The South West Coast Path - South Cornwall: A review

 

Plymouth: Royal William Victualling Yard

Introduction

Cornwall as a whole accounts for 287 of the 630 miles of the South West Coast Path. The Guide produced by the South West Coast Path Association divides the county into three sections, South, West and North, which seems very sensible and I am going to do the same. We have just finished South Cornwall - from the Tamar to Carrick Roads at St Anthony Head, a distance of 74 miles - and here are our impressions.


Impressions

Most of this section was completed this year, when we have embarked on a policy of doing more frequent walks with the intention of bringing forward the completion date.

We started by crossing the Tamar from Plymouth and it was good to quickly escape the long urban section around Plymouth, by far the largest settlement on the Coast Path.

As ever, the route was dominated by some major headlands. Initially, Rame Head, seen below looking back from Portwrinkle, then Gribbin Head with its red and white beacon and later Black Head and Nare Head, where we were memorably drenched. It was only after Nare Head that the coast was anything other than up and down.

There were pretty fishing ports such as Looe, Polperro (below) and Mevagissey

And there were some lovely secluded beaches. This is Great Lantic Beach, between Polperro and Polruan.

The section between Looe and Polperro was easily the busiest we have yet encountered on the entire coast.

There were churches named after unusual saints such as St Fimbarrus in Fowey and villages with strange names too like London Apprentice and Readymoney.

We thought there were fewer holiday villages than in South Devon, although there was a big one between Lower Portpean and Mevagissey at Pentewan.

One abiding memory will be the unusual warning sign on the same section advising of "undermining" by badgers. It seemed to suggest deliberate sabotage by these creatures.


Stages

40 Plymouth (Cremyll Ferry) to Rame Head

41 Rame Head to Portwrinkle

42 Portwrinkle to Looe

43 Looe to Polperro

44 Polperro to Polruan

45 Fowey to Lower Porthpean

46 Lower Porthpean to Mevagissey

47 Mevagissey to Gorran Haven

48 Gorran Haven to Portloe

49 Portloe to Portscatho

50 Portscatho to St Anthony

Portscatho to St Anthony (South West Coast Path 50)

 Portscatho beach

This is the final walk of this trip and we set off from Portscatho following the sea front. This is a bit of a novelty as the last two walks have begun with a steep climb. It is low water and the beach looks more interesting that we had realised.

There is soon a great view across a very calm Gerrand Bay and yesterday's landmarks, Nare Head and Gull Rock are very clear, with the day before's, Dodman Point, also in view behind.

We are soon walking along a grassy low cliff and noticing how different this section of coast is: low rocky shelves rather than sandy coves.

This soon gives way to the large sandy expanse of Towan Beach.

At the back of the beach is a what looks at first sight like a sort of totem pole, or perhaps something for kids to climb up. It turns out it is called the Wreck Post was put there by the coastguard to help practice rescuing people from a ship using a breeches buoy. It is meant to simulate a ship's mast.

A little further on you come to Kilgerran Head where there another fine view back.

The view west is lovely too, with The Lizard on the horizon and Zone Point in the foreground. 

As we head uphill towards zone point we pass above the inviting sandy beach at Porthbeor. Unfortunately, according to a National Trust notice, there is now no safe way down following a rock fall. Suddenly the view to the right opens up with a view across to St Mawes on the other side of the Roseland Peninsula.

 Soon after this, we reach St Anthony Head and pass the remains of World War II gun emplacements.
 Pendennis Castle can be seen across Carrick Roads, with Falmouth behind.

This is another view across Carrick Roads, with the top of the St Anthony lighthouse.

We climb down to near the waterside to continue round towards Place House and soon enjoy this fantastic view towards St Mawes castle. It was built 1540-43 and was one of the large network of coastal defences constructed by Henry VIII.

Around about here the path was definitively closed by a rockfall and we had no option but to turn back.

Conditions: warm and bright.

Grading: Easy.

Distance: 6.2 miles. Distance now covered: 295.4 miles.

Map: Explorer 105 (Falmouth & Mevagissey).

Rating: four stars.

Portloe to Portscatho (South West Coast Path 49)

 Looking back to Portloe

After such a lovely day yesterday, we knew from the weather forecast that today would not be so good and we duly set out from Portloe in cloud and drizzle. We made the inevitable steep climb up out of the village and headed along the cliff to turn Menare Point, and lose sight of Portloe behind us. We could see the headland of The Blouth ahead with Gull Rock beyond it.

