The Mill House Inn is situated where Trebarwith Valley is crossed by the road from Treknow to Trebarwith Village. The Mill House, formerly known as Treknow Mill, dates back to before Victorian times and was a corn mill. The mill wheel was constructed in the 19th Century. Some of the field names on the tithe map of 1840 also suggest there were once a windmill situated at the top of Treknow perhaps dating back as far as mediaeval times, catching the westerlies blowing up Trebarwith Valley.
The settlement of Trebarwith was recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 as Treberbet. The name is from the Cornish word perveth and means "middle farm". The name of the nearby beach - Trebarwith Strand - was taken from this small farmstead, but the large, sandy beach has become far more well-known than the place from which its name originates. In fact just about everyone uses "Trebarwith" to refer to the beach and distinguishes the settlement as "Trebarwith Village".
Just to the left of the track, an overgrown building can be seen which was a watermill powering a large threshing machine.
A watermill powering a large threshing machine was once located near the start of the track from Trebarwith Village to Backways Cove. The 20ft diameter water wheel, which can still be seen in the undergrowth, was connected to a drive shaft which ran (and still remains) under the road, and powered a threshing machine in a stone barn at Trebarwith Farm, which prior to this, had been powered by horses. The threshing machine allowed the previously time-consuming manual task of separating wheat and barley grains from the stalks and husks to be automated, saving large amounts in labour costs.
During the warmer months, you may well see red-brown cattle grazing the fields here.
The cattle breeds known as Devon were also the traditional breeds used in Cornwall until recent years. The South Devon breed, affectionately known as "Orange Elephant" or "Gentle Giant", is the largest of the British native breeds: the largest recorded bull weighed 2 tonnes. They are thought to have descended from the large red cattle of Normandy, which were imported during the Norman invasion of England. The other breed, known as "Devon Ruby" or "Red Ruby" (due to their less orange colouration), is one of the oldest breeds in existence, with origins thought to be from pre-Roman Celtic Britain.
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
Between Tregardock and Backways Cove lie the remains of Treligga Aerodrome (HMS Vulture II). Both the observation/control tower and the reinforced hut near the sea (towards Backways Cove) are still standing, as are the accommodation and service huts near Treligga village. The control tower has quite recently been repaired and converted into accommodation.
Before the Second World War, HMS Vulture II was used as a glider site. However the Admiralty requisitioned 260 acres of land in late 1939 for the purposes of constructing an aerial bombing and gunnery range. Unusually, the entire operation at HMS Vulture II was staffed by the Women's Royal Naval Service.
On 16 September 1943, an American B-17 Flying Fortress was forced to make an emergency landing at HMS Vulture II. The pilot, Capt Jack Omohundro, had ignored a red flare warning him to keep clear. The plane was chronically short of fuel and running on three engines after a raid on U-boat pens at Nantes in France. The bomber had left its formation to try and preserve what little fuel it had left. Spotting the tiny Treligga airstrip, he skilfully landed "wheels-down" just 50 yards short of the Wrens quarters.
Bracken is both poisonous and carcinogenic to many grazing animals which will avoid it if at all possible. Eating bracken is not recommended as it is thought that the carcinogenic properties may also apply to humans based on the circumstantial evidence that Japan, where young bracken fronds are a delicacy, has the highest levels of stomach cancer in the world.
The river valley to the left is a hanging valley, cut short of sloping into the sea due to erosion of the cliffs by the powerful Atlantic waves.
The valley above Backways Cove is rich in wildflowers and heathland butterflies. Notably a species of wild chamomile grows here which is rare in the rest of the country. There is a story that a cow once went missing for 3 days at Backways Cove and reappeared staggering drunkenly after gorging on chamomile. A chemical within chamomile is known to be an intoxicant in animals if ingested in large quantities, so there may be some truth in this!
The path, leading uphill to the right, goes to the slate quarries.
Coastal slate quarries are confined to a small area of about five miles either side of Tintagel and relatively little is known about their history. In order to work the vertical cliff face, strong points were built from stone above the working areas. From these, ropes were dropped down the quarry face. Men were lowered down the faces on these ropes to split blocks of slate from the face. The slate was hauled up the cliff face on these cables which were wound using "horse whims" - capstans powered by horses or donkeys walking around a circular platform. The stone was split and shaped on "dressing floors" on the cliff top, originally covered with sheds. The remains can be seen as level terraces and are marked by screes of waste rock on the cliff below. Splitting was (and still is) done with a bettle (hammer) and chisel, hence the name of the pub in Delabole.
