Cornwall has always been a popular place to go on vacation because of its dramatic coastline, beautiful villages, lively culture, and delicious food. The benefits of a vacation in Cornwall are obvious to those who have been there before. However, for our international friends who have never been anywhere but London, a trip to Cornwall will give them a very different taste of English life. In this article, I talk about one of my favourite walks in Cornwall and say that anyone who goes there should do it.
My sturdy boots have been on parts of the path between St. Agnes and the Jericho Valley so many times that they almost know how to get there on their own. It's one of my favourite parts of the coastal path because it has great views of the turquoise water and the long beach at Penhale. It also has dramatic cliffs lined with a mix of gorse, heather, and thrift, and it's easy to get from my house to the beach, the pub, and my favourite seaside restaurant.
St. Agnes used to be a busy place for mining, and you can see signs of that all along this walk. Today, it is still a very community-minded village with a friendly population. During the summer, the village's charm, beautiful coastline, and popular beach bring in a lot of tourists. The village is well-equipped for walkers. It has some beautiful, quintessentially English cottages and hotels and some great restaurants that use Cornwall's great local food.
On this walk, you'll start by heading south on the coast path and climbing up a fairly steep hill away from the pretty Trevaunance Cove. When the tide is low, if you look down from just above the beach, you can see the scattered stones of the old harbour walls. These stones were left behind when storms blew the walls away in 1915 and 1916. If the tide is high and the waves aren't too rough, you might see one or two of the seals that live there.
If you keep going along the coast path, you'll get to see some beautiful sights. Be careful, though, because some of the drops are very steep. You'll pass a few mine shafts that have been covered up and a couple of benches where you can sit and enjoy the view of Bawden Rocks, which are also called "Man and His Man." In the summer, brave swimmers from the village swim a mile out to this rock and back.
After walking along the coast path for about half a mile, you turn inland and head up towards the Beacon, a 192-meter-high hill that looks out over St. Agnes. The story goes that a giant named Bolster could stand with one foot on The Beacon and the other on Carn Brea, which is six miles away. If you want to take a side trip, you can hike up it to see great views of Padstow, the clay country, and St. Ives, which is to the south.
If not, the route goes around the bottom of the Beacon and then takes a path to the village of St. Agnes. Here, locals going about their daily lives will bump into day-trippers and people on vacation. Stop and look around some of the interesting art and craft galleries or grab a coffee in front of the St Agnes Hotel. If you want to stay the night, there are some beautiful places to stay in the area, as well as some very good pubs and restaurants.
Next, you'll see the strange row of sea captain's cottages called Stippy-Stappy. After a short time on the road, you'll drop down to the left into Trevellas Combe. If you follow a clear, trickling stream through the woods, you'll come across the lonely Jericho Cottage, which was once owned by the famous Cornish painter John Opie. We were scared when a grass snake crossed the path in front of us not far from here.
You come out of the valley at Blue Hills Tin Streams, where you can see a working water wheel and traditional tin smelting. Then maybe take a paddle at Trevellas beach. Go up the steep hill on the beach's left side. This one is hard, but there is a bench strategically placed halfway up. At Easter, there are a lot of classic cars racing around a track in this area, which makes it very busy.
This walk can be done quickly in two and a half hours, but I think you should give yourself four. In that time, you'll have seen how people have lived in this colourful part of Cornwall for hundreds of years and should have a good idea of how this friendly community has changed.
- The St. Agnes Hotel, next to the church, has coffee and pub food. The Driftwood Spars, just a few metres from the beach, has a pint in its beer garden.
- Grade: Moderate
- Distance: 4.5miles
- Distractions: Galleries and shops in the village of St. Agnes; Blue Hills Tin Streams, St. Agnes, 01872 553341
- Parking: Leave your car in the Trevaunance Cove car park in St. Agnes.
- For maps, use reference 721 515 and OS Landranger 203. Walk from Classic Walks Cornwall 1 ( published by Cornwall & Devon Media, GBP5.99)
