The crescent shape of Lantic Bay shelters it from the wind and its white, sandy beaches face south towards the sun. Within the bay, the main beach - Great Lantic Beach - is accessible via a flight of steps. At low tide, this joins to the other beaches in the bay - Little Lantic Beach on one side and some small coves on the other. As the tide comes in, these are cut off and there is no path up from them, so care should be taken in exploring them.
The path leading downhill after the first gate leads to the beach.
There are panoramic views both over Lantic Bay and Lantivet Bay from the top of the rock outcrop. On a calm day, it comes highly recommended as a picnic spot.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Cornish fishermen used sailing boats to fish and one of the most popular of the larger boats was known as a lugger.
The design of the Cornish Lugger was honed into a high-speed vessel for use in smuggling. The largest were up to 75 feet long with three masts of stepped height, allowing a large area of sail to be set. The fastest could average twelve knots between Cornwall and Roscoff, which is fast sailing even by modern standards. The decks were often lined with a dozen or more cannons and another dozen anti-personnel swivel guns loaded with shrapnel-like grapeshot.
Although primroses flower most intensely in March and April, some primroses can begin flowering in late December. The name "primrose" from the Latin for "first" (as in "primary"), alluding to their early flowering.
Hawthorn berries have traditionally been used to make fruit jellies as they contain pectin and have an apple-like flavour. A reason for making seedless jellies is that the seeds in hawthorn berries contain a compound called amygdalin, which is cyanide bonded with sugar. In the gut this is converted to hydrogen cyanide.
Hawthorn has many folk names which are spread across quite a diverse range of features. Names such as "maytree" or even just "may" are references to when it flowers. However "whitethorn" is not about the blossom but a reference to the lighter bark colour than blackthorn. The name "bread and cheese" derives from the very young leaves being edible. It is also sometimes called "thornapple" due to the apple-like shape of the fruits. This is not a coincidence as both the hawthorn and apple are members of the rose family.
Red-and-black-spotted Burnett moths can often be seen feeding on nectar-bearing flowers alongside the coast path. The red colour is a warning that they contain hydrogen cyanide. The larvae normally create it by breaking down more complex cyanide compounds from the birdsfoot trefoil on which they feed. However they are also able to synthesise it themselves in environments where it isn't readily available from food plants.
The English Channel is thought to have been formed by two catastrophic floods from lakes that built up behind a dam of ice. The first was about 425,000 years ago and broke through a range of chalk mountains between the Weald and Artois. Then about 225,000 years ago, a second ice-dammed lake at the end of the Rhine broke through another weak barrier and created another massive flood channel. The waterfalls during these floods are thought to have created plunge pools around 100 metres deep and several kilometres across.
The path to the right leads to the old Coastguard Watch House.
In October 1835, smugglers landed 107 kegs of spirits at Lantic Bay and were in the process of carrying these up Pencarrow Head when they were discovered by a coastguard patrol. There was a fierce fight, sometimes known as "The Battle of Lantic Bay". Several of the smugglers were arrested but, to the dismay of the coastguards, they were acquitted by a jury in Bodmin. As a result of this incident, the watch house at Lantivet Bay was built and manned by coastguards to prevent any more smuggling in the area.
The rocky coast provides a good habitat for limpets.
Limpets wander around grazing on algae when the tide is in, but always return to the same parking spot as the tide recedes, gradually creating a depression in the rock at this point. In coastal communities it was traditional to gather limpets, mussels and winkles before Lent. The practice was known as "goin' a triggin'" and the gathered shellfish was known as "Trigg meat". The shells of limpets were known as "Croggans".
Limpets are a favourite food of wrasse.
One of the most common fish on inshore reefs is the wrasse. The name for the fish is from the Cornish word wragh meaning "old hag". This is probably based on its lack of popularity for culinary consumption and is the reason why it is still quite common whereas most other species have been depleted by several centuries of fishing. Recently, wrasse has been "rediscovered" as a good eating fish if not overcooked. However, wrasse are very slow growing so are not an ideal culinary fish for conservation reasons: they cannot reproduce until they are 6-10 years old and large individuals may be over 30 years old.
Another species of fish found on rocky shores is the pollack.
Pollack spend much of their time around weed-covered rocks, ambushing small fish as sandeels. On offshore reefs and wrecks, pollack can grow up to a metre in length but close to the shore you’re most likely to see young fish of a few cm in length, which there was a word in Cornish specifically for: dojel.
