Piracy and wrecking were notorious along the coast north of Tintagel in the Middle Ages. In 1342, a complaint was made to the King that "William de Sancta Genesio (William of St Gennys) and others boarded a ship called La Trinite of Fowey, laden with their goods and anchored in the port of Widemouth. They cut the cables and cords with which the ship was anchored, whereby it was driven ashore by the flow of water and broken up, and lost goods to the value of £300." The inhabitants of St Gennys were consequently known as "wreckers and wrestlers".
In the 1780s, Britain was in financial crisis after losing the American War of Independence. High levels of duty were imposed on luxury goods in order to recoup the national debt and this included the curing salt vital to the pilchard industry which was taxed at around 4000%! Consequently many Cornish fishermen that were previously legally employed by the trade were driven into illegal smuggling. Towards the end of the 18th Century, nearly half a million gallons of brandy and more than a quarter of a million pounds of tea were being smuggled into Cornwall each year. This continued until the 1840s, when Britain adopted a free-trade policy that slashed import duties. Within ten years, large-scale smuggling was just a memory.
The inlet on your left, at the bottom of the valley, is Aller Shute.
Aller Shute is a small inlet just north of Pencannow Point, close the village of Crackington Haven. Contraband was brought into the inlet by boat, along the edge of Little Barton Strand where the waterfall descends. It was carried by donkey up the riverside path and hidden in a cave in the riverbank at Little Warrinstow.
On a sunny summer day you may encounter lizards basking on the path.
Lizards are cold-blooded so they need to bask in the sun to warm up to their "operating temperature" which is around 30 Celcius. They usually do so with an area of cover nearby which forms an escape route from predators. You're therefore likely to encounter them in sunny spots on footpaths and footbridges. Once they spot you, they will usually make a hasty escape - they can move pretty quickly once they are warmed-up. During winter they hibernate as in cold temperatures they are too slow to catch any food (insects, spiders etc. which are also less numerous over the winter).
When an area of land is left alone by humans it undergoes a natural process of succession as taller plants out-compete the shorter ones for light. Bare land is first colonised by pioneer species including mosses and annual plants such as rosebay willowherb. Perennial plants including grasses can then grow thanks to the nutrients and moisture retention created by the pioneer species. Next, woody shrubs are able to grow higher than their herbaceous cousins and therefore steal the sunlight. Finally tall trees form a mature forest, sometimes known as "climax forest" as it's at the end of the chain of succession. Factors such as climate and minerals govern which species are involved in the succession chain for a particular area (e.g. it may end in conifer forests in alpine regions whereas lowland climax forests are usually hardwood).
At St Gennys, Castle Point is the headland immediately north of Pencannow Point. Castle Point gets its name from the Celtic cliff fortress which was built on it. The remains can still be seen, though large sections of it have now fallen into the sea. The three concentric ramparts would have been over 12ft high, with a single (wooden) gateway controlling access to the castle. It is thought to have been constructed over 2000 years ago, somewhere between 350-150 BC. The headland has a substantial covering of heather, resulting in a vibrant purple colouration in late summer.
Common gorse flowers have a coconut-like scent but rather than fresh coconut, it is reminiscent of desiccated coconut or the popular brand of surf wax, Mr Zoggs. However, not everyone experiences the smell in the same way: for some people it's very strong and for others it quite weak. One complicating factor is that Western Gorse flowers don't have any scent, so you need to be sniffing a tall gorse plant to test yourself.
Gorse is a legume, related to peas and like other members of the pea family it's able to get its nitrogen from the air. It's also tolerant to heavy metals in the soil and to salt. This makes it able to grow in Cornwall's harshest environments: moorland, coast and mine waste tips.
Gorse flower wine can be made using 5 litres of gorse flowers stripped from the stems and simmering these in 5 litres of boiling water. Once the flowers are removed, 1.3kg of sugar should be dissolved in the hot water and allowed to cool to room temperature. Then add 500g of chopped raisins and juice and zest of 2 lemons and ferment with white wine yeast and yeast nutrient. Although flowers are present year-round, they are best picked in spring (April and May) when they are most profuse and fragrant.
In 2005 a man had to be rescued from a 10ft deep patch of coastal gorse by helicopter. Whilst mountain biking home along the coast from a bar, with the assistance of a not insignificant amount of alcohol, he managed to catapult himself into the bushes where he remained stuck for 2 days before being found by a passer-by. She asked if he needed help, to which he replied "can you ring the RAF?".
