Bedruthan Steps

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The app guides you around the walk using GPS, removing any worries about getting lost.

The walk route is described with detailed, regularly-updated, hand-written directions.

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Each walk is packed with information about the history and nature along the route, from over a decade of research than spans more than 3,000 topics.

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The app counts down distance to the next direction and estimates time remaining based on your personal walking speed.

We keep the directions continually updated for changes to the paths/landmarks - the price for a walk includes ongoing free updates.

Directions

1. From the car park, follow the tarmacked track towards Porth Mear. Continue to reach a gate on the right with "Footpath to Porth Mear and Park Head".

   The National Trust is the largest owner of farms in the UK. It has around 2,000 tenants and over 600,000 acres of land. It has been calculated that 43% of all the rainwater in England and Wales drains through National Trust land.

2. Go through the gate and once in the field, follow along the wall on your left. At the end of the wall, bear left to a gap in the left hedge.

   If there are sheep in the field and you have a dog, make sure it's securely on its lead (sheep are prone to panic and injuring themselves even if a dog is just being inquisitive). If the sheep start bleating, this means they are scared and they are liable to panic.

   If there are pregnant sheep in the field, be particularly sensitive as a scare can cause a miscarriage. If there are sheep in the field with lambs, avoid approaching them closely, making loud noises or walking between a lamb and its mother, as you may provoke the mother to defend her young.

   Sheep may look cute but if provoked they can cause serious injury (hence the verb "to ram"). Generally, the best plan is to walk quietly along the hedges and they will move away or ignore you.

3. Go through the gap and bear right slightly to cross the field in the direction of the sea to reach a kissing gate in the bottom corner of the far hedge.

   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.

4. Go through the kissing gate and follow the path along the walkway. Continue along the path until it ends in a junction with the coast path at a waymark.

   On the path along the valley you pass what looks like a shipwreck. It warrants closer inspection as it is carved with a number of animals, some of which are inside.

5. Continue ahead onto the coast path and follow it uphill to a kissing gate.

   The cove ahead is Porth Mear and can be reached via the footbridge to the right.

   The name Porth Mear is easily confused with Porth Meor beach at St Ives and Porthmeor Cove near Zennor because all of these are from the Cornish for "big cove". There is a shingle beach at high tide. At low tide, a large rock platform is exposed with lots of rockpools.

   Porth Mear has some excellent rockpools at low tide.

   Rockpool fishing is quite a popular childhood pass-time as a number of species can be lured out from hiding places by a limpet tied on a piece of cotton (leave a trailing end as if anything swallows the limpet, very gently pulling both ends of the cotton will cause it to release the cotton-tied limpet from its gullet). If you are intending to put the creatures into a bucket: ensure it is large, filled with fresh seawater and kept in the shade; ideally place in a couple of rocks for the creatures to hide under; do not leave them in there more than a couple of hours or they will exhaust their oxygen supply; ensure you release them into one of the rockpools from which you caught them, preferably a large one (carefully removing any rocks from your bucket first to avoid squashing them). Species you're likely to encounter are:

   • Blennies which are fish about 5-10cm long, often found hiding under rock ledges. They can change their colour from sandy to black within a couple of minutes in order to match their surroundings. They have strong, sharp teeth for crunching barnacles and will bite if provoked.
   • Shore crabs and sometimes edible crabs which can also sometimes be found hiding under rocks (carefully replace any rocks you lift up). Shore crabs have a fairly narrow shell which is almost as deep as it is wide. They vary in colour from green through brown to red (the redder individuals are apparently stronger and more aggressive). Edible crabs have a much wider shell which resembles a Cornish Pasty and are always a red-brown colour. Both have powerful claws so fingers should be kept well clear.
   • Shrimps and prawns - do you know the difference? Prawns are semi-transparent whereas shrimps are sandy coloured and generally bury themselves in sand.
6. Go through the kissing gate and follow the path up to the headland. Continue on the path along the cliff edge until you can see a bench on your right and a slate waymark on your left. Keep left to reach the waymark.

