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Landscape
Celtic Cornwall
Ancient Sites
Where to Go
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Walking Cape Cornwall to Aire Point 3.3 milesOS Explorer Map 102: grid reference SW350318 to SW359281 View Map Walk Duration: 2 Hours 10 mins.
Park your car at the National Trust car park at Cape Cornwall. A couple of excellent guidebooks for the area are the Nine Walks around St. Just and St. Ives and the National Trail Guide: SW Coast Path - Padstow to Falmouth by John Macadam.
If you wish, take a while out to climb up to the chimmney atop the Cape for its fine views northeast to Porthledden Cove and Kenidjack or south down into Priest Cove. Return to the trail and follow the granite waymarker down into the cove. Explore the cove or take the track leading up left.
Follow the steep road up as far as the marker post. Turn sharp right here as indicated and continue climbing up the wide path towards Carn Gloose (Carn Gluze). The path stays quite steep until it reaches a tarmac road beside a large chimney.
The true coast path heads off right passing some seats - grid reference SW355312. Although you might like to follow the tarmac road left for 200m or so until you reach the Ancient Monument of Ballowall Barrow (Cruk Bod Bolauhel) on your right. This is a late Neolithic (New Stone Age) burial chamber dated between 2500- 1500 BC.
Return to the coastal footpath. Look for the granite marker which indicates 'Cape Cornwall ½ mile Land's End 5¼ miles'. The fine beach of Whitesand Bay (Sennen Cove) is seen for the first time with Land's End in the distance. The lighthouse is the unmanned 'Longships Lighthouse.' Drop down now into Cot Valley.
On reaching the valley floor, follow the route indicated by another stone marker inland. Proceed up the rather overgrown southern slope of the valley onto Hermon Hill. The beaches below right are Porth Nanven and Nanven. Make sure you do not stray from the path here, as there are several marked and ummarked mineshafts nearby.
The path is quite level here and progress is good along Carn Leskys and Carn Gribba. Now almost 1 hour into your walk drop down once more near Polpry Cove. Climb again, with care, passing Carn Polpry, being sure to stay on the inland paths.
The path now runs down through the wide grassy area of Boscregan, passing Maen Dower until it reaches rocks at Nanjulian Cove grid reference SW358291.
We stopped here for a picnic for 25 minutes, watching the waves breaking on the bleached granite boulders.Cross two boardwalks as you continue on your way up along the National Trust area of Nanjulian Cliff.
Shortly after passing a mine adit on your left, negotiate boulders with extreme care and continue southwards. The route eases for a while before disappearing completely, forcing you to climb straight up Aire Point by rocks alone.
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walk:Sennen Cove to Aire Point |
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