Hanging valleys are common on the North Cornish coast and are created due to erosion of the relatively hard cliffs by the Atlantic waves being faster than erosion of the valley by a small river. In many cases, this results in a waterfall where the small river meets the sea cliff, though many of these are little more than a trickle in dry weather. When there is a strong onshore gale, the waterfalls sometimes run backwards!
Along the coast, from June onwards but particularly in the late summer and autumn, parasol mushrooms are common. They are one of the easier mushrooms to recognise due to their huge size (and umbrella shape when fully open). The brown flecks on their otherwise white flesh are caused by the rapidly expanding young mushroom bursting through a brown outer coating as it grows (a bit like "sugar puffs" breakfast cereal!). Other characteristic features include a snakeskin-like brown pattern on the stem and there's often a ring around the stem which is detached (can be carefully slid upwards to verify).
Parasol mushrooms have firm white flesh and delicate flavour which is not strongly "mushroomy". This makes them an excellent carrier for other flavours within a sauce, adding texture and body to a dish.
Kestrels are primarily vole specialists. If there are a shortage of voles they will feed on smaller rodents such as mice and shrews, lizards and even on insects if larger prey are not available. Particularly in urban areas where there aren't many voles they will also take birds such as sparrows and even those as large as starlings.
A steep path leads from the footbridge down to Scrade Beach. The beach is pebbles at high tide, with ribbons of rock exposed at low water. It's possible to climb over the pile of boulders behind StonyIvy rock to reach Chipman Strand. At low tide it's also possible to clamber along the rocks of Chipman Strand all the way to Dizzard Point and even to Cancleave Strand, but great care must be taken not to get cut off by the tide. The rock formations on the beaches here are truly impressive, possibly even more than at the more well-known and accessible Millook Haven.
At this point you can make an optional diversion to visit Scrade beach and JZ's Hut. However, be warned: the path is very steep down an unfenced cliff so is unsuitable for anyone with mobility issues, a fear of heights, young children or dogs.
To visit the beach, cross the footbridge and immediately bear left onto a steep, rocky path which descends down the cliff to the beach.
To continue the walk, cross the footbridge and carefully follow the path to ascend the steep side of the valley. There are several zig-zags to the right marked with white arrows which avoid some of the steeper sections. Follow the steps to the top of the cliff and continue to reach a kissing gate in the fence at the top of the headland.
The name "Dizzard" is from the Cornish word deseth. In case you hadn't already guessed, it means "very steep"!
JZ's Hut is a crude shack built at the base of the Chipman Cliff, at the top of the remote Scrade beach.
Seeking the Robinson Crusoe lifestyle, its inhabitant lived a survivalist existence using lobster pots and fishing nets to catch sea food, a small rock-encircled garden to grow crops and the waterfall which tumbles onto the beach over the cliff as a source of fresh water.
The hut was built back in 2000 (according to the inscription on the door) and was originally a ramshackle construction of driftwood and rocks found on the beach. However, since then, there have been some improvements: some proper timber has been used to construct a solid roof and through which a cook stove pipe protrudes to give the luxury of indoor cooking facilities, in addition to the outdoor grill.
Who originally built the shack? Was it the original Castaway who made the improvements? Is it still partially occupied? As of now, we don't know, but it's in a stunning location and well worth a visit if you're able to brave the steep path. But do knock on the door before opening to have a look, just in case the occupier is home. And if not, please don't take anything - leave it intact for the next survivalist who decides to move in!
Skylarks can often be heard singing over the coastal fields.
Skylarks are the most common member of the lark family in Britain and are often known simply as "larks".
The collective noun for larks ("an exaltation") dates back to "The Book of Saint Albans" printed in 1486 which provided tips on hunting, hawking, and heraldry. It also included "a murmuration of starlings", "an unkindness of ravens" and "a clattering of choughs".
The satellite dishes near the end of the point are part of GCHQ Bude.
C.S.O.S. Morwenstow is a satellite ground station, comprised of 21 satellite antennas which are thought to span the full range of communication frequencies. It is staffed by GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters), the British signals intelligence service, and the United States NSA (National Security Agency). The activities remain classified but it's thought that these relate to the interception and decryption of electronic communications. Prior to the satellite station, the site was the location of RAF Cleave, a World War 2 airfield used by Fighter Command. Some of the concrete foundations of the airfield buildings are visible near the coast path.