Pollack is a member of the cod family but until recently was an unpopular culinary fish. There are two reasons for this: as well as having a name that sounds like an insult, when the fish is dead, its flavour deteriorates faster than many other members of the cod family, so fish which is not very fresh smells "fishy". However pollack is excellent to eat when very fresh, and since it is pretty much the only member of the cod family that hasn’t yet been overfished, has made more of an appearance in supermarkets in recent years. It used to be marketed as "coley" which was a fishmongers' collective term for either pollack or its close cousin, the coalfish, but more recently it has been appearing as pollack.
As you cross the field, there is a small path leading from the bottom of the field that descends to Palace Cove.
Palace Cove may sound grand but it is from a local dialect word for pilchard cellars (which were known as Pilchard Palaces). The term is thought to have its origins in the Cornish word for "place". Little remains of the old cellar at Palace Cove; it is now just a flat grassy area with some remnants of walls. The cove is rocky at high tide and has a good selection of rockpools, but care must be taken not to get cut off by the tide. As the tide falls, a sandy beach is revealed.
In 1930, the "Islander" yacht foundered on the rocks of Palace Cove in rough seas. The boat was in trouble for some time and attempted to anchor to stay off the rocks but the anchor would not hold fast under the force of the wind and was slowly dragged along the seabed. Flares were spotted by campers on cliffs, but the time taken to get 1930s cars stuck in muddy fields and then drive to Polperro to make a telephone call meant that the boat had hit the rocks by the time the lifeboat reached it. Despite the efforts of the lifeboat and local people climbing down onto Palace Cove in an attempt to rescue the crew from the shore, none of the 6 aboard survived. In part because one of the crew was an ex member of Parliament, the incident was reported all over the world. An investigation came to the conclusion that the crew may have been rescued in time by the lifeboat if the Coastguard lookout in Lantivet Bay had been manned.
The disaster at Lantivet Bay ultimately resulted in 1931 in the establishment of the Coastal Life-saving Corps, later renamed the Coastguard Auxiliary Service in which volunteer rescue personnel were trained and coordinated by the Coastguard. The Children's Newspaper of August 1931 commented:
A CHANCE FOR YOUTH TO DO SOMETHING
LEND A HAND ON THE COAST
A Good Idea Comes Out of a Sad Disaster
ARMY OF OCEAN WATCHERS
Something good has come from a sea disaster of a year ago, when the yacht Islander foundered and Commodore King and his five companions were drowned in Lantivet Bay. The Board of Trade is planning a new civilian, Life-Saving Corps, nearly 6000 strong, to supplement the present coastguard service. Here is a wonderful new chance for Scouts and Guides if the scheme comes into being, for they are to be specially welcomed as helpers. Women would also be enrolled in the corps. ... The idea of performing some national service is bound to appeal to a vast number of people. If the Government approves the scheme we can prophesy that all round the coasts of our little island there will be a great army of volunteers for serving the ships that pass in the night.
Lansallos Cove is also known as West Coombe, after the valley. The sheltered beach is composed of sand and shingle and was used to launch small fishing boats. The same characteristics that made it a good launching spot also make it good for swimming, particularly at mid-high tide when the bottom is sandy (at low tide, rocks are exposed). The bowl shape of the cove also traps warm water as the tide rises over the rocks and sand exposed to the sun. Sand from the cove was used by local farmers to improve soil drainage and as a source of lime. Seaweed was sometimes also used as a fertiliser as it is rich in potassium and contains a number of trace elements needed by plants. The small waterfall on the side of the beach was once used to power a mill.
Wild garlic has been found in settlements dating as far back as the neolithic period which given its springtime abundance and aroma is not that surprising. Its culinary use was eventually overtaken by domesticated garlic which first arrived with Mediterranean traders and had the advantage that the bulbs could be stored for relatively long periods.
The footpath along the stream, known as Reed Water, is an ancient route from the village to the cove. It was cut out to form a cart track to serve both the cove and the mill, and ruts from the cartwheels are still visible. In March and April, celandines flower along the wooded path.
The church is on the site of an earlier Norman church and before that, Celtic missionary monks had an establishment here that the "Lan" in the name refers to. The present church building was dedicated to St Ildierna on 16th October 1321, was rebuilt in the 15th century, and contains a number of important architectural and historical features.
In 2005, the church and many of its ancient artefacts were badly damaged in a fire which is thought was an act of arson. The now partly incinerated mediaeval chest gives an idea of the intensity of the blaze which also damaged both the roof and organ. Fortunately, the magnificent carved oak benches, made between 1490 and 1520, survived the fire.
The inscription on a gravestone in Lansallos churchyard records the untimely death of John Perry at the age of 24 in 1779 "unfortunately killed by a cannon ball by a person unknown," probably as a result of an encounter with a Revenue vessel at sea.