   The islands overlooked by the bench are the Trescore Islands.

   The Trescore Islands lie off the headland between Porthcothan and Porth Mear. The rocky islets are surrounded by a sandy beach which is exposed at low tide, creating a lagoon between the islands and mainland. It is shallow enough to wade across from the mainland at low tide.

7. From the waymark, continue on the path past another slate waymark and along the right side of a wall, past one more slate waymark, until the wall ends.

   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.

   During June and July, you might come across a plant on the coast with long and very bright yellow flowers, a bit like elongated gorse flowers. This is likely to Dyer's Broom (also known as Dyers Greenweed). As the name implies, the bright yellow flowers were used to dye clothing. As green was generally a more popular colour than yellow, the yellow fabric was often re-dyed with a blue dye such as woad or indigo to create green cloth. During Victorian times, there was so much demand for the dye that the plant was grown commercially. In West Cornwall, there is a variety of the plant that isn't found anywhere else in Britain.

   Oystercatchers are recognisable by their black-and-white bodies, their long, straight red beaks and loud, piercing call. In flight, the white markings form an image of a white bird towards the back of their otherwise black backs which may have evolved to confuse predators.

   The long beaks are adapted to open shellfish - mainly cockles and mussels - "cocklecatchers" would be a more accurate name. They can also use their bill to probe for worms.

8. At the end of the wall, keep right on the path along the coast and follow it until you reach another slate waymark.

   The French fishing boat Le Sillon was at sea during the 2014 storms and was pounded by waves of over 30 feet. One of these smashed the glass in the wheelhouse and shorted the electrics, leaving the boat without power or steering. The RNLI lifeboat attempted to tow the boat to safety but struggled against the waves and eventually the tow rope snapped. The crew were forced to abandon ship and were all saved from the water by a Sea King helicopter from RNAS Culdrose. The remains of Le Sillon are on the rocks of Park Head.

9. At the waymark, turn left and follow the path to a waymark at the end of a wall with a bench on the far side.

   At the slate waymark, a path to the right leads out onto Park Head where the remains of an Iron Age hillfort can be seen.

   The low plateau is surrounded by ramparts which are believed to date from the first century BC.

   The purpose of enclosures within ramparts varied quite considerably. Some were built as forts to defend from marauding invaders such as the seafaring Scandinavians. Others were defences built around small villages either as a status symbol/deterrent or for the more practical purpose of preventing domestic crimes such as theft of property by occupants of neighbouring villages. There were even some which were probably just a confined space used to stop livestock escaping!

10. Continue ahead on the path along the coast to reach another stone wall. Follow along this to reach a wooden signpost (pointing ahead to Carnewas) beside a kissing gate.

    Wild thyme grows along the coast and flowers from June to September with tiny pink flowers. During mediaeval times, the plant was a symbol of bravery, possibly due to derivation from the Greek word thumos, meaning anger or spiritedness. An embroidered motif of a bee on a sprig of thyme is said to have been given by mediaeval ladies to their favoured knight.

    Coastal land management including removal of excess gorse and grazing to keep taller plants in trim has allowed wild thyme to become more widespread as well as the Cornish chough. Wild thyme is a nectar source for many bees and butterflies and the food plant for young caterpillars of the large blue butterfly.

    The Birdsfoot Trefoil has yellow flowers tinged with red that look like little slippers and appear in small clusters. They are followed by seed pods that look distinctly like bird's feet or claws. Common names referring to the flowers include "Butter and Eggs", "Eggs and Bacon" and "Hen and Chickens", and to the seed pods, the delightful "Granny's Toenails".

    It is a member of the pea family and is poisonous to humans (containing glycosides of cyanide) but not to grazing animals and can be grown as a fodder plant. It is the larval food plant of many butterflies and moths including the common blue and silver-studded blue, and an important nectar plant for many bumblebee species.

