This one is a long coastal path walk, in fact the way I’m walking the coastal path they are all quite long walks. So far none of the walks have been linear, all being a loop and return back to the car. So this way if I actually get to doing the whole lot I’d have done pretty much twice the distance!! Most of this part of the coastal path is National Trust land and is in fine fettle, however there is a section just short of East Coombe (Polperro side) which is a bit scruffy, actually its a bit unsafe as the grass is thigh high and lying across the path with steps on it. I went down twice, both with an elegant thump. I met a guy who was walking the whole path and was just over two weeks in at this point, which probably puts him on for about 6 weeks all round, he was camping most of the way and it was nice to have a chat with him. Hopefully the weather will improve for his trek up the north Cornwall section, with the wind at his back. As for this section, I loved Polperro, tiny little village by the sea, roads not wide enough for a Chelsea tractor, 3 pubs in 100 yards. Perfect.
Start – Lantivet Bay parking |
Route – Lansallos – Polperro – South West Coastal Path – East Coombe – West Coombe – Pencarrow Head – Polruan – Lantivet Bay parking |
Distance – 11.5 miles Start time – 9.30am Time taken – 5hrs 50mins Highest Point – Lantic Bay car park 120metres |
Weather – Cloudy mostly. Breezy. |

As you drive towards Polruan there are a couple of good NT car parks which give good access to the coast, in my case they made a perfect spot for a start and finish

The National trust own lots of land here, and some farms and cottages (for hire), some typical trust steps take me up to a field and down to Lansallos

Looking back from where I’ve been. In the far distance is the clay pits and mounds around St Austell

Meadow Brown butterfly. My butterfly spotting is getting better (mainly due to following a fine website Beating The Bounds, where photos of little flying insects and birds are captured easily)

Got to love the Cornish town names. They are great. I love the fact that they seem to just drop letters from them when they want. For example Lantic Bay (not sure what happened to the At, also Fowey, pronounced Foy. And finally Mousehole, pronounced Mowzull)!!

A bit of drizzle greeted me in Polperro, but it didn’t last long and before I’d reached the quay it had gone

This is the far end of Polperro and from the last photo to this was about 5 minutes walk, if that. In which time I past 3 pubs, this is the Blue Peter on the left and the coastal path goes up behind it meaning you get 2 chances to enter. If only it was open (this walk was the weekend before the so called Super Saturday 4th July opening again)

Pencarrow Head sticks out ahead, I need to go around that. The next one behind is on the far side of the Fowey estuary (if you zoom a bit you might see the white tower on the headland). Again the Lizard sticks out furthest in the distance

The views are fantastic, but I’m more bothered by my feet at this point, the path keeps disappearing into a jungle of grass, bramble, bracken and gorse and I’m trying not to fall over (again). The section on my left is Lantivet Bay, so I’m basically back level with the car here

I’ve reached the bottom and I’m nearing East Coombe, I’ve gone down twice, much to the enjoyment of a fellow walker, who was doing the whole path. He was just about to begin week 3 by this point. A third of the way round we reckoned. This is a daymark (or beacon) ahead, you see a few of these along the coastal walks

This part of the path was lovely, I was heading round towards Blackbottle Rock with fine views back across Lantic Bay to Pencarrow Head

A better shot of the lumps and mounds around the China Clay pits of St Austell. Some of the mounds are huge. The Eden Project is over that way as well

And from the other side Blackbottle Rock sticks out a bit more. I’m nearing Polruan at this point aware that I’m heading into habitation

One last look across the bay, the tower on Gribben Head easily seen, alongside the Lizard which always sticks out more than the rest
Thank you. Good to see this. A long time since I’ve walked there.
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Starting to spread away from Plymouth a bit along the coast. Leaving some nearer spots incase I fancy a winter coastal walk on a shorter day
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Is Polperro the village in the film ‘ Fisherman’s Friends’ ? Looks a wonderful scenic walk.
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I think its Port Isaac where the actual guys sing where they filmed Fishermans Friends. But Polperro is lovely
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Superb stuff, loving your coastal walking. Very keen to do such a long stretch as a circular walk. Coastal walking can be really tough. I managed to clock up over 2000 feet of ascent on a short stretch on the north coast a couple of years back.
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I’ve got another to post about from the weekend just gone, that was a real leg burner as well. The coast can be harder than the hills at times, as you always keep dropping down to sea level before climbing again
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I’m getting better at planning loops like this along the coast. Need really to get to the north coast though as I have hardly done any of the northern coastal path
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Wow – the cliffs, the colour of the sea, the Cornish names, what a stunning walk. An old school friend lived in Fowey for a while and I remember him ribbing me, when I visited, about my pronunciation. Mind, it’s not just in Cornwall that names aren’t pronounced how they’re spelt; up here we have Quernmore which is Quormer and Claughton and Aughton which are Claffton and Affton (I think). People have fun with Yealand and Heysham too. (Yell-und and Hee-shum respectively). I’ve given up on how to say Todmorden.
Oh, and thanks btw! 😁
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Its a great stretch of coastline and hopefully I’ll get a few more Cornish walks in over the rest of the summer
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Cornwall is such a lovely place (and you are right, with great place names). Spent a lot of my holidays there as a kid. We visited Polperro last time we were there, a couple of years ago now.
Looks like you had a great day.
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The coast around there is a great place to spend a day walking. Hopefully I will get more this year
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