Great South West Walk

Saturday August 18

Section 28. CRACKINGTON HAVEN TO TINTAGEL. Miles: 12. Grading: Strenuous

Start time and location
Could you please report for registration at The Combe Barton Hotel at 1pm.
The walk will commence at 1.30pm.

Parking
Plenty of parking avaialble at start points.

Bus Services
Services to this part of the Coast Path are sparse, but for details,
contact First Western National on 01208 79898.

Trains
There are no railway links to this part of the path. However, by using buses, it is possible to link up with Bodmin Parkway Station, and, therefore, the Great Western Line.

Maps
Landranger Series (scale 1:50 000) Numbers 190 – Bude and Clovelly, and 200 - Newquay and Bodmin.
Explorer Series (scale 1:25 000) Number 111 – Bude, Boscastle and Tintagel.

General Information
CRACKINGTON HAVEN - limited accommodation, pub, a beach shop, some parking, and toilets.
BOSCASTLE - some accommodation, pubs, some shops, toilets and parking.
TINTAGEL - accommodation, cafes, pubs, shops, toilets and parking.

TAXIS
Camel Taxis – 01840 213234 and 01840 212963
Port Isaac Taxis – 01208 880559

TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRES
The main, all year round TIC for this area is situated off the path in Bodmin. Their address is Shire House, Mount Folly, Bodmin (tel: 01208 76616). There is a Heritage Coast Centre in Boscastle (tel: 01840 250010) and a Visitors’ Centre in Tintagel (01840 779084), both of which are open 7 days a week, but with limited opening in the winter.

The Route
This section contains some of the best walking on the North Cornish Coast and that really is saying something! Comparison between sections is difficult of course as so much may depend on the weather or even the time of year at which you are walking. This description contains two main sections on the coast and you will find two possible inland diversions described at the back of this path description, as well as a walk around the village of Boscastle. Many will also wish to explore Tintagel and/or its Castle, neither of which are on the official coast path. If you are on a walking holiday and have a day to spare, we would suggest that the Boscastle/Tintagel area is an excellent place in which to spend it.

It is very important that you do not leave the path in this section. Paths which were previously walkable have fallen victim to Mother Nature, and we can no longer recommend them.

CRACKINGTON HAVEN TO BOSCASTLE

Annual Guide Section 14 (7 miles; 12 km) Grading - Strenuous

Crackington to Boscastle is 7 miles (12 km) of good tough walking. It includes High Cliff, so called because it is the South West Coast Path’s highest cliff. The only surprising thing is that the walk from Crackington to High Cliff is a lot less fierce than you might expect. It is well graded and can be accomplished without a lot of effort.

CRACKINGTON HAVEN

Crackington Haven was at one time a port. Slate was the principal export and both coal and lime were brought in here, and what is surprising is that ships used to put into and take cargoes of slate out from the Strangles Beach, which you pass far below you on your way to High Cliff. The stream on the left as you start to leave Crackington is interesting because of its most acute bend. The 1:25 000 map, for clarity, minimises not exaggerates the sharpness of the turn. The National Trust stone states that the gift of Crackington was in part in
memory of those killed in the Battle of Britain.

The path goes up past tennis courts and by a private garden.

To the right is Tremoutha Haven and it is incredible to think that an Act of Parliament was passed to build a harbour here and connect it with a railway. This resort was to be called Victoria, but thankfully it was another scheme which came to nothing.

There are two short muddy dips to streams but nothing else that
presents a serious obstacle until just before Cambeak where the path turns south along a contour line just after a marshy, but usually streamless valley. We advise that you do not stray from the path here. The paths around Cambeak that were formerly navigable are now very dangerous indeed. The National Trust has also requested that
walkers do not use the path to the high point above Cambeak, due to erosion control. So, just take in the imposing view of Cambeak without leaving the path, and continue safely on the Coast Path.
The path is now an open cliff top, and there are good views of the Strangles beach below. When you are opposite Samphire Rocks there is a view back to Northern Door, and this is the best view obtainable of this arch from the path itself. Soon some unusual zebra-stripe rocks come into sight below. This is good bracing walking with not too much up and down. Ahead is High Cliff, which as the highest cliff on the whole of the Coast Path will have its attraction for many. The purists may decry High Cliff because it is not a vertical drop to the sea but, nevertheless, it is a dramatic setting and the tremendous fall seaward is most impressive.

Ahead the white watchtower beyond Boscastle comes into sight and offshore there is a long stretch of cliff scenery with rock stacks. The only disappointment is the view back to Cambeak; it seemed tremendously impressive from the north, but now it looks rather insignificant.

High Cliff is a good place to stop, to gather breath, or even to take refreshment, provided you have carried it. The sting is in the tail though as the worst down and up for some way is now just ahead.
The path down from High Cliff is relatively straight. The path up the other side turns and twists through an area of landfall climbing Rusey Cliff. There is a path down to the beach which might possibly tempt the keen swimmer on a hot day, but the sight of the life belt below will give the poorer swimmer just the excuse needed not to add to the
descent and climb!
The coast around here was described by the Dorset writer, Thomas Hardy, in his literary works. Before he took to full-time writing, he was a practising architect. He worked nearby on St Juliot Church which is some way up the Valency Valley behind Boscastle. High Cliff features in ‘A Pair of Blue Eyes’ and the book was written in the Rectory garden during the two years Hardy worked on the restoration of the church. He was obviously not a man to waste his spare time, because apart from the restoration and the book, he was also courting - a relation of the vicar became the future Mrs Thomas Hardy!