    The "herringbone" style of walling built with tightly packed alternating diagonal slate courses, is unique to Cornwall's heritage.

    Traditionally, hedges (stone boundary walls) were built with whatever was cleared out of the fields, whilst buildings were constructed from stone that was quarried and cut. On a long wall, the herringbone sections are often between "towers" of flat-laid slate (built from the larger and squarer stones) which helped to prevent the wall slumping sideways.

    There is a nice view over the Bedruthan Steps rock stacks from the bottom of the grassy area to the right of the path.

11. At the footpath signpost, continue ahead along the coast to reach a kissing gate.

    Buttercups produce a toxin called protoanemonin, which is at its highest concentration when flowering. It is thought that buttercups may be partly responsible for Equine Grass Sickness. Fortunately the toxin is quite unstable and drying of the plant in haymaking leads to polymerisation into non-toxic anemonin. Buttercups are also toxic to dogs, cats and humans. They have a bitter taste which puts dogs off eating the plants but pollen can collect on fur and be ingested, particularly by cats when they clean themselves. A man in France who drank a glass of juice made from buttercups suffered severe colic after four hours and was dead the next day!

    The corn bunting is a small brown bird and as its name suggests, it has a preference for cereals. Consequently it has been living alongside humans since Neolithic times when our ancestors started to domesticate cereal crops. Its common name "fat bird of the barley" gives away its appearance, resembling a very portly skylark that looks like it would have trouble getting off the ground, let alone hovering. Its call is equally unglamorous, described as the shaking of a bunch of keys. Sadly, the once common and familiar bird has vanished from many areas and is now endangered. The rapid decline is thought to be due to industrialisation of arable farming methods. In Cornwall, the coastal land management provides an important habitat in which the birds thrive.

12. Go through the kissing gate and follow the path between the wall and fence to reach a gap in a wall.

    Skylarks are the most common member of the lark family in Britain and are often known simply as "larks".

    Almost all European countries have reported a rapid decline in lark numbers over recent years. In Britain, two-thirds of the population has disappeared in 30 years. This is thought mainly to be due to intensive agriculture and particularly the autumn sowing of cereals. When cereals were sown in the spring, the fields of stubble that remained after harvest provided an environment where larks could nest during the winter.

13. Continue through the gap and follow the path along the bank on the left to reach a waymark.

    The carpets of yellow flowers on the coast in June and July are Kidney Vetch. The flowers are red when they open and then turn yellow, and appear to be on a woolly cushion. The plant gets its common name as it was used to treat kidney troubles. Its other name - woundwort - is because it was also used to treat wounds. It is the food plant of the small blue butterfly, which is consequently quite common on the coastal heath.

    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.

14. From the waymark, continue to a fork in the path either side of a fenced-off mineshaft.

    On the headland, ahead, are the remains of a prehistoric cliff castle, known as Redcliff Castle. Most of the headland has since fallen into the sea, but there are still remains of a pair of circular ramparts which have been cut into the bedrock.

15. At the fork, take the path to the right, along the coast, and follow this past the fenced mineshaft to a fenced-off section of cliff. Bear left into the car park and follow along the fence and bank with tamarisk trees to a gap beside the rectangular stone structure. Bear right through the gap to return to the coast and follow the waymarked path downhill to join a cobbled path at the base of a flight of slate steps.

    The name Bedruthan Steps is commonly used to refer to either this stretch of coastline, the beach or the series of offshore rocks.

    Bedruthan Steps is the name of a stretch of rocky coastline between Padstow and Newquay. The area lies in the parish of St Eval, just to the west of the hamlet of Bedruthan.

    There is no record of the name "Bedruthan Steps" before 1847, but it is thought to have originally referred to one of the two cliff staircases to access Carnewas mine (presumably the one nearer to the village of Bedruthan). The name later also became used for the name of the beach itself.

    The legend of Bedruthan Steps was invented for Victorian tourism, said to be taken from a mythological giant (Bedruthan) who used the rocks as stepping stones.

