A weekend at Housel Bay: Part 2 of 2

The second walk on our weekend and this one meant that we had completed our circumnavigation of the Lizard. We started this one in the Square at St Keverne. Despite a very misty start, the weather cleared up and we had good views all the way around.

The route, at 5 miles or thereabouts, was a mixture of very pleasant footpaths, three coves that we were not familiar with and a stretch of coast. It had its moments but was not overly strenuous.

About 15 minutes into the walk and looking back to St Akeveranus, the parish church in St Keverne. Unusually for Cornwall, it has a spire on the top of its tower. The haze soon cleared.

Rather perversely, although there were lots of daffodils everywhere, these narcissi caught my eye. many of the fields we crossed were once put down to daffodils and the remnants were all around to see in the hedgerows and field edges.

I suppose it is because of the relative scarcity of wood in the west of Cornwall, and the relative abundance of granite, that Cornish stiles tend to be made of the latter. The modern cattle grid is, of course, the direct descendant of these structures. Inflated in size but deflated in romance.

And yet another one. The pit between the horizontal slabs comes in various depths and are good ankles traps to avoid.

I particularly like this view back into the tunnelled path we came from. It's like a portal into another world.

I liked this mix of Spring flowers - camellias, magnolias and white periwinkle (Vinca major Alba).

A dumper dumped. Given the terrain, it must have been quite an effort to get it to where it rested.

We came to the coast at Porthallow. Once upon this beach was sandy but, as a result of many years of quarrying nearby, the beach is now one of pebbles and grey shingle. It is, however, used for watersports and diving.

A mile or so along the coast and we came to another cove, Porthkerris. Access was restricted until fairly recently because it was used as a loading point for a nearby quarry. The now-abandoned crushing plant is that ugly building in the background. The cove itself now has the reputation of being one of the best diving spots in the UK. The Manacles and other reefs are just off-shore and they attract a lot of enthusiasts.

Talking of ugly buildings, the next cove along, Porthoustock, had this beauty. Another stone crushing plant and one that would be eminently suitable for a themed boutique hotel. The beach here was another of pebbles and shingle but is used for watersports. There is still a small fleet of fishing boats, which go out for carbs and lobsters mainly.

This row of thatched ex-quarry workers cottages was rather a surprise to come across. Not something that was expected and looking very attractive in the sun.

We finished coming back into the very large and densely packed graveyard at St Akeveranus. From a leaflet: "Sometime between 500 and 600 A.D., a man came to St. Keverne, who eventually gave his name to the place. KIERAN or KEV RAN came from Cape Clear in the district of Kerry, Ireland, and was probably the first Christian to live in this parish.On the site of our Parish Church, he built himself a hut to live in and another close by to serve as a Church, at the entrance of which he would have placed a wooden Cross. It is not known whether he died here, but if he did, he would have been buried near his two huts, later when other Christians died, they would have been buried near him. Thus the Church and Churchyard had begun in St.Keverne".

This finely carved font dates from the 15th Century.

Church interior with impressive barrel roof and large rood. The church is very large for a village church and in its present form is predominantly 15th-century, with few traces of any earlier building. The remodelling zeal of the Victorians seems to have bypassed this church.

A weekend at Housel Bay: Part 1 of 2

And we are still walking the Cornish Coastal Footpath and we are still saying "we'll finish it this year". I think we both feel that 2019 will be that year. We've just spent a weekend 'down west' on the Lizard with the aim of completing two of the three remaining stretches we have to do along the southern coastline of the County. It was a case of two down and one to go.

We were staying at the Housel Bay Hotel just outside of The Lizard village. Before checking in, we went to Porthleven for a drink and a snack. As ever, the seas were impressive.

Can you ever get enough of looking at the waves? I can't. We can't.

Our route on our first walk of the weekend. We parked just outside of Helford Passage, caught a bus into Falmouth and then another (actually the same bus but travelling under a different number) to Swanpool on the western outskirts of Falmouth. From there we headed down the Fal estuary and up the Helford River. Around 6.5 miles in total, with a few ups and downs.

From the beach at Swanpool looking up the Fal. The outline of Pendennis Castle can be seen in the mid-ground with the lighthouse at St Anthony Head on the Roseland Peninsular in the distance.

We came from the right and went to the left.

The beach at Maenporth. A nice little family beach with a café that serves rather excellent real sausage hot dogs.

The coast along the south of the county is quite different from that in the north. It was relatively easy walking but not without the occasional strenuous stretch. This is Parsons Beach, by the way, just past Mawgan Glebe.

A rather obliging Robin posed for me. They quite often seem to be pretty defensive about their territory and appear to 'escort' you until you move out of it. Or is that my imagination?

On the water's edge, looking down through the trees.

Looking up the Helford River. Not an estuary but a ria. And a ria is formed by the submergence of the lower portion of the river valley and not by the action of the river itself. Typically a ria has many tributaries and this one certainly has a few.

Not a snowdrop, although there were plenty around, but Leucojum vernum - Spring Snowflake. We'll have to get some for our garden.