We like to call the Buckator headland and the concrete stepping stones in the marshy valley just after it ‘The Wallis Way’, after our hard-working Secretary who pressed for a true coastal route, so saving a long, boring detour inland.

The view just above the cliff and south of Buckator is good and there is the steep-sided rock pinnacle of Gull Rock close to the cliff itself. Here you come across a series of typically Cornish herringbone-style slate walls. The first is not very impressive but they improve.

Fire Beacon Point is the first chance to get three sizeable rock stacks in line ahead. These are Meachard off Boscastle; Short Island near the Lady’s
Window; and The Sisters seaward of Bossiney. They certainly give the promise of more interesting views ahead.

Just after Fire Beacon Point, Seals Hole is passed, which lives up to its name. In a big cavern here the grey seals breed and the main reason for the seals’ choice is quite understandably its inaccessibility to humans. They need not only this but also the opportunity of being able to make landfall at varying stages of the tide. These two rather exacting requirements make their breeding places on the mainland coast restricted. There are in fact quite a number of seals off Cornwall, but they are least likely to be seen in spring and summer. They are mostly grey seals; the so-called common seal is rare.

If you have walked this path before you will notice a slight inland diversion as you approach Pentargon. Cliff falls had made part of the old path hazardous, but unfortunately the new route cuts you off completely from the best views of the waterfall; Pentargon is a scenic gem but unfortunately it cannot be viewed safely at present, so don’t try it. We are asking if something can be done to rectify this. The shut-in valley itself is good to look at and it will probably remind those from the north of places far away.

The climb from Pentargon is steep, the old path having land-slipped away. At the top in late spring there is not only a great drift of bluebells, but numerous white bluebells too – this may sound odd, but bluebells can occasionally be white! Here there is an interesting wall that has been built for a considerable length with white quartz used for its lower courses. It was probably built for quite mundane reasons but the effect is magnificent, especially when the sea pinks on the top are in flower.

When you reach the National Trust Pentargon Cliff sign, turn to look at the
distant view of the Pentargon waterfall; you can look back too with satisfaction on the path you have just walked on the other side of the inlet.

Soon you have views of Boscastle to your left, and will presently arrive in a dip just before the rise which has a flagpole with a fish weather vane on it. If pressed for time you can bear off left here, but you will miss some marvellous scenery. The correct path goes forward to the flagpole and then bears slightly left to come down just behind Penally Point.
The most striking part of the view is, of course, the sinuous harbour itself. One wonders how such an enclosed, rock-surrounded cleft as this could ever have been a serious commercial harbour; yet it was for hundreds of years.

At the right-angled bend of the northern limb of Boscastle Harbour is its most impressive feature, a blow-hole, and if the tide is right and a good sea is
running this can look and sound dramatic. The sea outside is driven through a
rapidly diminishing cave which has a small escape hole into the harbour itself. It is well worth walking many a mile to see this at its best.

If the tide is low there is a low-level alternative from the blow-hole back to Boscastle. This is along the top of a drain, and although it does not sound inviting, it is better than it sounds and has the advantage for hostellers that it finishes outside the Youth Hostel. The Youth Hostel is called The Palace Stables; take that as you may, but we will vouch for its comfort. It is so called because it was once the stables for a big mansion long since demolished.

BOSCASTLE

Boscastle is so called from being the site of Botreaux Castle. The Botreauxs were a French family who, like so many others, were granted lands after the Norman Conquest. The castle itself had an undistinguished history, and its only notable achievement is that it is remembered in the place name.

Boscastle, however, grew up as a port, not because it was a good natural port but because of lack of competition. Bude Haven to the north-west and Port Isaac to the south-west are the nearest alternatives, and neither are much to be desired in a storm - no wonder Boscastle worked hard to improve itself. The inner jetty was rebuilt by Sir Richard Grenville, who lived at Stowe Barton north of Bude in 1584. The outer jetty was built about 200 years afterwards and had a more eventful history. It had an argument with a mine - the explosive sort - in the last war and lost. The National Trust rebuilt it in 1962 with granite brought from the old Laira Bridge at Plymouth.

The National Trust owns much of Boscastle around the harbour and has had the happy thought of turning the old harbourside forge into an information
centre and bookshop.

At the end of this description, you will find details of a short walk around Boscastle itself.

BOSCASTLE TO TINTAGEL

The 5 mile (8 km) section from Boscastle to Tintagel is a good deal more walked and much closer to civilisation, but despite this, it has much that is best in coast path walking. We often recommend this as a short taster for those who have started on the easy walks and now wish to try something more interesting.

The harbour is crossed by a little bridge; look for, but ignore, the
inscription on the landward side: it states that the bridge is private, the property of the Lord of the Manor of Boscastle. The path over the bridge turns seaward at once and goes along the side of the harbour.