In Prime of Life most suddenly.
Sad tidings to relate.
Here view my utter destiny
and pity my sad fate.
I by a Shot which rapid flew.
Was Instantly Struck dead.
Lord pardon the offender who.
My precious blood did shed.
Grant Him to rest and forgive me.
For all I've done amiss.
And that I may rewarded be.
With everlasting bliss.
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
To make wine from dandelion flowers, pour a gallon of boiling water over a gallon of flowers and steep for 2-3 days in a covered container, stirring occasionally. Then boil, add 1.5kg sugar and allow to cool. To the basic liquor, citrus is often added (lemon/orange juice and zest) which gives some acidity, and chopped raisins or grape concentrate can be used to give more body to the wine. Ferment with a white wine or champagne yeast.
During Victorian times and earlier, small amounts of land in Cornwall were measured by the goad - a unit of nine feet in length, derived from the name of the staff used to drive oxen.
An English acre was less generous (at 43,560 square feet) than a Cornish acre (51,840 square feet). Although both were defined as 160 smaller land units, the English equivalent to the Cornish goad was a perch but this was 5.5 yards (16.5 ft) rather than the two-goad length used in Cornwall of 6 yards (18 ft). It is thought that the reason the perch ended up as a non-round number of feet is that it was originally measured from 20 averaged-sized human feet in Saxon times when nutrition wasn't great.
Celandine flowers close each night and open each morning. This is controlled by a circadian rhythm, so they really are "going to sleep" at night and "waking up in the morning". It is likely that this has arisen to protect the internals of the flowers from any frost during the night as they begin flowering in March when frosts are still common.
A copper mine known as Wheal Howell operated in the valley for around 20 years at the start of the 19th Century. The three mineshafts that are known about have been filled in but the National Trust recommend that you stick to the paths through the valley, in case you discover a fourth.
The local name for the steps, possibly coined by the bawdy miners of Wheal Howell, is the charming "Kiss Me Arse Steps". Two people climbing the steps in close succession will likely arrive at one possible explanation.
The Royal Cornwall Gazette reported in April 1825:
During the last week the coast between Polperro and Fowey has been kept in a state of disorder as a consequence of a quantity of smuggled liquor found on the shore. It has been particularly annoying to the agents of Wheal Howell Mine, the miners having been in a continual state of drunkenness. On Wednesday last the whole of the men had assembled, and by stratagem succeeded in getting underground where they concealed part of a keg of brandy, and drank to usual intoxication - so much so that it was with extreme difficulty that several of them were brought to the grass.
Geese migrate to warmer climates for the winter and fly in a V-shaped formation known as a skein or wedge (on the ground, a collection of geese is known as a gaggle). The V-formation allows birds behind the leader to fly more efficiently as the rising air from flapping wings of the bird ahead helps to support the weight of the one behind. This can increase the range that the bird can fly by over 70%. The birds each take it in turns to do the harder job of flying at the front.
Tredudwell Manor dates back to mediaeval times and its estate included much of the surrounding land including the Hall Walk from Bodinnick Ferry. Coastal land was donated to National Trust in the 1950s as part of Project Neptune. The current house was built in 1705, but parts are thought to date back to the 14th century.
Hart's tongue ferns thrive in shady places and are tolerant of the lime used in mortar so are sometimes found growing in old walls. It's an evergreen so leaves can be seen all year round but there's usually a flurry of new growth in mid March when new leaves can be seen gradually unfurling over a number of days.
Daffodils contain chemical compounds which are toxic to dogs, cats and humans and ingestion of any part of a daffodil is likely to cause a stomach upset e.g. when unsupervised children have eaten leaves. The bulbs have both higher concentrations and a broader range of toxins than the rest of the plant and can be mistaken for onions (although don't smell of onion).
The extra distance covered by going up and down also adds to the distance shown on a map. However, despite your legs telling you otherwise, this is actually not that huge either. There are two parts to it:
On an exceptionally arduous walk solely on the coast with lots of deep valleys, the distance travelled "up and down" is likely to be at most about 10% compared to the distance on the flat. For a more normal coastal circular walk the "up and down" distance is typically not much more than 5% of the distance on a flat map.
The second consideration was worked out by Pythagoras. The shallower the incline, the less significant the elevation adds to the overall route distance. Even with an average gradient of 1 in 3 (which is insanely steep), you're looking at only around 10% of the total elevation distance being adding onto the route length.
So since the elevation distance itself is already a small percentage of the route length (5-10%), the small "pythagoras" percentage (less than 10%) of the already small elevation percentage is not much more than a gnat's whisker.
