Great South West Walk

Monday August 27

Section 43. HELFORD TO FALMOUTH. Miles: 10. Grading: Moderate

Start time and location
Could you please report for registration at the start of the Helford Passage at 8am.
The walk will commence at 8.30am.

Parking
Plenty of parking avaialble at start points.

Bus Services
The Truronian T4 service runs between Helford Passage and Falmouth throughout the year, except on winter Sundays. For full information, please contact Truronian on 01872 273453, www.truronian.com

Trains
The end of this section can be reached directly by train, by taking the Falmouth branch line from Truro, which is on the main Plymouth to Penzance railway line. Alight at Falmouth Docks station. (National Rail Enquiries 08457 484950.)

Maps
Ordnance Survey Landranger series (scale 1:50 000) Number 204 Truro and Falmouth.
Ordnance Survey Explorer series (scale 1:25 000) Number 103, The Lizard.

General Information
HELFORD: limited accommodation, pub
HELFORD PASSAGE: pub.
TREBAH GARDENS: café
GLENDURGAN GARDENS: café
MAWNAN SMITH: pub and shops
MAENPORTH BEACH: pub and licensed café
SWANPOOL BEACH: restaurant/bar 2 seasonal cafés
FALMOUTH: accommodation, shops (including a chemist), pubs, cafés, toilets, car parks and public telephones.

TAXI SERVICES
181 Falmouth Taxis 01326 312181
A28 Cars 01326 378262
Abacus Taxis 01326 212141
Able Cabs 01326 373007
Castle Taxis 01326 313747
Checkers Taxis 01326 212127
Clive’s Cars 01326 316360
Falmouth & Penryn Radio Taxi 01326 315194
Premier Taxi Service 01326 37555
Victor Cabs 01326 312887

TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE
28, Killigrew Street, Falmouth, TR11 3PN telephone 01326 312300.

The Route
From Passage Cove on the north side of the Helford River where the passenger ferry from Helford Point lands, this Path Description takes you round the entire coastline fronting Falmouth Bay on the west side of the entrance to the harbour. There you keep close to the water past the docks and into Falmouth Town from where you take another ferry to St Mawes and onward to Place where the coast path resumes.

This section is graded as moderate, i.e. there are no climbs which are either very steep or very long and there are plenty of tempting diversions in the form of two (and occasionally three) valley gardens, an attractively sited church, a 450 year old castle, several bathing beaches and the many features of a seaside town which is also a working port.

If you wish to catch the ferry from Falmouth to St Mawes, please telephone 01326 313201 for times of crossings on the day before starting out.

HELFORD
A ferry has crossed the river hereabouts since the 15th century and there has been an inn on the site fronting you from the beach for at least 300 years. Before joining the path you might wish to be diverted immediately about 0.5 mile (1 km) up the hill to visit Trebah Garden, which is open every day of the year (more information later). Also before setting out please be aware that the next seasonal café is at Maenporth about 4.5 miles (7.75 km) away.

HELFORD TO FALMOUTH

Annual Guide Section 42 (10 miles – 16.1 km) Grading: Moderate

A footpath sign to Durgan 0.75 mile (1200 m) at the eastern end of the beach directs you in front of a garden wall and up steps to a gate into a field. The path keeps mainly to the cliff edge and a final look can be made across the river to Helford village. For about the next 2 miles (3 km) you experience, from the fields, delightful views over this picturesque estuary. The route narrows to emerge on to an 18 feet (5.7 m) wide metalled road with a pillbox above it, the first two visible reminders of the importance of this area during World War II. Walk down the last part of the road, which carried tanks and stores to the landing craft tied to the specially constructed pier at Trebah Beach. From here the men of the US 29 Infantry Division embarked for the D-day assault on Omaha Beach, Normandy in June 1944, to which there is a commemorative stone by the pond at the bottom of Trebah Garden.

The path passes between the Garden and the Beach and up into another open field, at the end of which are some quite hazardous steps down to Durgan Village, most of which belongs to the National Trust. (There is a toilet on the right as you enter the village.)

On the left is the valley garden of Glendurgan (National Trust) which, like Trebah, was planted out in the 1820s - 1830s by the Fox family. Apart from the profusion of camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, hydrangeas and exotic trees it boasts the added attraction of a laurel maze. Durgan itself was a fishing village for hundreds of years, the catches being transported to Falmouth by donkey pannier.

Ascending the wooded road out of here the first path to the right goes to a bathing beach (Grebe) and the second is the coast path, which takes you over a stile into the grounds of Bosloe (National Trust).