Having crossed it, we descended a steep-sided grassy bottom at the back of Kiberick Cove. This is the view looking down from the opposite side.

As we approached the main landmark of this leg, Nare Head, it began to rain heavily and photography had to be suspended as we plodded on in driving rain. Just as we turned the corner, the rain abated and we saw the expanse of Gerrans Bay, with what looked like rather lower cliff tops ahead than we have become used to.

We gradually descended to sea level from the 90 or so metres of Nare Head and had a good view along wave-tossed Carne Beach. Portscatho is the white smudge on the left.

We decided to break for lunch at the Nare Hotel. This was the view back over the beach towards Nare Head. It is just possible to make out two dots in the water which are all that is visible of two mad boys using their body boards.

We had a pleasant enough lunch in the hotel dining room, feeling slightly out of place in our wet walking clothes, and looped round the hotel to rejoin the coast path. Unfortunately, it had started raining again. After Pendower Beach, we followed the high path along a sloping cliff where there was a most impressive crop of Early Purple Orchids.

We descended to briefly walk on Portbean Beach and climbed up through what seemed to be an abandoned garden to descend again to a (Coastguard?) lookout station. There was a nice view back to Nare Head and Gull Rock in a spell of late afternoon sunshine.

Across the small bay, Portscatho, still surprisingly far away, glistened whitely.

Conditions: wet at first, but brighter later.

Rating of this section: Moderate.

Distance: 7.5 miles. Distance now covered: 289.2 miles.

Map: Explorer 105 (Falmouth & Mevagissey).

Rating: 3 and half stars.

Gorran Haven to Portloe (South West Coast Path 48)

Back on the South West Coast Path. We climbed up from Gorran Haven and enjoyed a great view over the deceptively large beach.  As we walked along the grassy cliff top there was soon (minor) excitement when I spotted my first Green Veined White of the year.

We followed a charming path descending towards sea level.

We followed the path round the headland and had our first views of Dodman Point, with Bow or Vault Beach (it says on the map)  in the foreground. 

Once we reached Dodman Point we saw that there is a large, but rather crude, cross erected in 1886. The Lizard can be glimpsed on the horizon to the left.

The next section of coast stretched away invitingly.

We followed a grassy cliff top path to reach to a rather nice, quiet beach at Hemmick.

Greeb Point offered a nice view back over this part of Veryan Bay towards Dodman Point.

After a while, we reached Portluney Cove, with Caerhays Castle improbably behind it.

Seen from the road which passes the back of the beach, the castle is undeniably picturesque. It was built in 1808 by John Nash of Brighton Pavilion fame for John Bettesworth-Trevanion. Later in the 19th century new owners opened up the view to the sea. It now has a garden famous for its collection of magnolias and azalias.

The next landmark was the very exposed village of East Portholland with its substantial sea defences.

A little further along is the smaller West Portholland where we visited friends in October 2006 and had our first and never-to-be-forgotten encounter with the coast path. We were dropped off somewhere - we can't quite remember where - and walked back to their house. It took us far longer than we could ever imagined and we arrived in the gathering dusk with them wondering what had happened to us. A couple of photos from 2006 strongly suggest that we walked from Portscatho, via Portloe - 9.5 miles. Well outside what we what we would have regarded as normal!

Just beyond West Portholland there was a fine view across the whole bay to Dodman Point. We never tire of saying "look how far we've come".

The final two miles to Portloe are rated as strenuous and this was well justified. I did see however see my first Wall (or Wall Brown) butterflies of the year.  Soon afterwards we encountered a rather ill-matched couple: she was wearing black leather boots and a dress, he was wearing walking clothes. We wondered if perhaps they had met for a first date with rather different expectations.

The wildflowers, which we had seen in profusion all day, were extremely numerous. It was like walking through an overgrown herbaceous border.

We were also struck by dense drifts of bluebells on both sides on the path on one sloping section. 

As we approached Portloe, we could see the next big landmarks - Nare Head and Gull Rock, with Zone Point behind them. One of the inlets concealed Portloe, but which one would it be?

Of course, it was one of the further ones, but finally we made it to the pretty village of Portloe.

Conditions: mostly bright and sunny, but clouding over towards the end.

Grading: Moderate becoming Strenuous.

