carbis bay to pendeen watch via st ives

September 13, 2020 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

monday, 7th SEPTEMBER 2020

I have an ok-ish forecast for the day. It should be cool, cloudy and with very little in the way of wind. It should be perfect for walking.

St Ives high tide 08:42

St Ives low tide 15:03

I start the day at our holiday apartment in Carbis Bay and wander down the road to the beach which is inhabited by a few dog walkers.

The Carbis Bay Hotel dominates the shore line here and I wander up through the grounds of the hotel.

The coast path crosses the railway line over a bridge and passes the Baulking House, a lookout used to spot shoals of pilchards. I have lovely views towards St Ives.

The path drops me down on to Porthminster Beach below the railway station at St Ives. The beach is virtually completely empty at this early hour of the morning. The Porthminster Beach Cafe can be found here.

I explore some of the narrow streets and alleyways of St Ives. I pass the lifeboat station and the Lifeboat Inn (@lifeboatstives) before reaching the harbour.

I duck behind the harbour near to St Ives Museum and cross Porthgwidden Beach before climbing onto the grassy slopes of The Island (or St Ives Head) - it's not an island as it's joined on to the mainland!

The restored St Nicholas Chapel can be found here. For some reason it’s being restored again, this time by Legacy Restoration SW LTD, which is why it has fencing all around it.

“This ancient chapel of St. Nicholas, which has stood on this site since time immemorial, partially destroyed by order of the War Office in 1904, was rebuilt and restored to its former condition by Sir Edward Hain in 1911 being the coronation year of King George V.”

I enjoy the views over Porthmeor Beach before dropping down onto the beach, where Tate St Ives (@Tate_StIves) can be found but I'm way too early for opening time and I have some serious walking to do anyway.

I wander along the beach and then leave St Ives via a tarmac path. The path becomes stonier and muddier as I approach Clodgy Point.

I walk past Hor Point and along some boardwalk at Pen Enys Point.

Walking is fiddly along the cliff tops but the wild flowers are amazing, even this late in the year.

I pass some flat rocks where, in November 1936, a ship called the Bessemer City was shipwrecked. The crew of 33 were saved, but her cargo of tinned food spilled into the sea. People came from miles around to collect tins. The labels had washed off so they never knew whether they were opening tinned peaches or corned beef!

I come across a herd of cows blocking the path but they are extremely friendly.

I soon reach the 318 feet trig point S8139 at Carn Naun Point where I can make out the lighthouse at my destination for today, Pendeen Watch.

I now feel completely isolated and the landscape has suddenly become a lot more rugged after the admittedly, fiddly, start to the day. Let the roller coaster ride to Pendeen Watch begin!

I drop down into a valley and then cross a stream pouring from the valley mouth as a waterfall. There are rugged rocks below and out to sea are The Carracks, home to a colony of grey seals. I don't see any today.

I pass headlands and coves before dropping into another valley and cross a stream above Wicca Pool which is reached by a difficult scramble down rocks. Granite was quarried and shipped from here for St Ives church.

I climb out of Wicca Pool via some granite steps and it's then a bouldery walk towards Zennor Head, crossing a couple of streams.

I'm now high above Porthzennor Cove.

I walk around Zennor Head, given to the National Trust in December 1953, and there are now magnificent views over Pendour Cove and towards Gurnard's Head. The Tinners Arms at Zennor is a short walk inland for thirsty walkers.

I’ve recently finished the ‘Ingo Chronicles’ books by Helen Dunmore which are set in and around Zennor, but renamed as Senara Churchtown presumably after St Senara’s Church in Zennor. I’m also currently carrying a book of poems by Helen titled ‘Inside the Wave’.

I climb down granite steps and cross a footbridge over a stream.

I climb uphill and walk around the inaccessible Pendour Cove, linked to the myth of the Mermaid of Zennor who supposedly lured local boy Matthew Trewhella to a watery grave through her beauty and singing, and the more accessible Veor Cove before rounding Porthglaze Cove and then heading above Treen Cove.

I finally come across some habitation in the form of a couple of houses and pass below an old engine house, once part of Gurnard's Head mine. The engine house has definitely seen better days.

A copper mine on Gurnard's Head was in operation before 1821 initially under the name of Wheal Treen and was later worked under the name of Gurnard's Head Mine. By 1877 it had fallen into disuse. The ruined engine house and mine buildings are now all that remains.

I pass a couple of men who are repairing some of the gates around here. It looks like extremely hard work lumping barrow loads of rocks around.

I pass the rugged promontory of Gurnard's Head and, do you know what? From some angles it sort of does look like a Gurnard. The headland is the site of an iron age promontory fort known as Trereen Dinas.

I pass ponies grazing the slopes.

