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Note that all maps on this site are only indicative.
You should never set out without the correct OS map.
The wild and lovely Lizard Peninsula
offers hikers some of the finest walking in the Westcountry. We
have two routes around the British mainland's most southerly point
and both are centred on promontory's capital, the village of Lizard
itself.
You can park on the village green. The first route takes us down
to the tip of the Lizard and then west along the dramatic coast
as it curves around to the beautiful, National Trust-owned, Kynance
Cove. The second walk (which you might like to do first if the
sun is up in the morning) takes us east and then north across fields
so that we eventually reach the picturesque fishing village of
Cadgwith, before returning along the coast.
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Basic hike: from
Lizard Town south to Lizard Point and then west and north-west
in a great coastal loop to Kynance Cove - to return via inland
paths.
Getting there: Helston is the nearest town -
from there, take the A3083 south down the peninsula.
Recommended map: OS
Explorer 103 - The Lizard
Distance and going: four miles - easy going.
Food and drink: plenty of choice in Lizard Town (Anne's Famous
Pasties recommended).
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| To start the first walk follow the fingerpost
that says: "To The Most Southerly Point". The National
Trust has made this easier than it used to be, having constructed
a new footpath to keep you off the busy lane that heads due south
from Lizard Town. Within ten minutes you arrive at the lighthouse
complex above British mainland's most southerly tip.
There's another car park where people pay to gaze at the ocean.
Take the small path seawards and, at the cliff edge, turn right
and walk 200 metres to reach Lizard Point.
A jumble of tiny huts hugs the cliff edge selling
all manner of items carved from the local serpentine rock. Far
below, the old lifeboat house casts its launch jetty into the waters
of Polpeor Cove where seals bob about gazing back at the visitors
who gaze at them. Lifeboats went on missions of mercy from this
hazardous place for over 100 years, and countless lives were saved.
In 1961 the RNLI sensibly relocated the local boat to the more
sheltered lee of Bass Point around the corner (we'll come across
it on the East Lizard walk). |
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| Our path now heads westwards along
the cliff-tops to descend into rather a sepulchral coombe called
Pistol Meadow. Nothing to do with firearms - the name comes from
the Cornish 'pystyll' meaning waterfall. Perhaps the place has
a sepulchral feel to it because some 200 bodies are buried here
- you can still make out low mounds of graves inland from the grove
of tamarisk trees. In 1720 a troop ship called the Royal Anne ploughed
into the rocks of the bay - you only have to look at the reefs
to know that few survived. No Christian burial, just a mass-grave.
Some say you can still hear the cries of lost souls on a stormy
night, or is it only the distant clanging of the shipping buoy?
Climbing out of the low valley and
up to Old Lizard Head, you can watch the large number of ships
coming in from the Atlantic Approaches.
Around the headland, the coast path begins its journey north -
past Venton Hill Point, Holseer Cove, Caerthillian Cove and Pentreath
Beach. Next comes what is arguably the National Trust's most famous
beach: Kynance Cove.
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| As you go, keep an eye out for the plant and insect
life for which the Lizard is internationally important. Rare sedges
and tiny liverworts grow in the pools and puddles which occur in
the serpentine rock - and the maritime heathlands are rich in interesting
insects such as moths and spiders. The heather is a rare type known
as erica vagans found nowhere else in Britain.
Kynance Cove is one of Cornwall's most spectacular
bays - especially when the sea is rough. Asparagus Island takes
much of the punishment, as does Lion Rock and another stack called
The Bishop. This is a place for wave-watching if ever there was
one and you can witness the maelstrom while sipping your tea at
the NT's remote and beautifully situated cafe. An old place this
- there was a cafe at Kynance Cove as early as 1700. Even then
excursionists were coming here to marvel at nature's cauldron.
Alfred Lord Tennyson was so impressed he visited twice to admire
the "glorious grass green monsters of waves." |
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After visiting the beach, turn inland up the track
and walk in the direction of the village past the bungalow at strangely
named Corn Goon. Directly south-east of this there's a footpath
that weaves through a low copse and across some hillocks before
mounting a wall. These 'walking walls' are a unique feature of
The Lizard. The path on top of the wall takes you four feet above
the fields - no mud, no nettles, no stiles to climb - all the way
back to Lizard Town.
Which is where, after lunching on one of Anne's Famous Pasties,
we began our second
Lizard walk.... |
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