The South West Coast Path is the UK’s longest and best-loved National Trail. Stretching 630 miles from Minehead in Somerset it runs along the coastline of Exmoor, then North Devon and into Cornwall. It follows the entire coastline of Cornwall, goes across the mouth of the River Tamar and continues across to Devon. After running along the south coast of Devon it then follows the Dorset coastline before finally ending at Poole Harbour.
Many years ago when my son was seventeen and in Year 12 at school, which in the UK is that interim year between GCSE’s and A’Levels, we had planned to walk part of the Cornish section from Hartland Quay near the Devon/Cornwall border to Lands End, a total of 150 miles. I made all the plans, I trained at the gym, I even did some practice coastal walks. My son then got accepted onto a summer programme at a prestigious Drama School in London and we never went. I was somewhat younger then and a lot fitter than I am now. A dream unfulfilled.
Wherever you live in the world, if you love hiking, enjoy coastal walks and the associated flora and fauna think about this challenge. You don’t have to do the full 630 miles, just choose a section that meets your needs, I promise you won’t regret it! southwestcoastpath.org.uk has all the details you need to start planning.
This walk that we did from the centre of Penzance to Mousehole is only a six mile round trip. It’s a gentle stroll but has stunning views. We were lucky with the weather, the sun was finally peaking out through the clouds and we started by first taking a look around Penzance itself.
The town is famous for being an ancient market town and historic port with a settlement dating back to the Bronze Age. There are some lovely architectural buildings dating from the Georgian and Regency era and the Market Building, which dates back to the 1830’s, was built in the Greek Revival style.
Despite being the most westerly town in Cornwall it is unfortunately, in my opinion, turning into one of those forgotten seaside towns. There are many scattered around the UK which appear lost in time. Local councils seem to be failing in their efforts and financing to sustain any vibrancy and the towns just seem to become sad and dejected.
The centre of town does, however, have that cobbled street, olde worlde vibe with historic buildings, where you walk down the pavement and can imagine sailors from times of yore falling out of ale houses whilst the gentle Cornish folk go about their daily lives.
There are several big name brand shops and some smaller independent traders as well as several Cornish pasty shops so it is worth an hour of your time to wander around.
Penzance is a major transport hub being the final terminus for GWR trains from London Paddington. Cross Country rail also run out of Penzance, connecting the town to many other cities stretching from Birmingham to Scotland with a daily service operating from Aberdeen on the north east coast of Scotland into Penzance; a journey time of over 13 hours, this is the longest direct rail service in the United Kingdom.
I love the exterior welcome sign at the station which is written in Cornish. Adjacent to the
railway station is the bus and coach station where National Express operates coach services into London Victoria, a journey that takes nine hours via London Heathrow Airport.
The A30 road also passes just north of the centre of town as it makes its way from London to Lands End.
The town also offers a ferry across to the Sicily Isles with a sailing time of about two and a half hours or alternatively you can fly by helicopter from the local heliport. Your third choice is to catch the Skybus Airline Service which connects with Land’s End Airport for fixed wing flights to the Isles of Scilly.
We started our walk from Penzance at the Quay next to the ferry terminal walking around the corner to Jubilee Pool which is one of the oldest surviving Art Deco swimming baths in the country. Following Battery Road which soon becomes the Western Promenade we remained on the left hand side of the road, on the esplanade which becomes wider the further that you walk. Effort has been put in to provide a variety of seating options along the route, including some giant pebbles, should you wish to stop and rest or take in the magnificent views out to sea whilst also watching the world go by.
Further along the route you will come across the Wherrytown Skateboard Plaza where we stopped to watch the antics of the local youngsters as they took advantage of this installation. Shortly after this we came into the fishing town of Newlyn.
This is one of the busiest fishing ports in the UK with more than 600 vessels at 49 landing stations. It has its own Fish Market auctioning the day’s catch of up to 40 different fish species. Apart from admiring all the fishing boats in the harbour it’s definitely worth stopping to look back across Mount’s Bay to your left where the majestic St Michael’s Mount is clearly visible topped by it’s castle dating back to the 11th century. The island can be visited but access is somewhat governed by the tide if you wish to walk across. Information can be found on their website.
There are a few shops and places to eat in Newlyn if you fancy a browse. The Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar is definitely worth a visit if you, like us, love fresh fish and seafood. It is only small inside though with most of the seating outside. It does also get busy and they don’t take bookings but the food is honestly worth it.
We chose to move on and navigated our way through the little white stone houses onto The Strand, which we then followed out of town in order to head on towards Mousehole. You will pass a few fresh fish shops on your right hand side. We managed to purchase some for our dinner and they kindly kept it until our return journey to save us having to carry it throughout the walk.
Leaving Newlyn behind you have to walk along the pavement of the main road for a period of time until the pathway meanders off to the left, initially making its way through a quiet grassy area and then back out onto the coastline with rugged rocks appearing below you. Nestling close to the water’s edge the sea stretches off into the horizon before the path takes an upward turn to the aptly named Cliff Road.
The Old Penlee Lifeboat Station will soon appear just down on your left. It was closed for active service back in 1983 following the Penlee Lifeboat disaster. Sixteen people, including eight RNLI crew on the lifeboat Soloman Browne, lost their lives in hurricane conditions while trying to rescue passengers on board the cargo ship Union Star, which was on its maiden voyage on 19 December 1981. The walk continues on into Mousehole via The Parade.
Mousehole (pronounced Mowsul) itself is just a quintessentially beautiful Cornish fishing village with its own cute little harbour and surrounding narrow streets with shops and places to eat. You have to take a meander and lose yourself amongst the mazelike pathways. My mind wanders gladly to a bygone era when pirates possibly marauded through these streets having made their way up from Penzance. Yes the opera is based upon real life when the area was affected by what was called Barbary Piracy.
Returning to the harbour, if the tide is out you will be blessed with a small but safe sandy beach on which you can sit and relax. If you fancy a swim Mousehole has its own Rock Pool which is a natural tidal pool and a great spot for a wild sea swim. You may even see some seals out in the bay beyond.
No visit to Cornwall for us is complete without partaking of at least one Cornish pasty and a cream tea, On this occasion we stopped on our way back out of Mousehole at The Rock Pool Cafe. This cafe perched just above the shoreline reopened in 2023 under new Management and has spectacular views over the bay. Basking in the long awaited afternoon sun we happily munched our way through our scones with clotted cream and jam (Don’t forget you are in Cornwall the jam goes on first) before making our way back to Penzance.
NB: This is part of a series of four posts I have written about Cornwall. Why not read the others? It is also the first post I’ve written about walking. More to follow.
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A Midlife Adventure 