I continue along the coast path to reach Porthmeor Cove where I cross a stream using a rock slab footbridge. The foreshore is made up of rocks and boulders but the tide is going out and just starting to expose a small sandy beach. Porthmeor Cove is a Site of Special Scientific Interest on account of its geology.

I continue along the cliffs passing a headland containing the remains of Bosigran Castle, a simple iron age cliff castle. The cliffs around here are popular with climbers, the most notorious of which is Commando Ridge, so called because of its association with the Marine Commando Cliff Assault Wing who trained here in the 40s and 50s.

There are more remains of mining activity here with two engine houses standing next to the road a little inland. This appears to be Carn Galver tin mine.

It’s time to walk across an awful lot of cliffs starting with Bosigran Cliff and followed by Trevean Cliff, Trevowhan Cliff, Morvah Cliff, Tregaminion Cliff, Chypraze Cliff and Portheras Cliff.

The bouldery path becomes grassier on the way to Portheras Cove where I use some stepping stones to cross a waterfall filled stream.

From here it is an easy walk to reach my destination for the day, the lighthouse at Pendeen Watch, which has been guiding ships through these treacherous rocky waters since 1900. The lighthouse is still in use but was fully automated in 1995.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

robins
little ringed plovers
stonechats
goldfinches
speckled wood butterflies
bladder campion
red admiral butterfly
small tortoiseshell butterfly
oystercatchers
gunnera
snapdragon

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 17.8 miles today which amounts to 44054 steps. Ouch! It has been magnificent walking in surprisingly glorious weather but it has to be said that it has been a rough, rocky and remote trek. Ten out of ten!

I don’t think I’ll ever walk this stretch in its entirety ever again as it has been a bruiser. Better to split it into two smaller walks at Zennor.

WALK DETAILS

I’ve given up on using my Ordnance Survey app for showing elevation details as it is clearly incorrect. Instead I’ve started using the myTracks app which does a much better job even if it’s not entirely correct.

map

st ives to pendeen watch

June 11, 2015 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

SUNDAY, 7TH JUNE 2015

“Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me”

I have a decent weather forecast again for the day. It looks like I'll have sun all day long and although the temperature won't yet be breaking any records at least it will be warm and there's no chance of rain.

St Ives high tide 09:03

St Ives low tide 15:11

I start the day back at Porthminster Beach in St Ives, overlooking the beach. It's completely empty.

I walk along The Warren and explore some of the narrow streets and alleyways of St Ives. The church starts up a rather noisy peal of bells which seems to go on forever. It's only 8 a.m. so the people of St Ives must be early risers. I pass the lifeboat station and the Lifeboat Inn (@lifeboatstives) before reaching the harbour.

I duck behind the harbour and cross Porthgwidden Beach before climbing onto the grassy slopes of The Island (or St Ives Head) - it's not an island as it's joined on to the mainland!

The restored St Nicholas Chapel can be found here.

“This ancient chapel of St. Nicholas, which has stood on this site since time immemorial, partially destroyed by order of the War Office in 1904, was rebuilt and restored to its former condition by Sir Edward Hain in 1911 being the coronation year of King George V.”

I wander along the beach and then leave St Ives via a tarmac path. The path becomes stonier and muddier as I approach Clodgy Point. I pass some tadpoles in a pathetic amount of water. I've no idea how they will survive.

Buzzards are calling and circling above me in the thermals. I walk past Hor Point and along some boardwalk at Pen Enys Point.

Walking is fiddly along the cliff tops but the wild flowers, including common spotted orchids, are amazing.

I pass some flat rocks where, in 1941, a ship called the Bessemer City was shipwrecked. The crew was saved, but her cargo of tinned food spilled into the sea. People came from miles around to collect tins. The labels had washed off so they never knew whether they were opening tinned peaches or corned beef!

I soon reach the 318 feet trig point at Carn Naun Point where I can make out the lighthouse at my destination for today, Pendeen Watch.

I now feel completely isolated and the landscape has suddenly become a lot more rugged after the admittedly, fiddly, start to the day. Let the roller coaster ride to Pendeen Watch begin!

I climb out of Wicca Pool via some granite steps and it's then a bouldery walk towards Zennor Head, crossing a couple of streams. I'm now high above Porthzennor Cove.

I walk around Zennor Head and there are now magnificent views over Pendour Cove and towards Gurnard's Head. The Tinners Arms at Zennor is a short walk inland for thirsty walkers.

I climb down granite steps and cross a footbridge over a stream.

I finally come across some habitation in the form of a couple of houses and pass below an old engine house, once part of Gurnard's Head mine. The engine house has definitely seen better days.

I pass ponies grazing the slopes.

I pass large clumps of common spotted orchids, much more identifiable than the pastier ones I passed earlier in the day.

There are more remains of mining activity here with two engine houses standing next to the road a little inland. This appears to be Carn Galver tin mine.