    The rock stacks were formed after the last Ice Age, when rising sea levels eroded the surrounding soft shales to leave the harder rocks as islands. Each of the 5 rock stacks has a name (Queen Bess, Samaritan Island, Redcove Island, Pendarves Island and Carnewas Island).

    More about Bedruthan Steps.

16. Bear left and climb the steps (or follow the "no steps" optional path), then follow the cobbled path to a waymark.

    If the tide is out, you may want to take a short diversion down the cobbled path to your right to reach the beach.

    The beach at Bedruthan Steps is only exposed as the tide starts to go out. Initially several small coves are revealed as the tide falls and towards low tide these join into a large beach.

    The beach is accessed by a long flight of steps which lead from a gate just below the viewing area. Note that the gates are closed during the winter when the National Trust café is not open.

    Since only one of these coves has a set of steps, care should be taken not to get cut off by the incoming tide (tide times are displayed on a board beside the gate on the way down). Due to the channels between rocky islets across the beach, there are strong tidal currents and swimming is therefore not advisable. It is also a good idea to avoid choosing an area to sit that is directly below the cliffs as these are crumbling in many places: as well as occasional landslips, loose stones may be disturbed by birds.

17. Follow the cobbled path to the National Trust shop, tea room, toilets and car park.

    The buildings which now house the National Trust shop and café at Bedruthan Steps were once the offices and outbuildings of Carnewas mine. This operated for just over 20 years from the mid 19th century. Initially it extracted lead, antimony and silver but later much larger amounts of iron ore. The ladders and steps to the beach were probably originally built to access the mine workings.

18. At the car park, double back but take the left-hand path at the first fork, signposted Mawgan Porth. Keep left at any junctions to follow the path along the fence and emerge through a gap in the bank onto the coast path beside a waymark.

    Betony is a grassland herb, common on the coast, with pretty purple anthers that stick out from the plant. The name is derived from the ancient Celtic words bew (meaning head) and ton (meaning good) as it was used as a cure for headaches. From Roman times onward, it was believed to be a cure for a number of things (the Romans listed 47!) including drunkenness; even as late as the 1800s, Richard E. Banks stated that you should "Eat betony or the powder thereof and you cannot be drunken that day" and John Gerard (1597) said that "It maketh a man to pisse well". Betony was also used to ward away evil spirits (hence it is planted in a number of churchyards) and also to make a dark yellow dye for wool.

    The National Trust now has over 4 million members and is the largest voluntary conservation organisation in Europe. In the UK, the National Trust has more members than all the political parties combined and the only organisation currently larger at the time of writing is the AA.

19. Turn right onto the coast path and follow to where it joins a gravel-surfaced path at a narrow wooden waymark post.

    To the left, the coast path runs for about half a mile to Mawgan Porth beach so you can optionally extend the walk at this point, returning here to continue on the main route.

20. Continue ahead onto the surfaced path and follow this to where it forks at another wooden waymark post.

    The slates at Bedruthan Steps are from the middle of the Devonian period when Cornwall lay at the bottom of the ocean. Fossils are quite rare in Cornish slate as most have been subsequently destroyed by the heat and pressure created by colliding continents. A few fossils of fish, corals, trilobites have been recorded at Bedruthan Steps. Although few and far between, they are important as they include some of the last remains of a once-abundant family of fish that became extinct.

21. Take the left-hand path to where the two paths rejoin just in front of another waymark post, then turn left onto the cobbled path and retrace your steps downhill to where the unsurfaced path departs to the right at the bottom of the steps.

    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".

    The herring gull is the gull most commonly encountered in Cornwall, with a grey back and red spot on their yellow beak. They live for around 12 years and are highly intelligent birds with strong communication and social learning skills. This has allowed them to evolve strategies to obtain food more easily by stealing it from humans, either when briefly left unattended or by swooping and grabbing from unsuspecting hands.