The last cottage on the harbourside has the small Sun Assurance mark - a
reminder of the less happy days when the assurance companies’ private fire brigades would happily let your house burn if it did not have the right mark.
The quayside gets narrower, and you pass wooden bollards and begin to think you have come the wrong way. Press forward and very soon you will go up steps and be right back on a splendid coast path.

The white watchtower on Willapark is solid evidence of smuggling hereabouts in former times; it was built by the Revenue Men.

The official path does not go out on to Willapark but we suggest that you should. Here the most interesting view is inland, as it is possible to see the thin narrow fields of the ‘Forrabury Stitches’ or strip cultivation, a common sight in England in former times. It has seldom survived in such fine conditions as here and its exact origins are still the subject of discussion. The church behind is that of Forrabury. Its tower is without a bell and this, according to the legend, is due to the sinking, in a sudden storm, of the ship bringing the peal. The captain had unwisely just praised his seamanship and not the Almighty for their speedy voyage!
The path is rocky in places and soon descends to old quarry workings. It rises to descend more steeply again to Grower Gut. At the top of the next rise you can look forward to the village of Trevalga and its tower of St Petroc’s Church. The path then turns sharp right to go close by the old Manor House.

You come to a seat inscribed ‘In Memory of Happier Times’; this is certainly a good place to survey the view as the way you have come looks very different from here. The path proceeds forward seemingly going just left of a small hill, named Firebeacon, again which has another seat on top. Do not be misled - the coast path does go up there, but much more to the point, you will miss much if you bypass it. This is because just over the top is the much -photographed Lady’s Window.

Shortly afterwards you can look across to Long Island, a considerable rock stack 200 feet (61 m) high. Note with admiration or possibly amazement the climbers’ cairn on the top.
In about 1/2 mile (800 m) you descend into the spectacular Rocky
Valley, made colourful in summer with orange montbretia, a garden-escaped, man-made hybrid of South African origin. At the bridge you can either proceed right along the coast path, or if you have time in hand there are several options turning left, which can be found at the back of this path description. (see P. 13 for an interesting diversion)

The coast path from Rocky Valley goes upward. There is a series of steps around this area making it difficult to believe that once many of them were
donkey paths. Continue on past Bossiney Haven to Willapark. Map readers are not mistaken; there are two Willaparks - one just after Boscastle, and the other here just before Tintagel, and both were cliff castles or camps.

Lye Rock is not quite an island but it is difficult to cross to it. In 1893 it was the scene of a dramatic rescue from a little Italian vessel, the Iota, when most, but not all, of the crew were saved in a blizzard. See the paragraph in our next
description (Tintagel to Port Isaac) on the churchyard of Tintagel Church.

The path on Smith’s Cliff is reminiscent of ridge walking - on a high level - but the view is rather spoilt by the hotel. One wonders how the Victorians in the days when it was built could possibly spoil just what folk had come to see - the scenery. Then one thinks of a modern Cornish wind farm and realises things have not changed. There is a substantial slab of slate used for a stile just
before Barras Nose.

Barras Nose is interesting for two reasons. It was a fortified place much earlier than Tintagel, and was the second acquisition of the National Trust, being
purchased in 1896 according to the stone, or 1897 in ‘Properties of the National Trust’ - take your pick. The old National Trust stone is not very prominent; you can find it a few yards nearer the castle lane than the ordinary National Trust omega sign.

The view now consists of the Castle and Merlin’s Cave beneath. There is no doubt it is a romantic setting, but unfortunately it suffers by being too popular. Try to arrive here off-peak, as it is not so easily enjoyed on a Bank Holiday.

TINTAGEL

Although the town itself is not on the Coast Path, many will wish to visit it. The commercialism of Tintagel may jar somewhat, but there is a selection of shops, and, like many tourist honey-pots, the Castle, which is the main attraction, is best viewed from the Coast Path either early in the morning, or in the evening when the coachloads have disappeared.

TINTAGEL CASTLE

If you have time, go and have a look at the Castle, which is interesting. Its
habitation was based on the spring found unexpectedly on nearly the highest point of The Island. Originally it was not a castle at all but a Celtic monastery. In fact it was a monastery for far longer than it was an effective castle. Perhaps to modern eyes the most surprising thing about it is that anyone should try to build a castle in two such distinct sections. However, the site has suffered from coastal erosion, and it was joined at one time, then later there was a small gap linked by a drawbridge, but today they are completely separate. The Castle has no history of importance, except that in its later days, when it became a prison, it had at least one very distinguished prisoner - Warwick the Kingmaker.

Now that Nottingham has doubted the existence of Robin Hood (we often
wonder what the next job of their Public Relations Officer was!), it is possible to be realistic about King Arthur. He almost certainly did exist as a Celtic or Romano-British Chieftain, but was most unlikely to have used Tintagel, or even the more recently favoured Camelot, Cadbury Castle near Sparkford in
Somerset, as a base. Furthermore, he was far earlier in history than the
medieval knights in armour setting, in which he is usually depicted.

If you have any question on any of the above please do not hesitate to contact one the event organisers found on the Contact us page click here

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