The bouldery path becomes grassier on the way to Portheras Cove where I use some stepping stones to cross a waterfall filled stream. A sign on the beach at Portheras Cove warns me that it is dangerous to walk barefoot on the beach due to a submerged wreck. In 2004 the beach was cleaned up but somebody seems to have forgotten to remove the sign. Having said that, there is an awful lot of lethal looking shrapnel next to the sign!

“It is dangerous to bathe or walk barefooted on this beach at any time due to submerged wreck and razor sharp metal fragments.”

Nobody on the beach is heeding the sign! I enjoy the beach here and look out to the Kenidjacks, an outcrop of semi submerged rocks.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

pheasants
buzzards
tadpoles
caterpillars
common spotted orchids
painted lady butterflies
small copper butterflies
ponies
oxeye daisies
foxgloves
navelwort
red campion
bluebells

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 15.2 miles today which amounts to 37571 steps. It has been magnificent walking in glorious weather but it has to be said that it has been a rough, rocky and remote trek. A perfect walk for a birthday. Ten out of ten!

portreath to st ives

June 08, 2015 by Mark Seymour in south west coast path

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

SATURDAY, 6TH JUNE 2015

May has been cold, wet and windy but all of a sudden I have a decent weather forecast for the day. It looks like I'll have sun all day long and although the temperature won't break records at least it will be warm for a change and even the wind has died down a bit.

St Ives high tide 08:16

St Ives low tide 14:24

I start the day at the beach in Portreath. The beach at Portreath consists of soft, fine sand with shingle below the shoreline and there is a prominent stack out to sea. I wander out on to the beach for a bit before heading up Battery Hill.

I pass Battery House and climb up a track onto the headland here at Western Hill where there are fine views overlooking Portreath.

I head along Carvannel Downs where the scenery is stunning and I pass the inaccessible Ralph's Cupboard, a collapsed sea cave.

Inaccessible that is unless you have a kayak.

Legends abound about Ralph's Cupboard with some linking the collapsed cave to smugglers. Others say it was the home of a giant, known as the Wrath of Portreath, who used to throw rocks at passing boats, steal their treasure and eat their crew.

The wild flowers around here are looking lovely.

I continue along Carvannel Downs to reach a waterfall and stream at Porthcadjack Cove. I pass Samphire Island and round Basset's Cove. The cove was once worked as a stone quarry, with the horse powered winding gear also being used to raise wreckage of the many ships that came to grief on this treacherous strip of coastline.

I walk past Crane Islands out to sea. Next up is Reskajeage Downs - which I have no idea how to pronounce - where I'm high up over sheer cliffs and below me are the tiny, sandy coves of Greenbank Cove and Deadman's Cove. Access to both coves is difficult so I don't make any attempt to reach them.

Noisy colonies of nesting seabirds spoil the peace on the way to Hell's Mouth.

Did I mention that the flowers are looking rather lovely at this time of year?

I see three hummingbird hawk moths flitting between the flowers but they are flying too fast for me to photograph them.

I walk above the dramatic, rocky inlet at Hell's Mouth where I spend some time watching the sea birds swooping and soaring around the cliffs and offshore rocks. The cliffs here are 290 feet tall and there is a sheer drop down to the sea. Several people have comitted suicide here.

Just across the road is Hell's Mouth Cafe.

The erosion of the cliffs at Hell's Mouth has resulted in some interesting caves on the east side. These make a loud booming noise as they fill with surging waves. The waves compress air into cracks and cavities in the rock, causing further erosion. The cove, cliffs and two isolated stacks out to sea are popular breeding grounds for guillemots and razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes.

The cliffs around here seem pretty fragile so I stay well clear of the edge.

I continue along the cliffs to Fishing Cove and Smuggler's Cove where there are traces of North Cliff mine. Lead was extracted from here in the mid 19th century.

I continue along the coast path and walk around the gorse covered headland of The Knavocks. I come across a herd of cows blocking my way along the path.

Shetland ponies are grazing on the heathland here, but I don't see any, and the gorse here is spectacular.

I've now got decent views of Godrevy Island with its lighthouse built in 1859 following outcry at the loss of all hands aboard the SS Nile, a 700 ton steamer wrecked on the rocks here on the 30th of November 1854. The light was moved from the lighthouse tower to a new steel structure on the adjacent rock in 2012. The lighthouse was immortalized by Virginia Woolf in her novel 'To the Lighthouse'.

I pass a trig point at 249 feet with fine views looking over to St Ives in the distance.

I have fine views overlooking the long sandy beach towards Hayle.

I know it's becoming a bit boring and repetitive but the wild flowers around here are amazing.

The sea thrift in particular is looking at its best.