To get down to the beach, cross over the stream and make your way carefully over the rocks. They can be slippery when it's wet so it's only advisable in dry weather. The rocky beach of Backways Cove is the result of slate quarrying combined with natural erosion.
The shore of Backways Cove is covered in boulders from the slate quarrying that took place along the cliffs and the cove itself has been enlarged from its original natural shape by the quarrying. The cove is surrounded by high cliffs and the only access is a path cut into the rocks along side the stream. The stream percolates through the boulders on the beach and there's quite a bit of slippery weed on some of the boulders. Beyond this is a reef that stretches all the way to Gull Rock and rock platforms either side almost meet to make the cove a lagoon, leaving just a narrow opening. In winter, storm waves breaking over the reef create sea foam which is driven into the cove by the westerly winds where it collects, trapped against the high cliffs and caught in wind vortices created by the cliffs. The high cliffs also mean the cove is often in shade, particularly in the morning and in winter.
Possibly as a result of this and its bleak rocky shore, Backways Cove features in "The International Directory of Haunted Places":
"Backways Cove, a North Cornwall inlet just up the coast from Trebarwith Strand, is still haunted by many unidentified presences who are thought to be the spirits of shipwrecked sailors whose bodies washed up there after they drowned. Numerous ships were torn apart on the jagged rocks offshore, and the shadowy spirits of their crew are still trying to make it to shore."
It's theoretically possible that wreckage from a vessel grounded on the reef around Gull Rock might be trapped against Dennis Point and wash ashore at Backways Cove but historical accounts of this actually happening are thin on the ground.
A tale of Backways Cove was recounted by a folklore enthusiast called Kath:
Many years ago a man with two sons farmed in the vicinity, and on his death left his entire estate to his eldest son, cutting out the younger one without a penny. The younger son went away wracked with jealousy that fomented over time to be an obsession until, convinced that he had been cheated of his birthright he set out to wreak revenge on his elder brother. One night he crept onto the farm and set fire to the buildings. The blaze took hold and the entire property was razed to the ground. The ruins of this once prosperous farm may still be seen near Backways - a few stones from the farmhouse and outbuildings were all that remained. Only in the morning did he discover that his brother had died the day before - and left the entire estate to him.
The carpets of tiny blue flowers on the coast during April and May are the appropriately-named spring squill, which up close is a star-shaped pale blue flower with a dark blue stamen. They achieve their early flowering by storing energy over the winter in a bulb so they can be the first flowers out on the cliffs before they become overshadowed by larger plants. They thrive in locations which are beaten with wind and salt-laden spray which they are able to tolerate but other plants, which might otherwise out-compete them, cannot.
There are two very similar looking members of the daisy family that are both known as "chamomile". English chamomile (also known as Roman chamomile) has hairy stems and is the one used for chamomile tea. German chamomile has smooth stems and higher levels of essential oils so this one is used for chamomile-scented pharmaceuticals (shampoos etc). Pineapple weed is related and is sometimes known as "false chamomile" or more confusingly as "wild chamomile" (even though it isn't chamomile and normal chamomile is also wild!).
English chamomile was once common in Britain but it has declined (due to land clearance and changes to farming practices) to now being classified as Vulnerable. The Southwest is now one if its last strongholds.
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.
Heathers and heaths are members of the Ericaceae family. The formal definition of a heather is a member of the Calluna genus within this family whereas heaths are members of the Erica genus. Bell heather is actually an Erica and therefore technically not a heather but a heath.
During stormy weather, sea foam is driven into Backways Cove by the wind and vortices form against the sheer cliffs resulting in small tornadoes of sea foam.
Sea foam (also known as "spume") is formed due to organic compounds known as surfactants present in seawater. Under turbulent conditions, the surfactants form persistent bubbles which float to the surface, stick to each other through surface tension and are driven onshore by the wind. The surfactant compounds themselves arise from processes such as the offshore breakdown of algal blooms.
On beaches, sea foam can conceal deep pools and gullies with an apparently flat, uniform surface. Tread carefully, especially on beaches you don't know well, to avoid walking off the edge of a precipice or vanishing into icy cold water.
Looking back across Port Isaac Bay, the headland on the far side is The Rumps. The island off the end is Newland. The Mouls (also known as Puffin Island) is less clear as it's directly in front of the headland from this angle.
