Report on our 7 miles walk from Cremyll to Torpoint
Seven members the group, encouraged by the sunny and dry weather and not deterred by the high winds, made their way to the car park in Cremyll to undertake a shortened version of the first leg of the Tamara Way which our walk leader has been walking. The Tamara Coast to Coast Way is a walking route spanning our Southwest Peninsula between its south and north coasts. It runs closely parallel to the boundary between Devon and Cornwall, which for most of the way follows the course of the River Tamar. The creation of the Tamara Coast to Coast Way is one of the first projects to be completed as part of the Tamara Landscape Partnership Scheme with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. It opened in the second half of 2023 and recently featured in an episode of Countryfile.
Our walk can be split into 4 sections:
1. From Cremyll through Empacombe to arrive at the road to Anderton
2. Anderton to Millbrook
3. Millbrook to St John
4. St John to Torpoint.
You may be forgiven for not having noticed the arrival of our spring flowers, as the weather has not encouraged us to go for many walks. We spotted many bluebells on this section of the walk - a cheerful sight indeed!
Empacombe is an attractive little spot with its own harbour on the river Tamar. Notable are the almost castle-like walls and gate on the left after the cottages. Surprisingly, this substantial wall built in 1788 only encloses the kitchen garden for Mount Edgecumbe House.
In Anderton, we walked past very attractive properties which were built as the village of Millbrook was becoming popular among those with money. We crossed over the dam across Millbrook Lake which was built in 1977 as a flood prevention measure.
Our first stop was at a picnic table by Millbrook Lake. The name does not denote a lake in its modern sense of the word but comes from the Old English lacu, meaning a watercourse, including a tidal one. Millbrook Lake is the first of a number of such lakes encountered on the Tamar Estuary.
Whist in the village of Millbrook, we made time to admire the art work in the bus shelter which consisted of a mural made of ceramics tiles, very cleverly put together. Local people waiting in the bus stop explained that the art work was the result of a project completed by the pupils of the local primary school.
Now, we could no longer put it off: after an easy start of the walk, we had to tackle two moderate hills and a few stiles on our way to St John. Historically, this was referred to as St John in Cornwall (until 1844 part of the St John Parish was in Devon). St John was once a place of trade with shipping reaching the village via the estuary of St John's Lake. The St John Inn is only opened at week-ends, so we were able to use the tables on their terrace for our picnic lunch.
On our way to Torpoint, we left the road for a while to walk on a permissive path through Benskin's Wood in order to reach St John's Lake, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, designated particularly for its birdlife. A more macabre tradition is that prisoners who had died on prison ships moored in the Tamar would be buried in the mudflats. A headland on the north side is called Deadman's Point.
We then walked through fields to find the path that takes you next to HMS Raleigh's metal security fence. HMS Raleigh is the largest Royal Navy establishment in the southwest and is the only training centre for new recruits to the Royal Navy or the WRNS. Has we wished to continue walking the first leg of the Tamara Way (as per the guide book), we would have walked to the Torpoint Ferry, crossed the Tamar before walking to the Tamar Bridge - a 12.5 mile walk!
We only had to wait 30 minutes to catch the number 70 bus back to Cremyll for a 50 minute ride around the Rame Peninsula which was enjoyed by all, especially as we could all sit upstairs in the double decker and enjoy the dramatic cliff top views - a ride described by one member as the "icing on the cake".
Report of walk 6ish mile circular from Penare via Gorran Haven to
Dodman Point on 26th March 2024.
This was the 3rd/4th time we have tried to undertake this walk as on all other occasions the weather has beat us. We were lucky this time picking one of the few dry days he have had this year.
After leaving Lostwithiel we headed for the National Trust car park at Penare encountering a rather large puddle on the minor road to the car park. With the sun shining on us we headed from the car park back up the road a short distance and took the footpath through Treveague campsite where they were preparing for the new season. From here we took the path down into Gorran Haven for a coffee stop. I think everyone also indulged themselves in cake whilst sitting in the brilliant sunshine. Thinking about the cake and the calories we thought we had better continue with the walk.
The route took us up some steps to get onto the coastal path which in the main was quite dry. A couple of rest stops were made on the way to Dodman Point to admire the view and to soak up the sun. Along the path the National Trust has both Shetland and Dartmoor ponies grazing.
We stopped for our lunch in the sun at Dodman Point before heading towards Hemmick Beach. From here we followed the track back to Penare car park for the return to Lostwithiel.
REPORT OF WALK ON 12TH MARCH 2024 CAMEL TRAIL FROM BOROUGH ARMS BODMIN TO WADEBRIDGE
ALMOST 6 MILES AND APPROXIMATELY 12,000 STEPS
Following one of the wettest Februarys on record, walk leaders Carol and Sue chose a relatively wet and mud free walk along the Camel Trail. Undaunted by slightly damp and drizzly weather, as you can see in the pictures, 14 stalwart members of our walking group enjoyed an easy unchallenging walk and a nice chat along the way.
Some wildlife was seen, including some Canada geese and mallards, a few lesser spotted cyclists and walkers with dogs.
Most of the group then dipped into various cafes and shops in Wadebridge, before using their bus passes to catch the No 11 back to Borough Arms to collect cars for return to Lostwithiel.
All in all a pleasant way to spend a few hours, with promise of better weather and many more walks to come.
Report of walk on Tuesday 30th January 2024
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this photo says it all.
Taken on Pentewan Beach, under clear blue skies and warm wintry Cornish sunshine, 21 members of our walking group enjoyed an easy stroll along the bank of St Austell River to coffee and scrumptious cake at the Little Bay Cafe.
We began at Kingswood, through woodland managed by the Woodland Trust. The trail is part of the National Cycle Network which goes to Mevagissey, and also part of the 180 mile cycle route which runs from Lands End to Bude. On this day we saw a small number of cyclists and runners and several dog walkers out enjoying the balmy weather.
The trail is embedded in Cornish China Clay history from its time with horses and carts, through to a railway line built to transport china clay to the once bustling port of Pentewan.
After our coffee break we strolled down to the beach before making our way gently back to our cars at Kingswood.
A short report on our first walk of 2024 (9th Jan)
It was on a cold morning that many of us met up in the community centre carpark with the remainder going straight to Coombe Farm carpark the starting point for our walk. Whilst gathering at the centre snow began to fall and after a rearrangement of lifts we set off.
I’m pleased to say by the time walking boots, coats etc were put on that the snow stopped falling as the walk started.
In total 20 members of the walking group set off mid morning for our circular walk taking us to Southground point and Polridmouth where one or two of the group thought it would be nice to have a dip in the sea.
After they recovered from that mad idea we set off uphill along the costal path to Readymoney via Alldays field. The field was named after G James Alldays who presented the field to the people of Fowey in March 1951 and was an English automobile maker from 1898 to 1918 (history lesson over with).
After our bracing walk a morning coffee stop at the kiosk on Readymoney beach was welcomed before our climb back up to top of Alldays field and return to the cars.