The hedges along the fields and tracks contain many nectar-bearing flowers which attract butterflies.
The Red Admiral, Peacock, Painted Lady and Tortoiseshell butterflies are all quite closely related and specialised for overwinter hibernation. Their wings, when closed, have a jagged outline and camouflaged colours that allows them to blend in with dead leaves. Their feet contain chemoreceptors (taste buds) which allows them to detect nectar-bearing flowers when they land.
Nettles are the theme of German and Dutch colloquial expressions for a troublesome situation. The German equivalent of "having a bit of a nightmare" is to be "sat in the nettles". The Dutch have abbreviated this further, so you'd be having a bit of a "nettle situation".
Whilst the global human population is around 8 billion, the insect population is estimated at around 10 quintillion. In other words, there are in the order of a billion insects for every human.
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".
Lanteglos church is a short diversion to the right.
The church is dedicated to St Wyllow who according to legend was born in Ireland in the 6th Century, lived as a hermit in Cornwall and was beheaded by the locals. The current church was built in the 14th Century and altered in the 15th. The brass of Thomas de Mohun within the church dates from this period and the brasses depicting John Mohun and his wife date from the start of the 16th Century. The bench ends were also carved in the 16th Century and carefully preserved during an 18th Century restoration. Daphne du Maurier featured the church as "Lanoc Church" in her first novel, "The Loving Spirit" and she was married here herself in 1932.
Ivy is a creeping vine which is well-known for being able to climb up almost anything. With good support, an ivy plant can climb as high as 90ft. A plant can live over 400 years and on mature plants, stems can reach a diameter of over 10cm.
Ivy has two types of roots. The "normal" roots extend into the soil and collect nutrients. At intervals along the climbing stems there are also aerial roots which attach the plant to a surface. As they come into contact with a surface, the roots change shape to anchor the plant. They then produce hairs that wedge into any crevices. The roots also exude a chemical compound which acts as a glue.
There are two types of ivy leaf. Those on creeping stems are the classic ivy leaf shape with 3-5 triangular lobes - they grow towards shade to find a tree to climb up. However, more mature ivy plants grow aerial shoots with a completely different (teardrop) leaf shape. These are the shoots that bear the flowers and fruits and are typically located in a sunny spot such as on an upright ivy bush or top of a rock face. The reason for the different shapes is that the larger, multi-lobed leaves are able to catch more light in shady areas whereas the smaller, stouter leaves are more resistant to drying out.
Since the multi-lobed leaves are found in shade, whist the teardrop leaves are found in sun, this allows the leaves of ivy plants growing up trees to be used as a compass. Unless something is in the way then the sunniest side of a tree is to the south and the shadiest is to the north.
Ivy is rarely a threat to healthy trees. Ivy is not a parasite. Since it has its own root system, it absorbs its own nutrients. It simply uses a tree for support. The main risk to trees is during strong winds when the surface of the ivy can act as a sail which, together with the extra weight from the ivy, can cause a tree to fall.
The effect of ivy on buildings is controversial as it depends a lot on the properties of the surface it adheres to. The rootlets wedge into any cracks in the surface and so on surfaces that are fragile, ivy will cause damage. A study for English Heritage found that on hard, firm surfaces, ivy did little damage. The blanket of leaves was also found to have beneficial insulating effects and protect the masonry from water, salt and pollution.
Ivy is unusual in that it flowers particularly late in the year - from September to November - and therefore provides vital nectar for insects such as bees and moths. Ivy berries are an important winter food source for birds and will remain on the plant all the way through the winter until spring. The berries also have a high fat content so provide a dense source of energy at a time when animals need lots to keep warm.
Extracts from ivy were used in herbal remedies and still form the basis of some modern-day cough medicines. It is said to have both antibacterial and antiviral properties. A study for English Heritage also found that roadside ivy absorbed particulates from the atmosphere which may lead to its use in improving air quality.
The metal signs on stone walls with a maze with a map of Cornwall are from the Cornish Hedge Community Heritage Project - usually known by its more snappy Cornish name - Kerdroya. 11 sections of Cornish hedge have been restored and the project culminated in building the world's largest labyrinth at Colliford Lake incorporating a number of different styles of Cornish hedge.
Sea Kale is a member of the cabbage family which can be seen growing near the top of a few shingle beaches in Cornwall. It is now a protected plant.
In the past, the plant sea kale was harvested by burying the emerging leaves in shingle during the spring. The pale stems are then steamed and eaten like asparagus. The reason for burying them is that when the stems are exposed to sunlight, the plant releases signalling molecules which not only trigger development of the green chlorophyll but also bitter chemicals to discourage herbivores from eating them.
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