Gull Rock lies approximately 500 metres offshore from Trebarwith Strand and has given its name to RR Gordon's crime thriller set in the area. It is made of a very hard volcanic material that has withstood the sea whilst the slate around it has been worn away. On the seaward side, where a chunk of the rock has cracked off, the tightly folded volcanic rocks within can be seen.
Recently the rock has turned green during the spring and summer due to rock samphire colonising the side facing the beach which is sheltered from the westerly winds, helped by fertiliser provided by the seabirds also colonising the sheltered side of the rock.
In the 1800s, the rock at Trebarwith (or "Trebarrow" as it was known then), was known as Otterham Rock, or Rocks, acknowledging the rocks to the side of the main rock which protrude a small amount from the water. Below the surface of the water, these are part of an extensive reef.
In the spring, it's possible to use the wildflowers as a compass. On the Backways Cove side of the point, spring squill and thrift grow on the south-facing slope facing the sun. The north side facing Trebarwith Strand gets much less sun so shade-loving plants such as bluebells and red campion grow here.
There are spectacular views of Trebarwith Strand and Penhallic Point on the way down. Make sure you stop walking to admire the view (or read this!) and look where your feet are going when descending the steep steps.
The headland on the far side of the bay is Penhallic Point and the one you are now standing on is known as Dennis Point.
Dennis Point is thought to be a corruption of the Cornish word dinas meaning "castle". An area on Penhallic Point opposite is also known as "Dennis Scale" which is thought to have similar origins. Clifftop forts on top of headlands such as this were common in the Iron Age. However no evidence has so far been found that there was a fort on either headland, so it remains an unsolved mystery. Whether there's any connection to the old name Trebarrow used for Trebarwith Strand is also not clear. The name "Dennis" crops up elsewhere in Cornwall such as Dennis Hill at Padstow, which is thought to get its name from the rocky outcrop on the hill that looks a bit like a fort.
The main building of the Port William Inn is recorded in its present location on OS maps from the 1880s but no use as a public house is recorded in this period. The more recently-added outdoor terrace and conservatories offer spectacular views of the beach and coastline for weary walkers to enjoy some well-deserved refreshment. The interior is decorated with various trophies recovered from ship wrecks such as brass propellers, lanterns and even half of a rowing boat!
A track shown on the 1880s maps ran past the buildings all the way to Port William beach and this was still usable in the 1980s. The 1973 film "Malachi's Cove" was filmed on the track and the beach. Since then, a cliff fall has buried part of the track near the beach and more recently a section of the track closer to the pub has been undermined by the sea so it is now closed to the public.
Trebarwith Strand is in the centre and is the lifeguard-patrolled area. It's sandy on the left and, to the right side, there are more rocks including some good rock pools. The large pool beside the rocks on the right side of the beach is known as "Horse Pool" from when horses were used to transport slate and sand, and this provided somewhere for them to cool off from their heavy work.
Rock samphire has been a popular wild food since Celtic times. It has a strong, characteristic, slightly lemony flavour and recently has become more well-known as a flavouring for gin. It was very popular as a pickle in 16th century Britain until it almost died out from over-picking in the 19th Century. Consequently, it's currently a protected plant but is now making a good comeback. In Shakespeare's time, a rope was tied to a child's ankles and he was dangled over the cliff to pick the rock samphire that grew in crevices and clefts in the rocks.
The completely unrelated but similar-looking golden samphire also grows around the North Cornish coast. The leaves look almost identical, but the daisy-like yellow flowers in summer are a giveaway, as rock samphire has tiny green-white flowers that look more like budding cow parsley. Golden samphire is edible, but is inferior in flavour to rock samphire; it is also nationally quite rare in Britain.
Also completely unrelated is marsh samphire (also known as glasswort) which looks more like micro-asparagus. This is what typically appears on restaurant menus or in supermarkets as "samphire".
The small blue pom-pom-like flowers have common names which include blue bonnets, blue buttons, blue daisy and Iron Flower but it is best known as sheep's bit. The name is said to originate because sheep enjoy eating it. Confusingly, it is sometimes known as "sheeps bit scabious", yet it is not at all closely related to the group of plants normally known as "scabious".
Sheep's bit flowers are rich in nectar and are a favourite with bees and butterflies. The flowers are highly reflective to ultraviolet which is thought helps to attract insects. The reason that insects can see UV but we can't is that insects' eyes have colour receptors that are tuned to different wavelengths than ours but also the lens of the human eye blocks UV light.