However if you wish to visit Glendurgan Gardens, remain on the road which curves left here for about 0.5 mile (800 m) to the crossroads at the top of the hill and turn left for the entrance.

The path in the field below Bosloe follows the cliff line into another field with a clump of Monterey pines at the end, enhancing, were it necessary, the general beauty of the estuary scene. After a stile here a sheltered path takes you down to Porth Saxon Beach.

To the left is a footpath, mainly wooded, up to the third garden, Carwinion, but it is open less often than the other two. However, if a pub or shops are needed this is one of the routes to the village of Mawnan Smith, Carwinion being on its outskirts.
Pass in front of a boathouse to a path behind the beach and to the left of another pillbox, uphill over a stone stile into an open field, where the view is once again restored and Trerose House can be seen idyllically situated to the left. Now walk down to an iron swing gate and over stones to the back of Porthallack Beach, from which there is a valley path up to Mawnan Church. The coast path proceeds up a short incline and through a kissing gate where the skyline ahead is dominated by a magnificent pine tree, the stepping stones in the wall lead to a pleasant spot to take a break and admire the view up the river towards Gweek.

You resume by climbing over the brow, down through a kissing gate and on to a narrow path again. Round the first bend Nare Point, to the south, the southernmost point of the Helford Estuary, shows up and as you climb the spectacle of Falmouth Bay broadens. Above Toll Point you can appreciate the full width of the entrance to the estuary and possibly in the distance to the east see as far as Dodman Point. You now meander through the scrub to a kissing gate and stone stile and on into an open field with Mawnan Church in the wood ahead. Once over the next kissing gate and stone stile you are in Mawnan Glebe (National Trust).

Shortly the path divides. If you wish to visit the church fork left to some steps at the edge of the wood whence the path leads to a car park by the lychgate. Otherwise, fork right down some steps to where the path is suitably embanked to offer an easy traverse to steps up at the end of this steep wood. The sound of waves on the shore below contributes to the magical atmosphere of this place.

WARNING: From here to Bream Cove there are badger holes along the route, so please take care.

Once out of the wood the path is narrow and quite rough in places until you reach open fields. At the first opening you get a fine view of Dennis Head, a former Iron Age fort, to the south hiding the entrance to the attractive area of Gillan Harbour. At the next bend the places around Falmouth Bay start to be revealed. St Anthony Head is immediately recognisable by its lighthouse guarding the eastern shore of the entrance to Falmouth Harbour, with the mouth of the Percuil River just to the left of it.

At the next clearing you get your first view of the promontory called Rosemullion Head. Soon you reach a wooden stile taking you back into open fields where, after two more stiles and a bridge over a stream, you come to the next stile which leads on to the headland (National Trust) but there is a path to the left across its neck. However, as in many similar instances on the South West Coast Path, provided it is a clear day, it is rewarding to walk the circular route to the tip of the headland to enjoy the panoramic view. In addition to the landmarks already mentioned you can now see from here, starting from the left, Gyllyngvase Beach (Falmouth's biggest), Pendennis Castle and St Mawes whilst to the south are Nare Point and Manacle Point.

Having rounded Rosemullion Head you reach a gateway where you can fork left for Mawnan Smith, but your well-cut path is to the right. After a stile on to a short length of sheltered path you emerge on to a field belonging to Nansidwell (National Trust). Keep to the right hand path going close to the cliff top so as not to miss the way down to the beach. Go through a swing gate to below Treworgan and the beach at Bream Cove, past the pillared entrance to the Meudon Hotel grounds and climb up two flights of steps and two stiles.

Walk through two fields keeping close to the hedge on the right and after another stile along a narrow stretch until a collection of houses up on the left comes into view. The path below their gardens can be quite muddy but not deeply so. You get periodic views across Falmouth Bay until the end of some close boarded fencing where you circuit an open field and catch sight of the rusty remains of the trawler Ben Asdale straight ahead on the far side of Maenporth.

The path follows the profile of the cliff and above the sandy beach; soon you see a modern building at the back of the bay with a recent development of chalet-style homes above. After passing the Falmouth Life Saving Club building, descend to the back of Maenporth Beach, where there is a pub and a café open in the season.

From the northern end of the beach the path continues behind the café up to a kissing gate. If wishing to have a closer look at the wreck of the Ben Asdale previously mentioned take the path right to the cliff top about 150 yards (138 m) further on from the next brow.

This trawler from Aberdeen was driven onto these rocks in a storm on New Year's Eve 1978. Eight of the crew were winched aboard a helicopter from the Royal Naval Air Station, Culdrose, hovering close to the cliff, and three others survived after being washed overboard.

