see daffodils being grown as a crop! When we reached Manaccan we had a brief exploration, looking at the attractive church and shop that Jeremy remembered, and then branched out onto a footpath back towards the coast.

Across the bay to Porth Navas	Field of daffodils	Cat in a window at Manaccan

The route back was through woodland – very attractive if a little squelchy underfoot – and came out to a wooden footbridge over the creek at the head of Helford village. There was a ford, clearly impassable at high tide (which it was), and a very short step up the road brought us back to the church and car park.

View from the head of Helford	Helford church

Friday 10th April: The Dodman, Gorran Haven and Portmellon

For our last day the weather dawned fine and sunny (what a contrast!) so we made a good start and drove to Porthluney Beach, right by Caerhays Castle. This well-positioned carpark is free – we liked that. The planned walk was number 28 (the last one!) of Cornwall Walks. We set off along the South West Coast Path (why break with the habit of a fortnight) past some surprisingly hairy cattle, and found the first stretch really quite arduous, with steep climbs and immediate descents, until we got round to Greeb Point.

Porthluney beach	Highland(!) cattle	Caerhays castle
Towards Greeb Point	Towards Greeb Point (with gorse)	Hemmick beach

The next stretch led us to Dodman Point (which we'd visited last Friday) and was quite a pull up. As we broached the bulwark which cuts the headland off, we were surprised to meet Dartmoor Ponies – there as part of a conservation programme – and also more people than we'd seen since we left the beach at the beginning of the walk.

Dartmoor ponies near Dodman Point	Dodman Point

We had our lunch just beyond Dodman Point – and while we were sitting there, were surprised by what sounded like thunder, but if anything lower and more diffuse. There were a few spots of rain and it looked as if our grand walk might not be as grand as we'd hoped: but nothing more came of it.

From Dodman Point along the coast to Gorran Haven was much easier going than the first stretch had been, and entirely appropriate for that slightly dopey bit after lunch. We passed another promising looking beach – Bow Beach – but this one had no surfers and very few people in total: maybe because the sands weren't quite so golden there?

Bow Beach	Gorran Haven

At Gorran Haven we had a decision to make. We could yield to tiredness and climb a dreary road short-cut, giving us about an hour and a half walk back; or we could push on along the coast for a more pleasant but longer walk. If the timings in the book were to be believed, that longer option would have us finishing the walk at close to 8pm... Nonetheless, seeing a spot of sunshine ahead on Maenease Point and baulking at the uphill road walk, we decided to take the longer option. It turned out to be a good decision. The coast path to Maenease Point and beyond to Portmellon was much more level than what we'd already traversed, and the sun came out. The white houses of Chapel Point looked very sweet as we headed towards them round the point.

Leaving Gorran Haven	Path to Maenease Point	Coast south of Maenease Point	Looking back to Gorran Haven
Rocks off Maenease Point	Chapel Point

When we got to the beach by Chapel Point, there was a seal swimming in the bay. Very difficult to photograph, but it really was there!

The bay by Chapel Point	Seal at Chapel Point

Once we'd left the seal behind, we climbed gently to the cliffs above Portmellon, where we paused on a bench for coffee and biscuits. A fishing boat was clearly throwing out discarded fish, to judge by the numbers of seagulls it had following it.

Fishing boat with gulls	Mevagissey	Clifftop house at Portmellon

From Portmellon we turned inland and into the West Bodrugan Wood nature reserve. This was beautiful – no bluebells yet, but plenty of primroses and dappled sunshine. As we left the nature reserve, there was also a really steep pull up before we got to Gorran Churchtown. This is completely separate from Gorran Haven, and contains (surprise!) a church.

Climb up to Gorran Churchtown	Gorran church

The final stretch was gently downhill through fields and along tiny lanes, and ended with us cresting the hill where we'd originally gone up, opposite Caerhays Castle.

Last descent to the sea	Caerhays Castle	Happy tired Helen	Happy tired Jeremy

We decended to Porthluney Beach, where the tide had come in, and watched the waves before setting off for home.

Waves at Porthluney Beach

On the drive home (difficult, driving into the low sun and avoiding the stupid pheasants) we found a barn owl flying along the road between the banks. We must have followed it for about 1km before it finally found a side turning and made its escape!

In the evening we went back to the Roseland Inn at Philleigh (as on Sunday) for dinner. Jeremy had fishcake (with a bit of help from Helen), steak, and a raisin bread-and-butter pudding; Helen had seabass and a chocolate brownie with clotted cream. Perfect Cornwall!

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