Blackberries are closely related to raspberries and technically neither is a berry but an aggregate of many individual tiny fruits, each containing a tiny stone like a miniature cherry.
Blackberries are high in vitamin C, K and antioxidants. The seeds, despite being a bit crunchy, contain omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and further enhance blackberries' "superfood" status.
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.
A project to analyse blackberries picked from busy urban roadsides vs quiet rural lanes found that there was a slightly elevated level of lead in the blackberries from busy roadsides which is thought to have accumulated in the soil when leaded fuel was in common use. Surprisingly, commercial blackberries from supermarkets also showed higher levels of lead than the wild blackberries from rural lanes.
An impressively purple blackberry, pear and ginger chutney can be made with blackberries stashed in the freezer. Simmer 500g blackberries, a few chilli flakes, 4 chopped pears and a finely-chopped 8cm piece of fresh ginger until the liquid reduces. Add 150ml distilled or white wine vinegar, and sugar to taste (amount will depend on tartness of the blackberries). Reduce a bit longer until the desired "gloopy" consistency is achieved and finally season with a little salt to taste to balance the sweetness.
To make blackberry wine, combine 2kg blackberries + 4 litres of boiling water in a plastic container with a lid. Once the water has cooled to lukewarm, mash blackberries and add red wine yeast and pectic enzyme (blackberries contain pectin so this is needed to stop the wine being cloudy). Cover for 4-5 days then strain through muslin.
Transfer the liquid to a demijohn and add 1kg of sugar. Top up with a little more water to make it up to a gallon. After fermentation, the wine should clear by itself; in the unlikely event that it doesn't, use some finings. Rack off from the sediment and bottle; it's worth allowing the wine a year or two to mature as it massively improves with age. As a variation, you can add 500g of elderberries and increase the sugar content for a more port-like wine which will need a couple of years longer for the elderberry tannins to mellow out.
Water pepper, as the name implies, grows on wet ground such as on the margins of lakes (it's also known as marsh pepper). It's relatively late to appear, not really getting going until June.
Another of water pepper's common names is "smartarse". As Emma Gunn points out in her foraging book "Never Mind the Burdocks", this is nothing to do with being clever: in the past, the dried leaves were added to bedding to drive away fleas etc. and the name comes from rolling over on a leaf in the wrong way.
Water pepper leaves can be used as a herb and has a lemony flavour similar to sorrel followed by heat which is a little like chilli. Its used in Japanese cuisine, particularly with fish. The young shoots are used to garnish sushi or sashimi.
The plant is unpalatable to livestock but is eaten by some insects which has given rise to a Japanese saying which transliterates to "Some insects eat water pepper and like it" but is used more like "There's no accounting for taste".
Purple loosestrife usually grows in damp places such as next to a stream and can be spotted from spikes of bright purple flowers in August-September.
The common name is thought to be the result of a 16th century mistranslation of the Latin name. Attempts were then made to make "loose strife" fit with reported uses for the plant to try to rationalise the wacky name. The Latin name is now thought simply to refer to the name of city in Thrace (Greek-Turkish border) which perhaps had the plant growing along its watercourses.
It has been suggested that a law must have been passed in Cornwall whereby all offshore rocks must be renamed "Gull Rock"! There are examples at:
It seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon as many reports from the 1800s use different names for the rocks now named Gull Rock.
In the local dialect, the word "orestone" was used to describe such offshore rocks. An object was described as "orey" if covered in seaweed (oarweed being another name for the commonest kelp found around the Cornish coast).
Several beaches in Cornwall have a large rockpool known locally as the "Horse Pool": at Trebarwith Strand it's the large pool ahead of the entrance onto the beach and at Holywell Bay it's in front of the cave just before the Holy Well cave. Treyarnon and Porthcothan also have pools known by this name. The name stems from when working horses were given a wash off and cool down on hot days. In the case of Trebarwith Strand, many of the horses were involved in hauling slate from nearby quarries or sand from the beach.
As a wave approaches the beach, the bottom of the wave (which extends as far below the water as the crest does above the surface) starts to get close to the seabed and this begins to slow the wave down. As it slows down, its energy is transferred into increased height and the result is more closely-spaced, taller waves. The bottom of the wave now extends even closer to the seabed and is slowed even more. Eventually, the top of the wave outruns the bottom and the wave breaks. More sudden changes to depth allow the wave to get taller and steeper before it has time to break which is why "reef breaks" attract surfers.
