Walking west Cornwall

It scarcely seems possible, but it has been more than two years since I spent an enjoyable month traipsing around Cornwall. I was at first skeptical of writing another blog post as I had done two already that I thought must have encompassed all that Cornwall had to offer. But of course that’s not true; in reviewing my photos, I realized that west Cornwall, bounded roughly by St Ives and Penzance to the east, has its own distinctive look and feel. For this post I completed a series of day hikes: some loop hikes that incorporated both coastal and inland portions, and some simply point to point walks along the South West Coast Path. For the latter the convenient Cornwall bus system helped immeasurably. Using my Ordnance Survey (OS) app — with premium subscription — I was able to plot out these custom hikes, download the maps, and follow them with the GPS function on my phone. I used an OS guide book, Cornwall Outstanding Circular Walks, for ideas. Though only four years old, sadly it isn’t currently available from either Amazon or AbeBooks.

West Cornwall, Google Earth. The Yellow pins show some of places mentioned in the photos. The photos roughly follow an anti-clockwise loop, although in reality the hikes had no such order.

Pendeen loop from Botallack: 8.5 miles and 1100 ft elevation gain. Fantastic views, old mines, and a neolithic dolmen high on the moors. What’s not to like about this hike?

The Neolithic Chûn Quoit. This dolmen, from about 2400 BC, is one of the best preserved in Cornwall, never having its capstone resettled.

A shaggy-looking Highland Bull along the Southwest Coast Path (SWCP) near Morvah. He seemed very chill. Perhaps he was unable to see me walk by?

Picturesque Portheras Cove, east of Pendeen Watch. I had the small beach to myself this morning.

The Old Count House (a mine’s administrative building) and flowers, perched behind and above the lighthouse, Pendeen Watch. The fog this day reminded me of coastal California.

An engine house at the Levant Mine. Copper and tin ores were mined more than a mile out from beneath the sea bed.

Lands End loop from Sennen Cove: 6.5 miles and 1000 ft elevation gain. This short hike takes in the most westerly point in mainland England.

A view towards Lands End from the north. My walk started at Sennen Cove, which boasts the longest beach in West Penwith. The Lands End hotel is just visible. It seemed mostly empty.

A natural arch south of Lands End. Yes, it was another misty day!

Stunning heather (*Calluna vulgaris*) in the mist near Nanjizal.

Detail of wood betony (*Stachys officinalis*). Despite the late season, I did see a variety of wild flowers on my walks.

Four seals “bottling.” They can sleep for hours floating with little more than their nostrils above water.

A rock formation seen at low tide at Nanjizal beach

SWCP from Porthcurno to Penzance: 10.5 miles and 1750 ft elevation gain. A one-way bus fare took me to the start, a popular beach; my apartment in Penzance greeted me five hours later at the end of this longish walk.

Fishing boats in the mist, Penberth Cove

Spider and web detail. The water droplets looked like strings of pearls on this damp morning.

Allotments (community gardens) with a view, Mousehole.

Newlyn Harbor, ebb tide. This village is an important fishing port, just to the west of Penzance.

SWCP from Marazion to Praa Sands: 6.75 miles and 1100 ft elevation gain. The village of Marazion is 2 miles east of Penzance with the tidal island of St Michael’s Mount a half mile offshore in Mounts Bay.

St Michael’s Mount. Currently the castle and gardens are open only about four hours a day near low tide when you can walk cross the causeway.

Perran Sands and St Michael’s Mount vista

Cudden Point and kestrel. The high winds this day didn’t seem to bother these hardy little raptors at all.

Bessy’s Cove. To me it looks straight out of *Poldark*.

Praa Sands. Even the hardy English were not in much evidence on this blustery day.

Lizard Point loop: 7.75 miles and 1100 ft elevation gain. An interesting hike to the most southerly point of mainland England. I did it clockwise to reach the popular Kynance Cove beach before it got too crowded.

View with Sea Aster (*Aster tripolium*) along Kynance Cliff

Kynance Cove. Everyone seems to be observing social distancing, though of course it was only 10 AM!

St Grada and Holy Cross. This out of the way church was a great lunch stop.

View from Cadgwith of cargo ships and tankers standing in to Falmouth

A fishing boat off Church Cove. It was a sunny and tranquil day, an anomaly in West Cornwall.

Lizard lighthouse with Montbretia (*Crocosmia crocosmiiflora*) wild flowers. When the fog horn was decommissioned in 1998, replaced with an automatic electronic fog signal, it was the last compressed-air fog signal in use in the UK. The four panel rotating optic, visible for up to 50 miles, is still used to this day.

Vellan Drang, Lizard Point. These rocks mark the southern-most point in England aside from the Isles of Skilly. The building to the right of course sells coffee, cakes, and tourist tat.

And finally one photo from my frequent coastal walks right out of Penzance, this taken shortly after Storm Ellen came through.

St Michael’s Way, Penzance. The tide is half way out, but you couldn’t tell it from this photo.

As I write this blog I am back in Hastings after the next named storm of the season has just passed. Next week I fly to Venice, followed by a two hour drive to Trentino. I have an AirBnb in a smallfor 4 weeks in a small town in the Pale di San Martino Nature Park, an area of the southern Dolomites that I have yet to explore. The flight from Heathrow will be my first since March and should be an interesting experience. Fortunately, Italy seems to be currently doing alright after a rough time earlier in the pandemic.

The Vagabond Hiker

Walking west Cornwall

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