36. Leg 9  - SW Coastal Path 36: Perranuthroe to Porthlevan

22 October 2019

Our final walk on this trip. We parked at Porthlevan and caught the bus to Perranuthroe. We had spent summer holidays in this area so visiting Praa Sands was a trip down memory lane.

1. The Route

2. Before catching the bus at Porthleven.

3. View back to Perranuthnoe

4. Cudden Point : an isolated and narrow headland with sweeping views of Mounts Bay.

5. Little Cudden

6. Piskies Cove

7. Prussia Cove: the headquarters of the famous smuggler John Carter and now the base for the masterclasses of the International Musician’s Seminar. John Carter was one of Cornwall’s most successful smugglers and he named himself the King of Prussia. One story tells of how he broke into the Penzance Custom House and took nothing but the goods that had been seized from his house in his absence.

8. Praa Sands via Sydney Cove

9. Lesceave Cliff

10. Rinsey

11. The ruins of Wheal Prosper tin mining engine house and chimney above Porthcew: sited here due to the change from granite to slate, the mine was never particularly prosperous. It is now owned by the National Trust.

12. Trewavas

13. Porth Sulinces

14. The sea from Bullion Cliff

15. Parc Tramel Cove

16. View back to Trewavas Head

  17. Back to Porthleven

 35. Leg 9  - SW Coastal Path 35: Coverack to The Lizard

21 October 2019

 No buses so we again took advantage of the Lizard taxi service to take us to Coverack. This stretch of the coast gives fantastic views along the west coast of The Lizard and takes in the Lifeboat Station at Kilcobben Cove. A pasty at Kennack Sands and an ice-cream in Cadgwith kept us going!

1. The Route

2. Coverack

3. Chynhalls Point and Head

4. View to Chynhalls Point

5. Black Head - Coastguard lookout.

6. View to Carrick Luz

7. Beagles Point

8. View to Lizard

9. Downas Cove

10. Looking back to Beagles Point

11. The sea from Poldowrian

12. Kennack Sands

13. Poltesco.

Poltesco and Carleon Cove: once the site of a successful pilchard fishery and processing plant, the buildings were then used as a water-powered factory for working serpentine.

14. Enys Head with a view back to Black Head

15. Terrick Colt

16. Cadgwith

Cadgwith: this pretty fishing village on the east coast of The Lizard is said to hold the record for catching the most pilchards in one day: a staggering 1.3 million. Look out for the old pilchard cellars, which have now been converted into holiday accommodation. Cadgwith was the setting for the 2004 film Ladies in Lavender starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, which tells the story of a young man shipwrecked and taken in by two spinster sisters.

17. The Devil’s Frying Pan: the roof of this cave collapsed leaving an impressive arch and 100-metre deep hole. Depending on the weather, you may see a calm pool of water or a foaming, boiling sea.

18. View to Lifeboat Station, Kilcobben Cove.

19. Church Cove

20. Lifeboat Station, Kilcobben Cove

The lifeboat station at Kilcobben Cove: opened in 1961, the station is fairly well protected by the cliffs and therefore allows relatively safe launching in all weather conditions. The station is linked to the boathouse at the bottom of the cliff by a roller slipway. Open to the public on weekday mornings.

21. View back from Bass Point.

22. Bass Point

23. Lloyd's Signal Station

24. The Lizard Wireless Station

25. View to Lizard Point

26. Housel Cove

27. Bumble Rock

28. Lizard Point

 34. Leg 9  - SW Coastal Path 34: Porthlevan to The Lizard

20 October 2019

 We could have taken a bus to Helston and another to Porthlevan but the Lizard Taxi service seemed a better bet and over an hour quicker! The flashy scenic photos were taken by Tom! It was one of those walks when we could see our final destination long before we actually reached it!

1. The route

2. A house in Lizard while we were waiting for the taxi!

3. Porthleven

4. Penrose

5. View back to Porthleven

10. Exotic flowers!

11. The Loe: the largest body of fresh water in Cornwall at the estuary of the River Cober is separated from the salty sea by the mixture of fine gravel and sand called the Loe Bar. Possibly created by storms, the Bar had formed by the 13th century and consequently cut Helston off from the sea. It is thought that Alfred Lord Tennyson was describing the Loe as the place where Sir Bedivere threw Excalibur into the water: "On one side lay the ocean, and on one lay a great water" (Idylls of the King, The Passing of Arthur).

12. The increasingly familiar sign of coastal erosion.

13. Porthleven Sands

14. Halzephron Cove: Halzephron is Cornish for ‘Cliff of Hell’ and on a windy day you can see why. Ships have been wrecked along this stretch of storm-battered coast and local myth warns of a freak wave which claims a life every seven years from Porthleven Sands.

15. Pedngwinian Gunwalloe

16. Jangye Ryn Gunwalloe

17. Church Cove - Gunwalloe Church of St. Winwaloe in its extraordinary setting at the foot of the dunes of Church Cove.

By the porch is a figure of St. Winwaloe, there is a Norman bell tower and a Celtic cross in the churchyard.

18. Poldhu Cove, Poldhu Point and the remains of Marconi’s wireless station: on 12 December 1901 Italian Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic radio signals from Poldhu Head to Newfoundland.

19. Meres Cliff

20. Mullion to Mullion Island

21. Love Rock, Mullion

22. Polurrian

23. Mullion Cliff, Mullion Cove and Mullion Harbour

24. The sea from Predannack Head and Predannack.

25. Gew Gaze from Vellan Head and Gew Gaze

26. Pigeon Ogo

27. Looking back to Vellan Head

28 Kynance Cliff looking to Lizard Point. The rocky stacks and arches of the exceptionally beautiful Kynance Cove: the largest outcrop of serpentine rock in Britain. Owned by The National Trust, the cove is tucked out of view by the towering cliffs either side, so it is quite a dramatic view as you approach. The cove became a popular destination in early Victorian times, which is when the stacks of Asparagus Island, Gull Rock and Steeple Rock received their names. Alfred Lord Tennyson is said to have visited this part of the Lizard on a number of occasions, and the beauty of the cove was also experienced by the playwright George Bernard Shaw, Charles Kingsley and a rather seasick Prince Albert!

29. Pentreath Beach

30. Looking back to Lion Rock

31. Caerthillian Cove

32. Crane Ledges, Lizard

33. Venton Hill Point, Lizard

34. View to Lizard Point.

35. Pistil Meadow

36. Lizard Point, the most southerly point in Britain. This is a particularly hazardous stretch of coast and there has been a Trinity House Lighthouse here since 1751. Apparently, there was a certain amount of resistance to the building of a lighthouse as it was seen to damage the wrecking industry! See the remains of the old Lifeboat Station.