The woods on the cliffs of Dizzard are more than 6,000 years old. The trees include sessile oak and wild service trees, stunted by the salty winds. Wild service berries were used to make a strong alcoholic liqueur. The berries and associated spirit are known in some areas as "chequers" and this is thought to be the origin of a number of pubs with this name.
Given the right conditions, a blackthorn tree can live 100 years and grow to about 20ft in height. In harsher environments such as by the coast the bushes may be as little as 2ft tall.
The Ramblers Association and National Farmers Union suggest some "dos and don'ts" for walkers which we've collated with some info from the local Countryside Access Team.
Do
Don't
The combination of the Great British Weather and a tonne of cow balanced on stilt-like legs can result in some muddy tracks and gateways to navigate, ideally without sinking below the level of your walking boots (or wellies in extreme cases!). Some suggestions for avoiding liquid-filled socks are:
The purple flowers resembling a miniature pansy that you see along the footpaths from March to May are almost certainly dog violets, so-called because they are unscented (rather than scented of dog) to distinguish them from the sweet violet. The plants are able to thrive both in shade and full sun, so are found in grassland and hedgerows as well as woodland. Sweet violets prefer shade, so if you do encounter these it will most likely be in woodland, but the dog violets are more common even in this habitat.
When a tree is injured, it exudes resin - a thick, sticky liquid which hardens and seals up the wound. The resin also contains anti-fungal and insecticide chemicals to protect it from parasites and pathogens. Frankincense and myrrh are both examples of resins.
Skylarks can often be heard singing above the fields in the spring.
Skylarks are the most common member of the lark family in Britain and are often known simply as "larks".
The phrase "up with the lark", used to describe early risers, dates back to at least the 16th century. Skylarks are the first birds to sing in the dawn chorus, often whilst it's still dark.
A survey of over 5 million clover leaves found that the frequency of four-leaf clovers is about one in 5,000 (twice as common as originally thought).
The world record for collecting four leaf clovers in one hour was set at 166 (in 1998). One very determined collector managed to amass 170,000 four-leafed clovers in a lifetime.
The farm here specialises in breeding Zwartbles sheep, a black breed which you may see in the fields.
The Zwartbles breed of sheep is originally from the Netherlands, originally primarily used for their milk. In the 20th Century, they declined significantly until by the mid-1970s they were listed as critically rare by the Dutch Rare Breed Survival Trust. Recently, the sheep has made a comeback in Britain as they produce excellent meat and wool; also being from a cold, wet, windy area of the Netherlands, the UK climate is not a problem. In Cornwall, they develop golden surfer highlights in the sunshine, and are known for being a "chilled-out" breed of sheep.
The name Dizzard is from the Cornish for "very steep" which most likely refers to the headland. Two settlements now called East and West Dizzard were documented with similar names (e.g. Estdysart) as far back as 1284. Some form of settlement at Dizzard was recorded a couple of centuries earlier in the Domesday survey of 1086 but there isn't a Dizzard entry in the Domesday book. One possible reason could be that it was already divided into two different settlements and the corresponding Domesday entries are now not recognisable.
On the lane, you pass a house on the right named "Nance Vean", followed by another name "Valley View" which gives a hint about the former. nans is the Cornish word for "valley" and vean means "little", referring to the hanging valley above Chipman Strand.
On the lane, you pass a house on the left called "Garth Vean".
It may be an urban myth that Eskimos have a large number of words for "snow" but it's cast iron fact that there are at least this many words for "hill" in Cornish:
Tresmorne is a pair of hamlets situated on the opposite side of the valley from St Gennys Church, near Crackington Haven. Between the hamlets of Lower and Higher Tresmorn, is a complex of earthworks which are the remains of a mediaeval village dating back to the 10th Century. This consisted of fifteen or more crofts, arranged on either side of a sunken trackway.
The surviving buildings at Higher and Lower Tresmorn are also thought to incorporate substantial remains of mediaeval buildings. If their dating is correct, it is likely these were more important buildings than the crofts: one was a hall-house, the other a three room longhouse.
Hawthorn's red berries, also known as haws, are abundant in September and October. These are an important winter food for birds such as thrushes and small mammals such as dormice and wood mice.
As well as its thorns, another thing that makes hawthorn good for hedging is its very rapid rate of growth of around half a metre per year. Consequently one of the alternative common names for it is "quickthorn".