Distance: 8.8 miles. Distance now covered: 281.7 miles.

Map: Explorer 105 (Falmouth & Mevagissey).

Rating: four stars.

Mevagissey to Gorran Haven (South West Coast Path 47)

Mevagissey: The inner harbour

We are just doing a short stretch today as we have to be heading home. It will make the next key point, Portloe, easier to get to next time. We leave Mevagissey by, inevitably, climbing up from the harbour. The tide is out, but the inner harbour and the village are still picturesque.

The lighthouse on the outer harbour is especially lovely in the hazy morning. The tip of Black Head is visible in the background.

We follow the road round to Portmellon, with its shallow sandy beach and walk along a private road towards Chapel Point.

The coast path leaves the roads and descends to the the cliff edge and then across a grassy area towards Chapel Point. This picturesque group of houses look like they were built for a monastery or artists commune. Pevsner says that they were built by J A Campbell between 1934 and 1939. I have also discovered that the architect's own house is a listed building.

Adjoining Chapel Point is the peaceful Colona Beach.

Now, after a bit a climb, it was along the cliff tops towards Gorran Haven.

We reached the village and descended the narrow street to pass the picturesque St Just's church. Inside it consists only of a short nave with a ship's keel roof. Pevsner says it was largely rebuilt in 1885.

At the bottom you come to the lovely sandy beach with a breakwater to the right.

That's it for this trip. I pondered when we started out from Polperro on Wednesday whether we could still hack it after a six months layoff. I am pleased to report that we can. In fact we can't wait to continue.

Conditions: grey with a hint of rain, cool.

Grading: Easy.

Distance: 3.3 miles. Distance now covered 272.9 miles.

Map: Explorer 105 (Falmouth and Mevagissey).

Rating: three and half stars. A nice short walk with some interesting sights.

Lower Porthpean to Mevagissey (South West Coast Path 46)

St Austell Bay

We set out from Lower Porthpean beach, which had struck us as a nice one for kids, and made the inevitable climb to the cliff top. We were very struck by how calm the sea was and by its pale turquoise colour. Out to sea, a couple of fishing boats were moored and around both of them hundreds of cormorants were floating in the sea. Sadly, they were too far out for  a photo

We walked along the cliff top and were surprised by a notice warning of a badger set ahead. It was a helpful warning however because there was a large hole in the middle of the path.

As we approached Black Head we were concerned to see another notice advising of a diversion because of a cliff fall. For the first time ever, this actually made the walk shorter as we were directed slightly inland from the Head itself. Once round the corner the next section of coast stretched out before us.
 

At Hallane, we admired this cottage part way up the winding valley.

A bit further in there was a fine view across St Austell Bay towards Mevagissey, with its furthest extremity, Chapel Point, clearly visible on the left. We were please to see the blackthorn blossom in the foreground.

Soon there was a classic coast path combination of a steep climb down steps to sea level, followed by an equally steep climb up steps back to the clifftop. We were rewarded with a great view of the coast stretching back to Black Head.

From a little further on, you could see across Black Head to Gribbin Head with its beacon surprisingly clear amidst the cloudy sky.

This was a particularly indented stretch of coastline.

But as we reached Pentewan things changed. First we passed an intriguing group of buildings: a chapel (with a cross enriched with light bulbs outside), a fine terrace of houses with a splendid veranda in front and then a handsome Georgian house with lovely windows.

We descended to sea level and walked through the village and along the road to skirt the large holiday village which is set back from the lovely sandy beach. This is the view looking back once we had regained the cliff top.

This cliff top section contained a further badger warning: this section of path was being "undermined" by badgers. It seemed a bit extreme, as if the poor old badgers were waging a military campaign.

Eventually we reached houses on the outskirts of Mevagissey and descended to enjoy this lovely view of the Outer Harbour in the evening sunshine, with Chapel Point in the background. The Inner Harbour was built only in 1774, with the outer one following in 1888. It had to be rebuilt in 1897.

Conditions: cloudy, but bright and quite warm

Grading: Strenuous. 

Distance: 6.5 miles. Distance now covered 269.6 miles.

Map: Explorer 105 (Falmouth & Mevagissey).

Rating: three and half stars. A pleasant but not very distinctive section. We saw quiet few typical seasonal wildflowers (celandine, stitchwort, red campion, violet, broom) and a few Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies.