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The Wild Lands End Way - Lands End Walking Holidays -Route Description

Walking the South West Coast Path - St Ives to Penzance

41 miles via Lands End and Britain’s most westerly point with the option to return on the St Michaels Way to complete the Lands End Circle

It's said that Lands End is both the beginning and the end of Great Britain and this world class walk takes you there and back again passing through both ancient and modern Cornish Culture on the way.  Walking into the heart of the regions remote and windswept mining past start on the most isolated section of the 630 mile South West coast Path tracking the relentless, restless seas around Lands End before moving into the contrast of perfect golden sands and turquoise waters in the sheltered lush valleys and coves on southern sections en route to Penzance.

To understand the existence of the Cornish Coast Path every walker should try to engage with the county’s mining and fishing history.  Tin and copper prospecting has gone on here for 2000 years and the scars and relics of these struggles are now a protected world heritage site. Magnificent Coastal Scenery, ancient Bronze Age fields and high moorland are punctured by a stream of breathtaking mining ruins that simply cling and hang off the sheer cliffs above the turbulent Atlantic. Much of this industrial archaeology is freely wandered through on the South West Coast Path sections of which were made by the boot steps of the tinners and miners of old. For those who want to head even further into the past short detours off the path take in unique stone circles, ancient standing stones, colossal stone slab burial quoits and inhospitable Bronze Age cliff castles prolific amongst the gorse and heather moorland and tumbling cliffs.

For the adventurous walker the Coast Path avoids nothing. On a strenuous but exhilarating journey  you will be scaling mighty cliff tops, descending to hidden smuggling coves and spending your nights inland in remote and real Cornish communities whose traditions and history are entwined with the harsh realities of life above and below these dramatic granite moors and restless seascapes.  An important area for migrating birds this peninsular is the first they find after thousands of miles of flying over the ocean, and exhausted and unusual visiting birds arrive here to mix with yellow hammer, goldfinch, buzzard, curlew, falcons, and kestrels. Out at sea due to its remoteness, this is the most common section of the coast path for spotting seals, basking sharks, porpoise and dolphin pods.

Mediterranean coloured seas wash in and out of sandy coves, blankets of wild flowers frame the trail, the ghosts of the successes and failures of the tinners mix with the legends of mermaid sirens and hooting cairns, such a feast of magnificent natural beauty and remarkable human drama in just four days walking is probably impossible to beat.

Watch a play above the sea in a theatre hewn out of the cliffs, go underground in a disused mine shaft or to explore an ancient burial chamber by torchlight. Take a Surfing lesson at the ultimate Cornish surfing beach or just do no more than wander at your leisure through it all tracing struggle and survival as you complete your own journey to the end of Cornwall........ and on to the start of the rest of the world.

                 

As this section of path is demanding walking on our standard route we keep a short day allowing plenty of time for more exploring in St Ives Town or the Tate Gallery before walking or for exploring at Zennor with its unique museum and moorland quoits at the end of the day.

Today starts as a pleasant amble out to “the Island” or St Ives Head, the commanding rocky outcrop above the town passing the ancient Chapel of St Nicholas, patron saint of seafarers and then more modern guardians in the coastguard lookout en route. With a backdrop of fine views across the bay to Hayle Sands and Godrevey Lighthouse of Virginia Woolf’s fame you turn to drop down to the golden sands at Porthmeor Beach where you can watch the surfers battle the waves that crash in here as you head out of St Ives. Make sure you are stocked up….from  the last view of St Ives at Clodgy Point (Cornish for Leper Point) you won’t find any other facilities on the path until Sennen over 20 wild miles ahead of you. Immediately you enter the Rocky Boulder lined ruggedness of West Penwith and England’s last peninsular. On the hills above you the depressions and hollows are the first signs of your approach to mining country, shallow pits dug to get to the tin bearing rock below the moors of heather and gorse. It’s a tough section but with stunning views ahead and the coast just gets wilder and wilder. After rounding Hor Point well known for its plentiful Orchids in summer, granite rocks line a string of ever more stunning rocky coves as you pick your way on a rough and unforgiving trail. From the white Trig Point at Cam Naun pause to look out to out at sea to The Carricks also known as Seal Island due to the Grey Seals that gather to lounge on the sea washed rocks. Looking back “upcountry” on a good day you can spot Trevose Head close to Padstow a good 6 days walking from here.

At River Cove you can take a short inland diversion up a thickly wooded valley to find the tumbled foundations and remains of Treveal a lost village of around 100 people who gave up on the fishing and mining and moved out en-mass in the 19C. Back on the coast after the dark sounding Wicca Pool you reach the impressive Zennor Head Promontory. Walk out to the rocks for vertigo inducing glimpses down 300ft cliffs into churning Pendour Cove and listen here for the bewitching singing of the Mermaid Sirens of Zennor of which you will hear more during your overnight stop.

From the crashing coast your goal is ½ mile through a tumbled network of fields with hedge and rock boundaries that date back to the Bronze age and are now protected now under the Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme where local farmers actively protect such Historical features.

The ancient hamlet of Zennor and the welcoming Tinners Arms is your overnight stop. Click on the underlined text for more information about Zennor and its attractions. 

 

Today you will round the top end of the Wild, West Penwith peninsular and start the long trek towards Lands End. Passing your first disused engine house at Treen Cove Mine you quickly reach the spectacular Gunnards Head – one of the most striking and recognisable headlands in Cornwall and named after its likeness to that of the Red Gurnard Fish. The 2^nd Century cliff castle here has an inner rampart said to be designed for the firing of sling stones and inside this spot the remains of 18 hut circles are visible as circular grassy platforms.   Inland rising above you now are the daunting and dominating moorland peaks of Carn Galver and Watchcroft, the highest points in the last hill range in England and the natural gateway to the mysterious Neolithic and prehistoric sights and stones of the Penwith moor.  

The cliffs are now penetrated by “Zawns” a West Cornwall word for narrow steep-sided chasms sliced out of the cliffs by the sea. Great Zawn the first of these leads you into Bosigran Head where ant like rock climbers are seen at distance crawling up classic climbs such as Desolation Row, Xanadu and Dream in the South West’s best area for sea climbing. A plaque notifies you that you are now entering the imposing humpback known as Commando Ridge the training ground for the Rock Climbing Commandos during the second world war. At Porthmoina well preserved remains of 19C stamping mills lie just below the coast path, further on pass the Holy Well at Morvah. At the end of this run of cliffs you find isolated Pendeen Lighthouse built in 1900 and giving superb panoramas over the rocks and cliffs and towards the mining remains in the surrounding hills. On some days you can take a tour of the lighthouse but a better diversion is inland to fascinating Greevor Mine (Click on the underlined text to read more about the mine and overnight stops at Pendeen).   

Joining aged trails of tinners and miners that criss-cross the green tinged  copper cliffs walk on through ever more prolific and dramatic chimneys, tanks and engine houses clinging to the sides of the precipices.  The trail takes you through the dressing floors of the Levant mine now owned by the National Trust with the oldest surviving Beam engine still working on regular steaming days. One of the few mines to use pit ponies in tunnels that stretched far out under the ocean, miners at Levant would talk of the fear of hearing the rumbling of boulders being shifted by the Atlantic over their heads in Stormy weather.

The collapsing remains of harsh Atlantic digging are all around you now as you follow the trail along the head of the cliffs passing simply awesome mine engine houses at Botallack hanging desperately to the cliffs. Towards the end of the day you reach the Iron age fort at Kenidjack Castle home now to Buzzard, Falcon and Ravens. Descending quickly into the valley you pass everything from a bronze age cairn, 18C rifle range butts to the remains of water powered crushing stamps used to pound the ore from the mines.  The path crosses old leats or narrow water channels dug into the moorland 200 years ago before reaching the remains of an old Arsenic wheel pit and an ancient calciner which removed the deadly powder from the ore by turning it to vapour.  Finally some stunning views of isolated Cape Cornwall ahead tell you its time to turn inland to St Just. 

Click Here for information about facilities and walking accommodation in Pendeen

The Ancient Stones of Cornwall - Inland Option

 

Close to the coast path where it passes the Carn Galvour Mine is the chance to head inland traversing the boulder strewn peaks of Watch Croft and Caln Glava to reach the high plateau behind and an amazing concentration of ancient sites and stones. The first is the most modern, the Men Scryfa an inscribed granite pillar commemorating the death of Rialobran who is believed to have been a sixth century chieftain. Further on the dramatic nine maiden’s stone circle sits close to the stark and lonely Ding Dong mine engine house. A few hundred metres further is the remains of the excavated Bosiliack Barrow with its huge granite slabs over a dark chamber passageway. The 1984 excavation surmised that topsoil and turf were placed in the chamber probably as ritual deposits associated with fertility of the land.

With fantastic views across the peninsular to St Michaels Mount you will easily spot the gigantic and stunning Lanyon quoit or locally the Giants Table.  A classic Megalithic Tomb chamber, its huge 13 tonne granite slab sitting precariously on stone uprights, a mini Stonehenge that is older even than the pyramids.

Heading back to the coast path you then come across Cornwall’s most unique stones the Men-an-Tol also known as the Devils Eye. A set of upright menhirs (standing stones) are separated by a “female” circular stone set on its edge. Throughout time the stones have held a mythical importance to the Cornish here, from the middle ages onwards naked children and babies were passed through the hole 3 times to cure illness and rituals to encourage an abundance of crops , cattle and fertility were practised here for centuries after the original Stone Age communities erected them. If you do try it yourself then any women wanting to become pregnant apparently had to go through 9 times - so don’t carried away. If time allows scale the peak at Watchcroft for fantastic views over the coast path as well as more Bronze Age barrows, a menhir (standing stone) as and several disused mine workings on the slopes back to the coast path.

The walk is around 5 miles and is a great contrast to the coast. If you make an early start you can walk a shorter section of coast path on the day from Zennor and incorporate this 5mile walk into a fairly strenuous but rewarding day giving a total of 13 miles and an overnight stop at Pendeen.Or take a rest day at Zennor or Pendeen where it is easy to arrange a walk of around 6 miles through the stones and back to either base taking in ever more ancient spots on route as the whole moor is awash with them. Finally anyone keen to visit  the best preserved ancient settlement in Britain can wander through the unique stone shells of an iron age village of 8 dwellings with hearths and courtyards still in place at Chysauster. (Click here to see more).  Talk to us about taking an extra night in Zennor and we can arrange for you to walk back to Zennor over the moor on a trip of about 6 miles after visiting the impressive remains.

 

Section 3.          St Just to Porthcurno 11.5 miles –  Std Route

Grade:    11.5 miles Moderate    Average Walking Time 6 hours not including breaks

This morning a gentle walk out to Cape Cornwall the only "Cape" in Great Britain. Watch for pods of dolphins, sharks, seals and views across to the Scilly Isles. For many years this was claimed as England’s most westerly spot until newer measurements shifted the crown down to Lands End. The South West Coast Path is to be officially rerouted around the headland in the next few years; meanwhile it makes a great detour up to visit the little ruined chapel and long mighty chimney atop of the headland . Built for the mine but creating too strong a draft to be useable it has remained as a vivid landmark to shipping. Off shore the Brisons Rocks notorious for shipwrecks were used as particularly remote prison in previous times. After passing tranquil Cape Priests Hole with its handful of lobster boats and open bathing pool in the rocks, your climb high on to the cliff tops is rewarded with Bollowall Barrow. A spectacular set of excavated Neolithic stone chambers over 3 metres high which would have been a shrine or tomb for the dead with a small entrance grave on the west side that overlooks the dramatic seas. Invariably local Legends speak of little people (fairies) dancing around the barrow on moonlit nights true or not it’s certainly a wild and dramatic place to be buried.

Dropping back to sea level cross the amazing large round boulders from the surreal fossilised beach at Porthnanven better known as Dinosaur Egg Beach before leaving lush Cot Valley on another climb up and up through heather and gorse past gaping mine shafts in the cliffs now homes to colonies of bats.  Pass the Natural Rock Arch at Progo Poreth Ogo “the cove of the hole” after which glimpses of the mile long golden sands at Whitesand Bay spur you on down the cliffs. At the end of the beach walk is the legendry surfers Mecca Sennen Cove. Still cited by many as Cornwall’s best beach it’s well serviced with refreshments and has an air of tranquillity  being sandwiched between the pounding seas at Cape Cornwall and Lands End. 