    Whilst their pasty and ice cream stealing antics in coastal resorts might give the impression there are lots around, the coastal herring gull population dropped by about 50% from 1970 to the mid 1980s and the decline has continued with another drop of around 50% up to 2020.

    Part of the decline in coastal herring gull populations can be explained by a migration of birds inland to urban areas. Birds have been driven inland in search of food and roosting sites due to declining fish populations and lack of undisturbed coastal nesting sites. In urban areas, streetlights allow gulls to forage by night and there is no longer much competition from red kites, which scavenged the rubbish tips in the Middle Ages.

    At the time of writing, a survey of the inland populations is being carried out to determine the relative size of these vs the coastal population and if these are stable. The first datasets from some of the devolved UK Nations suggest that is unlikely to explain the majority of the decline. Since the 1990s, 96% of the population in Northern Ireland died out predominantly from botulism. It's thought that birds seeking food on rubbish tips might be bringing this back to colonies.

    The herring gull is an example of a "ring species". In Europe, the lesser black-backed gull and herring gull are distinct species, yet as you circumnavigate the globe, the populations become more similar until they merge in the middle as a single species.

    Herring gulls are able to communicate nuances both by altering the frequency and timbre of their calls - conveying, for example, the relative severity of a threat in an alarm call. They also analyse and remember the personality of their neighbours, ignoring more skittish birds but taking action when a more trusted bird raises an alarm.

22. Follow the path up the steps to reach a waymark then continue a short distance further to reach a gap in the wall on the right revealing a rectangular stone structure.

    Birds of prey, particularly kestrels and sometimes peregrine falcons, can be seen hunting along the coastline.

    The peregrine falcon can reach over 322 km/h (200 mph) during its hunting stoop (high speed dive) making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom. In 2005, a peregrine was measured at a top speed of 389 km/h (242 mph). The air pressure at this speed could damage a bird's lungs. However small bony tubercles on a falcon's nostrils guide the powerful airflow away, enabling the bird to breathe more easily while diving. In Cornish dialect, these falcons are known as "winnards" and local expressions include "shrammed as a winnard" (meaning chilled) and "rumped up like a winnard" (meaning huddled).

23. Turn right and follow the path through the gap in the wall then left along the bank to reach the parking area. Bear right slightly to depart from the coast path and follow the main gravel track leading up from the car park to the road. As you approach the road, there is a stile to the left of the gate.

    Kestrels are easily spotted when hovering, watching their prey. Whilst hovering, kestrels have the extraordinary ability to keep their head totally still, even in strong winds.

24. Cross the stile and turn left onto the road. Carefully follow it until you reach a small lane on the right.
25. Turn right onto the lane to Bedruthan Farm and follow it through a sequence of gates until it eventually ends in a T-junction.

    The name "Bedruthan" was first recorded in 1335 and is thought to be a corruption of the Cornish Bodrudhen (meaning something along the lines of "red dwelling"). It is thought this may refer to the iron ore deposits which were extracted at Carnewas mine. Red Cove, Red Cliff and Redcliff Castle are all likely to have similar origins.

26. At the junction, turn left and follow the lane between the houses until you reach a gate with a public footpath sign on the left, just past Tregona Cottage.

    The settlement now known as Tregona was first recorded in 1327 as Tregonou. The name is thought to be from the Cornish word goon which is roughly equivalent to the English "downs" (low moorland) so the gist would have been along the lines of "farm on the downs". The surrounding land has all since been cultivated but the name reflects how the landscape would have appeared in early mediaeval times.

27. Go through the gateway on the left, marked as a public footpath, and head downhill to a waymarked stile roughly 30 metres after the gateway in the middle of the left hedge.

    In the middle of the field there is a standing stone, known as Treburrick menhir. It is formed from white quartz and is over 6ft tall.

