31. Leg 8   - SW Coastal Path 31: Lamorna to Land's End

28 August 2019

Our first walk on the South Coast! A moderate walk with some steeper sections including the steps leading up to the Minack Theatre. We parked at Land's End and took the bus to Lamorna. A walk of about a mile took us down to the cove and the start of the walk.

1. The route

2. The hamlet of Lamorna: still popular with craftsmen, potters and writers, including John le Carré and Derek Tangye, it was a favoured spot of some Post-Impressionist artists who came to stay here in the early part of the twentieth century. These included Lamorna Birch, Laura Knight, Alfred Munnings and Augustus John.

3. The celtic cross, engraved DWW 1873, just outside Lamorna marks the spot where on 13th March 1873 David Wordsworth Watson died at Lamorna Cove. He fell to his death from the cliffs, known locally as Carn Mellyn, where the cross now stands. The local population were so moved by the tragedy that they erected the simple cross as a memorial to him.

4. View to Tater Du lighthouse.

5. Rosemodress Cliff

6. Tater Du lighthouse

7. Tregiffian

8. The blackberries on the south coast were notable bigger and sweeter than on the west!

9. Boscawan near Loy and Boscawan Point.

10. View west from Boscawen

11. Giant pebbles at St.Loy's Cove

12. The footbridge at Loy.

13. Trevedran Cliff

14. Coffin Rock at Merthen Point

15. Porthguarnon Cove

16. Penberth Cove where we saw a seal basking in the sun. Penberth Cove still has a small fishing fleet.

17. Cribba Head

18. Porthcurno with a view to the Minack Theatre (into the sun so you'll have to take my word for it!).

19. Porthcurno with a view to Logan Rock. The Logan Rock is an eighty ton granite boulder on the edge of the cliffs south of Treen. It used to easily rock back and forth if pressure was applied in the correct place, however a group of sailors under Lieutenant Goldsmith dislodged it in 1824 and it fell crashing to the sea below. After much outcry from the locals, the sailors were ordered to replace it at their own cost, which took nearly seven months. The bills for the work and drawings of the procedure can be seen in the Logan Rock Inn in Treen.

20. Porth Chapel

21. Carn Scathe

22. Porthgwarra

23. Hella Point

24. Lookout Station at Gwennap Head. National Coastguard Institution - Gwennap Head: a cliff castle once stood here and now it is the site of a National Coastwatch Station, undoubtedly due to the fact that this headland provides an extensive view of the rocky coast and busy shipping route. There are also navigation markers on the headland to warn ships of the rock pinnacle known as The Runnel Stone (or Rundle Stone) which is situated about a mile south of Gwennap Head and has been responsible for several wrecks. This area is popular with bird watchers and the granite cliffs make it ideal for climbers.

25. View to Land's End and Sennen

26. Carn Les Boel

37. Looking back to Carn Barra

38. Shadows

39. Carn Les Boel

40. Nanjizal

41. Carn Greeb

42. Nanjizal Beach also know as Mill Bay

43. Heather on Trevilley Cliff

44. Pordenack Point

45. Zawn Trevilley

46. View to Longships and Armed Knight Rocks at Land's End.