Orange tip butterflies are one of the most noticeable and memorable due to their brilliant orange wing tips, but it's only the males that have orange-tipped wings. The striking orange is a warning to predators that they taste highly unpleasant. Intelligent birds such as crows will avoid repeating culinary disasters by remembering the colour pattern associated with it.
The females are mainly white with a bit of black at the wing tips. There will be an evolutionary reason for why it's not worth the females bothering with the orange warning pigment. This could be because the males spend much more time in flight (looking for females), and the resources needed to produce the bitter chemicals and orange pigment are better spent instead on making more eggs.
As additional protection from predators (especially for the females), they have also evolved a green camouflage pattern on the underside of their wings that makes them quite hard to spot when they land and close their wings.
Orange tips overwinter as pupae so they are able to emerge in April, making them one of the first butterflies to be around in the spring. They can be seen until mid-summer then their caterpillars spend the remainder of the summer feeding ready for the winter.
As well as producing seeds both sexually and asexually, brambles can also clone themselves to create daughter plants either via underground stems (rhizomes) or by the over-ground stems rooting where they meet the ground.
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.
If a rabbit is placed on its back and its legs are stroked, it appears to go into a relaxed trance and many owners of pet rabbits thought this was a cute thing to do that was enjoyable for the rabbit. It's now understood that this reaction, known as "tonic immobility", occurs when the rabbit is extremely stressed because it thinks it is about to be eaten by a predator! It is effectively a "playing dead" reaction to lull a predator into a false sense of security so the rabbit can make a sudden escape when the predator isn't paying attention.
During late April, St Mark's flies occur in quite large numbers. They are recognisable by their shiny black colour, slow flight and dangly legs and have a habit of landing of anything in their path, walkers included. The larvae live in the soil feeding on roots and rotting vegetation and hatch around St Mark's Day (25th April), sometimes later into May in a cold year. The adults only live for about a week but they do feed on nectar, making them important pollinators. Each of the males eyes are divided into two parts by a groove and each part has a separate connection to their brains. This allows them to use one half to fly whilst using the other half to look for females.
The sandy soil along the coast is able to support plants more commonly seen on chalk downs such as cowslips, due to the sand being comprised of small fragments of shell (calcium carbonate). The majority of the soil in North Cornwall is acidic, particularly towards Bodmin Moor, so sand from the beaches was used extensively to improve the soil fertility for farming.
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).
You may be curious how distance from a route on a map differs from the actual distance on the ground. Although a route line is very slightly simplified in terms of twists and turns vs the actual paths, for the iWalk Cornwall walks the route line is pretty fine-grained so the extra distance is pretty negligible (around 1%).
Even up to the 16th Century, magpies were simply known as "pies" from the Old French word pie (related to the Latin word for magpie - pica). The term "pied" meaning "black-and-white" (as in pied wagtail) is from the magpie's colouration. It's also possible that the pastry thing we now know as a pie (which can be traced back to Mediaeval Latin) was named after the magpie. It has been speculated that the assortment of ingredients in the pastry crust was likened to objects collected in a magpie nest. The "mag" in the modern name is a (somewhat sexist) mediaeval slang word for someone who chatters, based on the name Margaret.
Since water drains away quickly through the sand, marram grass has evolved a number of strategies to capture and retain water including its waxy, curled leaves which contain hairs inside to minimise evaporation caused by moving air. Its roots form a fibrous mat which traps water but also plays a vital role in stabilising the dunes by stopping the sand blowing away. During the 17th Century, large amounts of marram grass were harvested for thatch and this destabilised the dunes so much that farms, estates and even entire villages were buried.
St Piran's cross stands close to the remains of St Piran's church, on the dunes near Perranporth. This is one of two three-holed crosses in Cornwall (the other is near Wadebridge), but it may simply be the 4th hole just wasn't finished in both cases. The cross is certainly likely to be as old as the church and probably older. It may well be the one referred to in a charter of AD 960 as "cristelmael".