Once you've made your sloe gin, don't throw away your gin-soaked sloes! Instead buy some cheap sweet "cooking" cider (the kind that comes in 2 litre plastic bottles preferably with words like "value", "basic" or "economy"; do not commit heresy and waste good quality drinking cider) and replace the gin with this. Ensure your lid is on tight so your cider doesn't lose its fizz. Leave to infuse for a few more months for your cider to become osmotically fortified. The resulting delightful drink is known as "slider" (after several glasses anyway). Based on "experience", small-sized glasses are recommended.
The growth rhythm of brambles is so steady that it can be used in forensics to work out how long remains have been at a crime scene.
Over 160,000 species of butterfly and moth have been described and nearly 19,000 of these have been found in the UK. Butterflies are effectively a sub-group of moths that fly during the day. They have adaptations for this such as wings that fold flat against each other with a camouflaged underside to help them hide from predators when landed but a patterned upper surface to attract mates during flight. Whilst moths' feathery antennae are highly optimised for an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, butterflies can make use of vision so their antennae are more streamlined and are also used to measure air temperature.
According to folklore, you should not pick blackberries after Michaelmas Day (11th October) as this is when the devil claims them. The basis for this is thought to be the potentially toxic moulds which can develop on the blackberries in the cooler, wetter weather.
Flowering plants have evolved a complex double-fertilisation process where one sperm fertilises the egg whilst a second sperm combines with other nuclei in the cell to create a nutrient-rich tissue. This gives the seed a head start so it can out-compete others (e.g. conifers which don't have this). This also allows flowering plants to produce viable seeds more quickly: whilst conifers take around 18 months to produce a new batch of seeds, many flowering plants produce a batch of seeds each year and some can produce seeds more than once a year.
A plant often seen along the coast with small pink 5-petalled flowers in June -September is centaury - a member of the gentian family. The name is from Greek mythology: according to Pliny, the centaur Chiron used this plant to heal an arrow wound in his foot (or maybe that should be "hoof").
Hedgerows provide an important habitat for blackbirds.
In the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas", the line "four colly birds" is thought to be from 18th Century slang meaning "black as coal" and was a popular nickname for the blackbird. Whilst many people today sing and write "four calling birds", this is thought to be a modern misunderstanding of what was originally written.
The trees along the edge of the field are covered in an impressive amount of lichen.
Lichens often grow on sick or dying trees so some gardeners assume that the lichen might be harming the tree. In fact, it's purely because these trees have fewer leaves so there is more light available for the algae inside the fungus to photosynthesise. It's too dark under many healthy trees for the lichen to grow.
The mediaeval manor of St Gennys is thought originally to have been an ecclesiastical estate, dependent on St Kew. The Domesday survey of 1086 notes that it was held by Iovin and had been taken from the manor of St Kew and states "Gytha held it before 1066, and paid tax for 1v of land; ½ h there however. Land for 10 ploughs; 3 ploughs there; 3 slaves, 2 Villagers and 8 small holders. Pasture, 40 acres. Value formerly and now 20s. (7 Cattle, 40 sheep and 6 goats)".
St Gennys House is described in the Historic Environment Record as "exceptionally interesting" with a "good survival of C18 and early C19 features". It was the home of The Reverend George Thomson who is sometimes called the "first Cornish Methodist". In 1732 he became convinced that his faith alone could save him: the same view held by the Wesley brothers. This became the core message of Methodism and he and the Wesley brothers became good friends.
During the 18th Century in Oxford, the Wesley brothers began practising their rigorous holy lifestyle which was mockingly referred to as Methodism by their peers due to their methodical practices. John Wesley began open-air preaching to recruit followers to his movement and formed small classes for each community where followers would receive ongoing religious guidance. Wesley always advocated the practise of Methodism as an extension of the Anglican faith and encouraged his followers to attend the parish church regularly. Nevertheless, senior figures within the Church of England feared the effects (or perhaps popularity) of Methodist practices, suggesting that an overdose of the Holy Spirit might be unhealthy for weak minds.
Some of the trees making up the hedgerow on the right are elm.
Healthy elm trees can reach over 100ft tall and used to be be common tall trees in fields, similar to oaks but most of these were wiped-out in the 20th Century by Dutch Elm Disease. Elms are now more often found in hedgerows, where millions still survive. These small trees have either regenerated from the roots of a larger tree killed by Dutch Elm Disease or are offspring of trees that seed at a young age. As soon as they reach a certain size, they are targeted by the beetle that carries the disease.