I pass Mutton Cove with its colony of grey seals. There are a few seals on the beach and a few more swimming in the sea.

The seals are vey popular and a crowd has gathered to watch them.

I round Godrevy Point passing by the lighthouse and pass below Godrevy Cafe at a car park.

I now have stunning views across the vast expanse of sandy beaches stretching around St Ives Bay. I drop down on to Godrevy Cove and amble across the beach.

From here the official coast path meanders through the dune system behind the beach but the tide is out so there's no way I'm going to waste the opportunity of walking along the three mile stretch of sandy beach so I join the beach at Gwithian.

The tide briefly forces me to walk through the sand dunes before I make it back on to the beach, climbing down some ropey looking steps which are completely washed away at the bottom of the cliffs so I have to scramble down.

It has turned into a glorious day so I amble along the beach, passing kite surfers at the far end of the beach.

At the end of the beach the River Hayle presents an impenetrable barrier to continuing along the coast so it's time for a long detour inland around the tidal river. I climb ashore at Hayle Towans passing the lifeguard station and follow a fiddly path towards Hayle.

The River Hayle is known locally as the red river, a reference to its colour during the days of intensive mining when the waters were stained red by the washings of tin ore but those days are long over.

I can see over to St Uny's Church on the other side of the estuary but I won't get to it for another hour or so.

I've not been impressed with Hayle on previous visits. Let's face it, the place was a stinky dump and I've never been able to find the coast path through Hayle. But things change and development work has started on the various quaysides.

I walk along North Quay which has now been completely redeveloped and it's now a pleasant riverside walkway. Hayle is never going to win a beauty contest but it has been much improved.

I follow the road through Hayle, passing a memorial to Rick Rescorla. I know nothing about him but he lost his life in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

The path continues next to a railway viaduct and passes the new Asda superstore.

I follow a stinky road out of Hayle where chaffinches are merrily singing away. Quite why they'd want to live here I do not know. The Causeway continues alongside the mud of the river estuary.

At the end of The Causeway I detour slightly inland to visit a large roundabout on the busy A30 - tempted by the promise of orchids. Here I find southern marsh orchids, early purple orchids still in flower and pyramidal orchids just coming in to flower.

Best of all though there is a large colony of bee orchids, thought to have been brought in accidentally in topsoil when the roundabout was created. I only find two but two is better than none and I risked life and limb crossing the busy road to find them.

Postscript: We drove past the roundabout a couple of days later only to find that it had been mown to within an inch of its life, taking with it the majority of the flowering orchids, including the bee orchids. Quite why people treat road verges this way I do not know. Craziness.

I walk back down to the coast path at Griggs Quay where the Old Quay House (@margaret_oqh) can be found.

I pass some gladioli on the Hayle estuary and then turn into a new estate heading towards the park and ride car park at Lelant Saltings.

I follow the road towards Lelant, passing a lovely garden on the opposite side of the road to the houses.

I should pass The Badger Inn but if I did I completely missed it. I pass the railway station at Lelant where more chaffinches are singing. This is a much better location than stinky Hayle! I follow a minor road to reach St Uny's Church. At various stages of the walk now I hear the train passing me in both directions. The train runs every half hour between St Erth and St Ives.

I wander into the grounds of St Uny's Church and then wander through the lovely, and deliberately overgrown churchyards.

I pass by the West Cornwall Golf Course avoiding any stray golf balls and head under another railway bridge.

It's now a pleasant walk alongside the St Erth to St Ives railway line, considered to be one of the most scenic of railway lines.

I follow the path through the sand dunes next to the railway where I have lovely views over Porth Kidney Sands.

I pass more orchids, this time common spotted orchids, on the way to the headland of Carrack Gladden which I round before dropping down to the beach again at Carbis Bay.

The Carbis Bay Hotel dominates the shore line here and the coast path has been diverted through the grounds of the hotel where a wedding is taking place..

The path continues to follow the railway line and passes The Baulking House, a lookout used to spot shoals of pilchards,

I have lovely views towards St Ives.

The path drops me down on to my destination for the day, Porthminster Beach below the railway station at St Ives. The Porthminster Beach Cafe can be found here. It's been quite a day for beaches which will be in stark contrast to tomorrow's rugged coastline.

It's way busier here than I'm used to! I head up to the railway station where I catch the train back to Lelant Saltings.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

foxgloves
speckled wood butterflies
rock rose
stonechats
skylarks
cormorants
hummingbird hawk moths
cows
painted lady butterflies
cuckoo flower
canada geese
gladioli
echiums
chaffinches
a red admiral butterfly
southern marsh orchids
early purple orchids
pyramidal orchids
common spotted orchids
bee orchids

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 18.3 miles today which amounts to 40161 steps. It has been magnificent walking in glorious weather and despite stinky Hayle it has to be ten out of ten!