It's estimated that on average around 1 tonne of fishing gear is left in the ocean every minute either by being lost or discarded. This is known as "ghost gear" as it drifts through the ocean, killing marine life in its path. This includes over 100,000 whales, dolphins and turtles every year as well as countless fish and seabirds. When it finally washes up on beaches, it makes up around 10% of all marine litter.
A number of initiatives are underway to try to prevent fishing gear being dumped in the sea which even include recycling old nets into skateboards. However, since the gear that's already in the sea can take 600 years to break down, you can help by spotting any washed up on the beach. If you come across a small amount of fishing gear on a beach that's safe to remove then bin it. If you spot some that's too large to deal with yourself then take a photo and email it to seals@cornwallsealgroup.co.uk, describing where it is and giving an idea of size.
There are two types of anemone that you're likely to encounter on Cornish beaches. The most common are those that look like red blobs out of the water, known as beadlet anemones; in the water they open into a crown of tentacles. The little blue beads around the edge that give them their name are fighting tentacles, used to beat up rival anemones and chase them out of their territory (they can move around on the rocks albeit very slowly). The other species is the larger, green-and-purple snakelocks anemone which has tentacles that contain a fluorescent green algae which glows under UV light (should you own a battery-powered UV lamp and be on the beach at night). Anemones are very long-lived, often reaching 60-80 years and more. They do not age and have the potential to live indefinitely if they are not eaten by predators.
The area around the gully leading down to Trebarwith strand is a volcanic lava flow which was metamorphised later on by the heat and pressure from continental collisions into the blue rocks. The ripples in the flow and the holes from bubbles can still be seen in the rocks.
The wheatear can often be seen on the coast during the summer month as it nests in rock crevices or rabbit burrows but returns to Sub-Saharan Africa every winter.
For a long time, the wheatear was thought to be a member of the thrush family but genetic studies have revealed they are actually members of the (Old World) flycatcher family which also includes stonechats.
The name "wheatear" is a 16th-century linguistic corruption of "white arse", referring to the bird's prominent white rump.
Stonechats are robin-sized birds with a black head and orange breast that are common along the Cornish coast all year round.
The name "stonechat" comes from the sound of their call which resembles stones being knocked together.
During the summer months, stonechats eat invertebrates. As temperatures drop and there are not so many of these about, they make do with seeds and fruit such as blackberries. Quite a few die in cold winters but this is offset by their fast breeding rate during the warmer months.
A similar-looking bird called the whinchat is also present in the summer but this can be identified by a white stripe across its eye. Both stonechats and whinchats can often be spotted perching on dead sticks or brambles protruding above gorse and heather, and consequently the term "gorse chat" or "furze chat" has been used locally to mean either species. For a long time, stonechats and whinchats were thought to be members of the thrush family but genetic studies have revealed they are actually members of the (Old World) flycatcher family.
Silverweed is a creeping plant which is fairly easily recognised by its silver-green toothed leaves. The silver colour is caused by hairs on the leaves. Yellow flowers with 5 petals appear in late June. It is said that the Romans used it as insoles for their shoes on long marches.
Thrift is a tough evergreen plant which grows on sea cliffs and consequently it's the county flower of the Scilly Isles. To survive in this environment it needs to be able to withstand drought and salt-laden winds. Its long, thin leaves and hairy flower stems have evolved to minimise water loss.
The name "thrift" has been suggested to arise from the plant's tufted leaves being economical with water in the windy locations where it is found. It's common all along the Cornish coast and in April-June produces pale pink flowers, hence its other common name: "Sea Pink". The plant grows in dense circular mats which together with its covering of pink flowers gives rise to another less common name: "Ladies' Cushions".
Thrift is tolerant of metals such as lead and particularly copper in soil so it is able to colonise coastal mine tips. It has been suggested that the heavy metal tolerance may be partly down to not transporting much dissolved metal up the shoot of the plant (since thrift grows in a desiccating salty environment, there is less water to transport it than in many other plants). However thrift also has mechanisms to sequester metals and excrete them through its roots and leaves.
Thrift is known as a "hyperaccumulator" of copper: it can concentrate copper by over 1000 times more than other neighbouring plants. This makes it potentially useful to clean up contaminated land but this be done over many years. In principle it's even possible to mine for minerals by concentrating them in plants and then extracting them (known as "phytomining"). It's currently far from economical to do so for copper but for rarer high-value metals it may become economical, possibly in conjunction with chemical soil additives to increase bio-availability.
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