Click Here for information on facilities and walking accommodation in Sennen

As Lands End looms towering cliffs look out to The Irish lady a striking offshore rock said to be named after a sole wreck survivor who made it to the rocks offshore before she slipped back into the deep exhausted and was washed ashore. The rocks get more dramatic,   The Armed Knight, Dr Syntax Head and Sharks Fin and finally,  Lands end with its fantastic views towards the Longships Lighthouses and the rest of the world beyond.  You have probably heard groans about the “Lands End Experience “the commercial and crowded tourist trap just inland from here. Sure it’s a bottleneck but most of its visitors don’t wander outside the “theme park” and they can’t take away the significance of this being the end of Cornwall and the start of the rest of the world. Watch for the seals converging on the rocks below the lighthouse particularly at the end of the summer when they breed, offshore dolphins, porpoises and basking sharks are often spotted and in the air Shags, Fulmars, jackdaws or maybe peregrine falcons and choughs. It’s a dramatic spot

Onto softer golden sands passing the remains of a water wheel, the natural arch at Tol Pedn Penwith (the holed headland of Penwith) and huge nautical landmarks on route to Porthgwarra where a paved tunnel has been hand drilled by miners through a huge boulder to reach the shore, Above the remains of the Capstan two man made caves poke out of the rock like searching cliff face eyes.  More idyllic beach at Porth Chapel where you can pause to see St Levans Holy Well and todays final scene is perhaps the most dramatic as you reach the Minack Theatre hewn out of the cliffs above Porthcurno

Click Here for information about facilities and walking accommodation in Porthcurno

Section 4.          Porthcurno to Penzance 11.5 miles –  Std Route

Grade:    7  miles Strenuous, 4.5 miles easy    Average Walking Time 6 hours not including breaks

Today you walk possibly the most stunning and scenic sections in West Cornwall a parade of picturesque golden coves with the path spending much of the morning traversing the cliff top above the waves. The first steep climb is up to infamous Logan rock and theTreryn Dinas Iron Age Fort high above the churning waves. The Rock was a locally known as an enigma of balance, “one man being able to rock all 60 tonnes of it” ! The Navy’s Lieutenant Goldsmith had heard it said the rock could not be dislodged and decided to prove otherwise with his men. The rock duly fell causing an outcry in 1824. Local guides known as pinkers as they used to pick the sea pinks from the cliffs to sell were furious at this potential loss of guiding income and in the ensuing row Goldsmith was labelled a vandal and the Admiralty ordered him to replace the rock at his own expense. Somehow the 60 tonne lump of granite was hauled back into place where you can see it today.....but it lost its rocking motion in the process.

Drop into Penberth, an unspoilt fishing village of a few scattered cottages around a stone slipway at the end of a deep wooded valley where you can view the restored capstan which was the original method of haling the boats up the slipway. Wander above the whiter than white Tater-du Lighthouse and onto to Lamorna Cove and a chance to visit the notorious Lamorna Wink Inn. Click on the underlined text to read more about Lamorna, the Wink Inn and the Merry Maidens stone circle.

Walking onto Mounts Bay a more peaceful undulating coast path passes Carn-du Head covered in pink sea thrift and through Kemyel Crease Nature Reserve, a haven for butterflies and insects which glide through a rather unusual area of planted Monterey Pines.

At Port Spaniard you cross the spot where a formidable 16C Spanish raiding party intent on revenge for the defeat of the Armada landed in 1595 before moving on to destroy virtually every building in Mousehole, Paul,  Newlyn and then Penzance.

A return to a road for the first time in days is made just before Mousehole a place which Dylan Thomas called The Loveliest village in England. It certainly boasts a stunning harbour, narrow alleys surrounded by whitewashed cottages and courtyards full of flowers. Its name taken from a smugglers cave just south of the town. It makes a good lunch stop and if you stop here for food you should try the local speciality Star Gazy Pie (try The Ship Inn)  served with the heads of the fish sticking through the pastry of a large pie ..“or star gazing”. Around Penlee point you will come across the memorial gardens at the lifeboat station for the Penlee Lifeboat tragedy which devastated the community here at Christmas in 1981 when all hands were lost trying to rescue the Union Star. From here the new cycle walkway takes you on into Newlyn

Newlyn was Cornwall’s first artist’s colony and the Newlyn Art Gallery is on the coast path and costs nothing. If you don’t want to see the latest pioneering local art then the Pilchard Works houses a fishing museum dedicated to this most important of Cornish Fish. Better still  wander past what’s left of the small medieval quay beside the new fishing fleets harbour with its nets, boats, and boxes of fish. Newlyn is Cornwall’s, indeed England’s busiest fishing port pause here and see the variety of catch brought in every day. Back on the walkway it’s not far to Battery rocks and the Art Deco swimming pool which announce your arrival in Penzance and unless you are heading on round the bay to St Michaels Mount and the inland path back to St Ives you end your coastal journey in the sheltered and hospitable town of Penzance.  

 Click Here for information about facilities and walking accommodation in Penzance

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