    Large upright standing stones are known as menhirs due to the Celtic words men meaning stone and hir meaning long. The reason for their construction is unknown; currently the most popular theories are ceremonial. Excavations at some of the menhir sites in Cornwall have found evidence of postholes and pits, and areas of quartz paving. Also beneath some of the stones, charcoal and cremated human bone have been found.

    These charcoal deposits have been radiocarbon dated and found to be between the Late Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age and, until recently, menhirs were thought to be associated principally with the people who inhabited Europe during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze age (4-5 thousand years ago), known as the "Beaker people" due to the pottery artefacts they left behind. Some recent research has suggested an older origin (perhaps 6-7 thousand years ago, at the very start of the Neolithic period in Britain). There is also evidence that some stones continued to be erected, or re-used, much later in the post-Roman "Dark Ages" (early mediaeval) period when some were also inscribed.

28. Cross the stile and bear right, across the field, to the bottom corner with the far hedge, where there is a kissing gate.

    Dandelion is a corruption of the French dent de lion (lion's tooth), which is thought to refer to the shape of the leaves. The plant is a member of the sunflower family.

    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

    • Stop, look and listen on entering a field. Look out for any animals and watch how they are behaving, particularly bulls or cows with calves
    • Be prepared for farm animals to react to your presence, especially if you have a dog with you.
    • Try to avoid getting between cows and their calves.
    • Move quickly and quietly, and if possible walk around the herd.
    • Keep your dog close and under effective control on a lead around cows and sheep.
    • Remember to close gates behind you when walking through fields containing livestock.
    • If you and your dog feel threatened, work your way to the field boundary and quietly make your way to safety.
    • Report any dangerous incidents to the Cornwall Council Countryside Access Team - phone 0300 1234 202 for emergencies or for non-emergencies use the iWalk Cornwall app to report a footpath issue (via the menu next to the direction on the directions screen).

    Don't

    • If you are threatened by cattle, don't hang onto your dog: let it go to allow the dog to run to safety.
    • Don't put yourself at risk. Find another way around the cattle and rejoin the footpath as soon as possible.
    • Don't panic or run. Most cattle will stop before they reach you. If they follow, just walk on quietly.
29. Go through the gate and cross the footbridge into a riverside meadow. Bear right, along the meadow, to a stile in the far left corner.

    Electric fences are typically powered from a low voltage source such as a car battery which charges a capacitor to release a periodic pulse of high voltage electricity. This is often audible as a quiet "crack" which is a good indicator that a fence is powered. As with the high-voltage shock caused by static electricity, the current is not high enough to cause serious injury but touching an electric fence is nevertheless unpleasant. If you are answering the call of nature in the vicinity of an electric fence, be mindful of the conductivity of electrolyte solutions!

30. Cross the stile to reach the road. Turn left and carefully walk a short distance along the road until you reach a junction to the right with a sign for Park Head.

    During winter, from November to March, winter heliotrope is visible along the edges of roads and paths as carpets of rounded heart-shaped leaves.

    From mid November to January, the plants produce spikes with pale pink scented flowers. The scent resembles marzipan i.e. almond and vanilla.

    Alexanders are a member of the carrot family and grow along roadsides in places similar to cow parsley. The leaves are more solid than the lacy cow parsley leaves and the flowers are yellow rather than white. The name arises because the plant was introduced to the UK by the Romans and was known as the "pot herb of Alexandria". It is also sometimes known as horse parsley.

    Wild Clematis, also known "traveller's joy", produces white silky seeds in autumn which give rise to another name: "old man's beard". These stay on the plant through much of the winter and provide both food for birds and fluff for lining their nests. The tangled structure of their stems also provides cover and nesting sites for birds. During the summer months, their flowers are a good source of nectar for bees.

    The French name is "herbe aux gueux" - beggar's herb. It is said to be because the sap was used deliberately to irritate the skin to give it an ulcerated look to induce more sympathy. The sap contains a chemical called protoanemonin which causes blistering.

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31. Turn right onto the lane to Park Head and follow it back to the car park.

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