TRIP REPORT: SOUTH WEST COAST PATH: St Ives to Falmouth, UK

By Laurel Bradley and Sam Demas

 Overview: We hiked a 100-mile section of the 630 mile South West Coast Path, from St. Ives to Helston Passage near Falmouth in 9 days (including one rest day). Our route started in the arts-rich village of St Ives, passed through wild headlands once dedicated to tin mining, and around the tip of Cornwall comprising UK’s most westerly and southerly points. Our walk was organized by a local company, which handled the booking of accommodations, luggage transfers and logistics seamlessly.

Tips for Travelers:

• Instead of booking through a company, one can book accommodation and arrange luggage transfer oneself, cutting costs by approximately 25%. The resources below, plus Trip Advisor are good sources for planning your walk and booking accommodations.
• We were booked into B&B’s throughout, and next time would book a greater variety of accommodations for variety and cost-cutting, including hostels and bunkhouses.
• Resources to use in trip planning:
  • SW Coast Path Association: http://www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk
    • Many good planning resources are listed under their “Shop” menu.

• Cornwall Coast Path, SW Coast Path, part 2, Edith Schofield, Henry Stedman and Joel Newton, Trailblazer Publications, 2^nd ed, 2012.

• • Ordnance Survey maps: AZ Adventure Series, Southwest Coast Series, nos. 2 & 3, 1:25,000 scale, http://www.az.co.uk.
  • The SW C
• Moderate to strenuous gradations; every day was strenuous due to the nature of terrain. This is not an easy “walk on beach”. One should be in pretty good shape and plan to walk only as many miles per day as is appropriate to physical condition, and plan to take rest days if and as needed.
• Seasons: May/June ideal as wildflowers are at their peak and there are fewer people than in Summer.

Tuesday, May 24. St Ives to Zennor 6.5 miles. 6 hours.

The initial stretch of our journey was advertised as strenuous and indeed, the terrain was varied and challenging. In his book “Walking Away”, bard Simon Armitage describes this stretch of the trail (in a somewhat exaggerated fashion) as

boggy and steep, and where stones do occur underfoot they lie at angles other than horizontal, providing trip hazards, ankle traps, slippery surfaces, sharp edges and every kind of obstacle and hindrance, until its impossible to know whether to walk on them and risk breaking a bone or walk around them and risk immersion in mud or falling down a mineshaft…..

The day – and remarkably, almost our entire trip – was blessed with blue skies and warm temperatures. As we left the bustling village of St Ives, the path hugged the cliff edge, offering beautiful views of coves, turquoise water and jagged rock formations. Originally a simple path for villagers, the trail was expanded and improved by the Coast Guard to allow effective visual intelligence along this craggy coastline famous for smuggling and proximity to raiders from the Continent.

Not alone on the trail, we encountered Germans, other Britons and a few Americans – many of whom we then would meet at our B and B’s on subsequent days. Day-hikers from St Ives gradually disappeared as the landscape became more wild and empty. We congratulated ourselves for avoiding the high season crush by choosing to walk in late May – a prime time for wildflowers — rather than later in the summer.

We turned off the rugged trail after 6 miles onto a small country lane, arriving at the tiny hamlet of Zennor, featuring a pub with lodgings, our B&B and a chapel dedicated to a mermaid! Tinners’ Arms, the pub, welcomed us to a cozy interior and excellent food. The Zennor Chapel Guest House, including a café with outdoor picnic tables, also provided simpler backpackers’ accommodations in addition to four spacious bedrooms.

Wednesday, May 25.  Zennor to St Just, 11.5 miles in 7.5 hours

Today’s walk, although considerably longer, and labeled by the guidebook as both moderate AND strenuous, proved mostly moderate and manageable. The rocky outcroppings, which required scrambling and agility, deserved the strenuous label.

The first part, from Zennor to Pendeen Watch, took us through farm fields and across a great variety of walkers’ gates and stiles.

The stretch from Pendeen Watch to St. Just crossed a more rugged and sometimes barren landscape dominated by mine works: towers, shafts, pits, ruined pounding and smelting buildings.  The ruins of the Geever Tin Mine, the largest producer of this metal in the world at some point in the 19^th century, reminded us that we were walking through a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After losing our way and retracing our steps back to the official path through prickly gorse, we followed the sign to Tregeseal in order to find St Just, our resting place for the night. This regional market town boasts a town square, several hotels – including ours, the Commercial Hotel – and shops.

Thursday, May 26.  Day 3, St Just to Porthcurno, 11.5 miles, 9 hours with some nice long stops.

A gorgeous sunny day, and moderate terrain welcomed us throughout Day Three as we made our way around the tip of England. The route provided more gorgeous views of deep blue sea, wild-flower strewn clifftops, rocky inlets and occasional glimpses of birdlife and seals. We stopped for a “civilized” restaurant lunch at the town of Senna, which clustered at the end of a long stretch of beaches full of surfers and dogwalkers. Pressing on to the famed Lands End, we found that the regrettable theme park perched in this prime spot could have been much much worse than it is. Throughout the day, the air was alive with aircraft sounds; we enjoyed looking out for fishing boats as they tended to lobster traps in the many small coves.