St Gennys church has origins which go back to the years of the Celtic Church. Sometime in the mid 7th Century, a Celtic Monk (hermit) arrived here, on foot or by boat, and chose the site for its solitude and its ready supply of water. After King Athelstan's final conquest of Cornwall in 926, it is almost certain a small Saxon church was built on this site and it is likely that the dedication to St Genesius originates from this point rather than the former Celtic church. Genesius was thought to be a war-weary Roman soldier who remained in Cornwall acquiring low-level saint status.
Much of the existing church comes from the 12th Century, built to replace the earlier Saxon structure. The two lower stages of the tower, and the south, east and north walls of the Chancel contain surviving work of the Norman builders. The bowl of the font and Holy water stoup are carved from Tintagel Greenstone (Blue Elvan) and date from this period.
In the 15th Century, the North Aisle was the first addition with the construction of a beautifully-carved arcade in Polyphant Stone which separates the Nave from the North Aisle. The South Aisle and South porch were later added together with the Westernmost Arch of the Northern Aisle. The pillars used for this work are of Cornish granite.
Swallows have evolved a long slender body and pointed wings that makes their flight more than twice as efficient as other birds of a similar size. In flight, swallows can reach 35 mph which is particularly impressive given they weigh only 20 grams.
Swallows forage for insects on the wing, typically around 7-8 metres above the ground, but will skim over the surface of the ground if that's where the insects are. They can sometimes be seen skimming the surface of water either to drink or to bathe which they also do in flight.
The streamers on swallows tails serve an aerodynamic function, assisting tight turns to catch insects. Experiments with sand martins found that they could be "pimped-up" by adding artificial streamers to their tails which afforded them increased manoeuvrability in a flight maze. The suggestion for why swallows have evolved streamers and not sand martins is partly the speedier insects that swallows need to catch and also that sand martins live in burrows and this would risk breaking off one streamer, leading to unbalanced flight.
The length of swallows streamers has been found to be about 20% longer than the aerodynamic optimum, particularly in males which have longer tails than females. This is thought to be runaway sexual selection where a "size matters" preference of females selects for males with the longest streamers. During the period when streamers first evolved, length correlated with fitness of males. Now it has passed the optimum it has become a sexually-selected handicap like a peacock tail.
Swallows migrate to India, Arabia and Africa for the winter. Swallows cover about 200 miles in a day when they are migrating. Journeys of over 7000 miles have been recorded.
Swallows face a major weather forecasting challenge: to know when to migrate, they need to know what the temperature will be like 7,000 miles away. It is thought that swallows solve this problem by choosing locations at each end where the respective dipping and rising temperatures correlate well, so the temperature when leaving is what they can expect when they arrive.
Based on the long distances covered by swallows, a swallow tattoo was popular with sailors to show off their sailing experience. One tradition is that a sailor would gain one swallow tattoo for each 5,000 nautical miles sailed, so a sailor with two swallows had travelled over 10,000 nautical miles.
During Mediaeval times, migration wasn't understood so the vanishing of swallows in winter was a bit of a mystery. The accepted theory to explain this was therefore that swallows spent the winter buried beneath the mud of ponds and lakes!
Swallows are often found near herds of livestock where the flies that swallows catch are more numerous. It is thought that swallows were much rarer before humans started keeping animals. Consequently, the rise of veganism is not good news for swallows - a decline in dairy farming and increase in arable will inevitably result in their decline.
Swallows are known by the name "barn swallow" due to their preference for nesting in man-made structures open to the elements such as stables or under bridges. Before these were available, swallows used to nest in caves and on cliff faces but they now nest almost exclusively on man-made structures. In the case of barns, these are conveniently located near insects associated with livestock. They may also be using presence of humans to help keep predators away.
In areas where ospreys are common, swallows will nest below an osprey nest and form a cooperative relationship where the swallows warn the osprey of nest raiders and the ospreys drive away other birds of prey that eat swallows. The osprey became extinct in England and Wales during Victorian times due to egg collecting but through a combination of reintroduction from Scotland and natural recolonisation from Scandinavia, ospreys are gradually returning. They are regular visitors to West Cornwall and are most likely to be seen on big lakes or estuaries in April or September.
The small ridges in steeply-sloping fields are known as terracettes and are caused by soil creep and their formation is accelerated by animals using them as tracks.
When the soil gets wet, it expands and particles are lifted up at right angles to the slope. When the soil dries out, it contracts, but the particles fall vertically under gravity, landing a millimetre further downhill from where they started. Over a long period of time, the soil gradually creeps downhill.
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