Back on the coast path, just after the next kissing gate a footpath to the left offers a short-cut across the golf course but the official route is clear ahead towards Pennance Point where there is a granite memorial to the men of No. 1 (Falmouth) Company of the Home Guard. Round the corner you walk north towards Swanpool and its beach marking the southern outskirts of Falmouth Town. Before reaching the road, opposite where the short-cut path from the golf course joins, are the remains of a former lead smelting works, later converted to an arsenic works doing a big export trade with the USA which probably would have ceased about 100 years ago.

Swanpool has a licensed restaurant and a seasonal café. Swans were at one time bred here and the lake is now designated a local nature reserve and SSSI as indicated on the board at the beach end of the pool. This is the sole habitat of the trembling sea mat, which may be difficult to spot as it is very small and lies at the bottom of the pool!

Proceed to the railed path at the north end of the beach which joins a popular tarmac path with seats at frequent intervals round Swanpool Point to Gyllyngvase Beach.

Here is the beautiful backcloth of Queen Mary Gardens as far as the seafront road. Even if the gates are shut you can still appreciate the colourful flowerbeds in season by taking the left fork at the railings. In 1996 these gardens won the British Association of Landscape Industries’ National Landscape Award.

You now have a very pleasant walk along the seafront with perhaps a short diversion up left to see the Princess Pavilion and Gyllyngdune Gardens with its bandstand. Here in the summer is a blaze of colour both on the ground and in masses of hanging baskets. At the far end of the grounds of the Falmouth Hotel turn left for the town if time is short. Otherwise you have treasures in store in your 1.5 mile (2.25 km) approx. walk round Pendennis Point.

After the Falmouth Hotel keep straight ahead, through the no entry signs where a road on the left leads up to Pendennis Castle, built by Henry VIII along with St Mawes Castle to protect Falmouth from French and Spanish invasion. Pendennis Castle was also one of the last Royalist strongholds in the Civil War and was manned in WW1 and WW2. There is a youth hostel on the site.

Keeping to the raised pavement you approach the actual point, on the left is the Coastguard Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, part of the world-wide network of marine rescue services. The writer hopes you can spare the time to enjoy the view from this headland across the mouth of Falmouth Harbour, up the Carrick Roads and back across the Bay whence you came.

From Pendennis Point take the signposted footpath to ‘Falmouth Town’ below the road through woods and fields, past old arsenic workings to emerge back onto the road before plunging immediately down along a signposted path to emerge below the Ships and Castle Leisure Centre with an indoor wave pool and licensed café.

You now look down on Falmouth Docks, founded in 1859 and which now has a dry dock capable of taking a vessel of 100 000 tons. From the Dockland area also operate an oil bunkering service for ships at anchor in the Bay and a company building luxury yachts. You may even be fortunate to see how the tugs here berth a ship to a wharf.

To avoid the busy road towards the bottom of the road turn right down a footpath marked ‘Falmouth Branch Line’ turning left to come out opposite the Falmouth Hotel entrance.

Falmouth from Pendennis Castle

Walking under the railway bridge on your left you pass the entrance to the Docks and the eastern end of Port Pendennis, a tasteful modern development of individual homes surrounding a locked private marina.

After passing the Admiral Nelson on the right you come to the Killigrew Monument. A plaque in front of it tells a brief history of one of Falmouth's most celebrated families including some of their eccentric escapades.

Directly behind the monument is the very prestigious National Maritime Museum, which has only one of three natural underwater viewing locations in the world, a 95 feet (29 m) tower with breathtaking views, and a shop and café.

On the other side of the road from the memorial is Arwennack House, for many years home of the Killigrew family, and now tastefully converted into private dwellings. Opposite the road down to Custom House Quay is an imposing brick building where Fox & Sons, Shipping Agents and another famous local family, have been established since 1762. Towards the Quay on the left is the King's Pipe built in the 19th century to burn contraband tobacco seized by HM Customs and Excise and on Custom House Quay itself, from which ferries run to St Mawes in the summer only, is another plaque about the history of the Port.

For year-round ferries to St Mawes and Place Manor, except on winter Sundays, return to the street and turn right.

There may be an exhibition of interest at the Arts Centre on the left. By the side of the Grapes Inn on the right walk down to the car park waterfront at Fish Strand Quay to read a plaque about news of the victory of Trafalgar in 1805. Also Operation Chariot departed from here for St Nazaire in 1942. The next pier up river to the left is the Prince of Wales Pier from where the ferry will take you to St Mawes.

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

click to go back to previous page