Tired at the end of the day’s walk, we checked into the Seaview House. As there are no shops in this settlement stretching up from the coast into a long steep crease, our landlady gave us a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to accompany our dinner/snack. We roused ourselves to attend a play at the extraordinary Minack Theatre. Sited precariously on the cliff-front, this venue was created by a local visionary Rowena Cade – who performed much of the physical labor herself!

Day 4: Friday, May 27, Porthcurno to Mousehole, 8 miles (?) 7 hours

Today’s walk, again dripping with wild flowers and a never-ending succession of beautiful bays, led gradually towards more populated areas. The walk was mostly moderate, punctuated with some very rocky stretches and the usual calf and thigh-burning, long ups and downs.

This stretch of coast is punctuated by small cove settlements – tiny harbors with a few boats at anchor, or beached at low tide. Several offer refreshment; we lunched at Cafe Lamorna where they specialize in hot chocolate. Fatigued after four days on the trail, mostly in the bright sunshine, we did not relish the prospect of walking the final 3.5 miles of our journey – the section from Mousehole to Penzance – on the road (a wide sidewalk next to the vehicular road). Happily, we created an alternative – inviting the German/Austrian couple we had been paralleling to join us for a beer in Mousehole, and then boarding a local bus for Penzance and our adjacent B&B’s.   Stayed at Tremont Guesthouse.

Rest Day Penzance: Saturday, May 28

We happened on the re-opening of the remarkable Jubilee Pool, a giant saltwater pool hovering above the sea. Free admission with a crush of opening day local enthusiasts delighted at the new lease of life for their beloved Lido.  Water at 60 degrees F was quite tolerable and the swim invigorating.  Viewed amazing John Akomfrah installation “Vertigo Sea” at Exchange (Newlyn Art Gallery).

Sunday, May 29: Penzance to Porthleven, 14 miles in 8 hours

The first 3-4 miles are uninspiring on bicycle path next to railroad. On other side of Mt St. Michael, an English knockoff of Mt. St. Michel in France, a tidal island, the trail is bound by farmland on one side and cliffs on the other.  We passed the crowded Praa Sands Beach and stopped for lunch and a nap at Bessy’s cove, which was full of kids and people having good times on the Bank Holiday.  Stopped for lunch by the sea and napped for a bit.  Once out of the orbit of Mt. St Michael the terrain became more wild and beautiful. The last four miles were a delightful seaside trek and Porthleven soon came into sight.  Lots of pubs and restaurants in this harbor village, and most packed with holiday revelers.  Stopped for the evening at Wellmore End Cottage B&B, which was super.  Hostess very friendly and put on a terrific, bespoke breakfast. At dinner we really enjoyed the Ship Inn Pub scene: crowded, jolly, friendly.

Monday, May 30, Porthleven to Lizard, 14 miles, 8 hours not including swim.

Another fabulous day of views of cove after cove. Wildflowers are by now familiar friends and we enjoy greeting them anew every hour and every day: bluebells, vetch, thrift, naturalized gladiolas (aka Whistling Jack), remarkable wild carrots, vetches, and many more. All day long we were transfixed by the turquoise blue sea from cliffs on high, crashing waves, and enjoyed occasional beach and snack venues.

After lunch we entered the Lizard National Nature Reserve, botanically rich with rare Mediterranean and alpine vegetation, which is managed by the National Mild climate, serpentine rock (formerly copper mines in area of Mullion) Lots of birds of prey and other cliff-dwelling birds, including coughs, gulls, jackdaws, and ravens. Visited the magical beach complex of Kynance Cove, swam, and relaxed a on the sand. The walk from the trail to town was along the top of a wide wall, and took us through a tunnel formed by the garden -gone-wild of a former Victorian tourist tea-house.

In the lovely village of Lizard we enjoyed staying at the “big blue house”, Caerthillian B&B, and eating at the Witches Ball.

Tuesday, May 31, Lizard to Coverack, 10.5 miles, 8.5 hours

Lovely walk to Lizard Point, where we visited with National Trust volunteers, toured the Coast Watch lookout station, and saw the impressive Lizard Lifeboat Station.  Again, lots of up and down punctuated by holiday-makers in the coves.  Seemed a long day despite the modest mileage. Dinner and drinks at Paris Hotel, and stayed at the very nice and modestly priced Fernleigh B&B.

Wednesday, June 1, Coverack to Helford Passage, 13 miles, 7.5 hours, two ferries

This day had the least elevation change so far.  Moderate ups and downs along the seaside and some nice inland stretches.  Fat Apple cafe near Porthallow was a nice spot for tea and sweets, and the Giant’s Quoit an impressive rock formation.  The seaside hamlet of Porthallow has an impressive marker of the half-way point of SW Coast Path This is engraved with poem by Stephen Hall comprising a string of words evoking the history of the village and points along the Way.

At Gillian’s creek we opted to signal the boatman and take the ferry over to St Anthony, rather than walk 45 minutes around by road. The headlands overlooking the Helford River’s outlet to the sea is a scenic place for lunch.  Another 3 miles walk through lovely wooded trail by the river brought us to the quaint village of Helford earlier than expected.  Took the ferry to Helston Passage and spent a pleasant hour on the terrace of the Ferryboat Inn celebrating the completion of our part of SW Coast Walk.   Took a cab to Camelot House in Falmouth to shower and rest before dinner on terrace of Gyllebeach Café, a great dining spot on the beach.