After St Piran's Oratory, in the dunes near Perranporth, was abandoned in the 10th century due to the encroaching sand, another church was built a little further inland beside the Celtic cross. Known as St Piran's Church, this was built around 1150 and then enlarged in the 15th century. It was abandoned in 1804 and much of the stone and fittings were moved to a new site, further inland at Perranzabuloe, leaving just the foundations that you see today.
There was once a churchyard in the dunes surrounding St Piran's Oratory and Church, just north of Perranporth. As the sands shift, or during excavations, human bones have occasionally been exposed. Near the Oratory doorway, the skeleton of a woman was uncovered with a child in her arms. Other skeletons discovered in the early 20th Century were all laid out East-West with their legs crossed.
St Piran's oratory lay buried under the sand dunes near Perranporth for nearly a millennium, until 1835 when some stones were noticed, sticking out from the dunes. It was excavated and found to be in remarkably good condition. The building is thought to be from around the 11th Century although burials on the site suggest a previous building might have existed in the 9th Century. Within the oratory, one of the walls contains a stone inscribed with upside-down Roman capitals which is thought to date back to the 6th or possibly even the 5th century but where this came from originally is unknown.
After it was excavated in Victorian times, quite a number of the stones were stolen as "souvenirs" and it suffered constant erosion by wind, sand and rain; eventually two of the walls collapsed. In 1910, an ugly concrete bunker was built over the oratory to protect it. In the 1980s, the bunker was removed and the remains of the oratory were reburied beneath the sand to protect it from both the elements and vandals. The oratory once again lay beneath the sand with a small mound marking it. Steps led to the top, on which a small granite stone sat, inscribed with the words St Piran.
In 2000 a trust was set up to re-excavate the Oratory. Work began in October 2013, and the Oratory is now uncovered.
In 2014, the skeletons of 2 adults and 10 children were excavated which have been dated to the 8th or 9th Century. These predate the St Piran's Oratory building and it is thought that they may relate to an earlier building on the site.
Penhale Sands, located between Holywell Bay and Perranporth, is the largest dune system in Cornwall and the highest in Britain, rising to 90 metres. In places, the sand is nearly 50 metres deep. The area has been designated an Important Plant Area by Plantlife due to the rare plant species and lichens. The soil here is, unusually for Cornwall, alkaline which is why rare plants can thrive here. This is due to the high density of shell fragments in the sand, which are composed of calcium carbonate (limestone). The area has also been designated a Special Area of Conservation due to the range of butterfly and moth species which live on the plants here.
Most of the major dunes on the North Cornish coastline are thought to have formed from around 5,000 years ago when sea levels finally stopped rising after the glacial ice from the last Ice Age had finished melting.
In mediaeval times, blackthorn was associated with evil. This may also tie in with the English word "strife" which has Celtic origins. Straif was the name of a letter used in Celtic Ogham script and was originally the word for "sulphur". Some of the other letters in the script corresponded to tree names. In late mediaeval times, a retrospective assignment of trees to the letters in the alphabet used for Ogham that weren't already tree names became popular (sometimes known as the "tree alphabet") and blackthorn was chosen for Straif.
St Piran was born in Ireland in the 6th century. According to legend, he had miraculous powers and a group of kings grew afraid of his powers. They, somewhat unsportingly, tied a millstone round his neck and threw him into the sea. However due to his powers, the millstone floated and he was washed ashore at Perranporth.
Saint Piran is the patron saint of tin-miners and is generally regarded as the national saint of Cornwall. St Piran's flag - the white cross on a black background - is said to represent the black tin ore and white molten metal. Celebrations on St Piran's Day (5th March) involve lots of alcohol and gave rise to the expression "drunk as a Perraner".
Some time in the 6th Century, St Piran was thought to have landed near Perranporth, where he built a tiny chapel (also known as an Oratory). This is thought to be the oldest Christian site in Cornwall. The original chapel was probably built of wattle and daub. A little later, this was replaced by a stone building. This small chapel was finally abandoned in the 10th century, due to the encroaching sand.
On warm days from late April, you may be lucky enough to witness the "dance of the adders" (a pair of adders wrestling). This was once thought to be a mating display, but is actually a larger male attempting to drive away a smaller one.
The Perran Sands holiday park was built in the second half of the 20th Century on the site of an old tin mine - Wheal Vlow. This is known to have been active before 1750 and was also worked during Victorian times. By 1879 there were 2 ruined engine houses here. Old Ordnance Survey maps show 4 mineshafts within the area that's now the holiday park and another 5 in the dunes behind Tollgate Farm.
From the clearing, there's a good view of the coast to the right. The headland at the end of the bay is Ligger Point. Carter's Rocks at Holywell Bay stick out just beyond this.
As you descend, there's a good view along the coast to the left. The headland immediately on the far side of the beach with a building on top is Droskyn Point. The headland after this has a blowhole from which plumes of spray can sometimes be seen. Beyond this, the headland where the top has been excavated is Cligga Head. The next headland is St Agnes head with the 2 offshore rocks (Bawden Rocks). On a clear day, the island with the lighthouse off Godrevy Head can just be made out past St Agnes Head. The furthest area of land sticking out is Penwith with Pendeen probably forming the tip from this angle.
To walk along the beach, keep the cliffs on your left, turning left around the corner when the dunes come into view. Continue to reach some railings just before the cliffs end. Climb the steps and continue a few paces on the path to reach the Penhale Sands information board.
At high tide, there are two distinct beaches within Perran Bay: the long, thin Perran Beach (also known as Perran Sands) to the north, between Carn Clew and Ligger Point, and the smaller Perranporth beach to the south between Cotty's Point and the river beside Chapel Rock. At low tide, the beaches combine into a 2.2 mile stretch of sand between Droksyn Point and Ligger Point, up to a quarter of a mile wide. There is a tidal swimming pool on the seaward side of Chapel Rock (the one with the flag on). The northern end of the beach is generally much quieter due to the town of Perranporth and associated holiday parks being at the southern end of the beach, and much of the dunes to the north (known as Penhale Sands) being military land with no public access. Even when the tide is too far in to walk along the beach, most of the time it's still possible to reach the other half via the coast path.
Winston Graham moved to Perranporth in 1925 at the age of 17 and lived there for 34 years. The first four Poldark books were written whilst he lived there together with over 20 other literary works. As well as the fictional Poldark books, Winston Graham also published "Poldark's Cornwall" about his life in Cornwall and some of the background for the Poldark books. Elements of the Poldark stories are based on locations in the Perranporth area including Holywell Bay and Porth Joke.
The walk continues on the upper path leading inland from behind the information board but first you may want to visit the beach, pub or Perranporth.
Once on the inland path, follow this a couple of paces to a fork and take the left-hand (stony) path leading uphill. Follow the path into an area of short grass and follow this uphill to pass to the right of a gorse bush and head towards the mound at the top of the short grass. Bear right to pass around the mound and keep following the area of short grass to reach a sandy path crossing the far end.
The rock in the middle of the beach is known as Chapel Rock. This was the site of a mediaeval chapel recorded as "Chapel-angarder" which was in ruins by 1702 and had disappeared by the 19th Century. The name is derived from -an- (meaning "of the") and kador meaning seat or chair but is sometimes used to describe sites perched on rocks. On the seaward side is a large rockpool which has been walled to create a tidal swimming pool.
Wagtails are easily recognised from the tail pumping behaviour that their name suggests. Despite being very conspicuous, the function of this curious behaviour is not well understood. It is possibly a signal to predators that the wagtail has seen them, so there's no point trying anything.
Two of the wagtail species are easy to confuse as they are both grey and yellow.
Grey wagtails nest close to fast-running streams as they feed on aquatic invertebrates. They have pink (skin-coloured) legs.
Yellow wagtails are more often found in open fields and have black legs.
The third kind of wagtail more often seen in urban environments - the pied wagtail - is easy to distinguish due to the lack of yellow: it's entirely black-and-white.
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.
The word "tee" is from the Scottish Gaelic word taigh meaning "house" and is related to the coloured circles known as a house in the sport of curling. Teeing off was originally done within a circle of one gold club length from the hole. A mound of sand would be placed somewhere within this circle and the ball rested on top. In 1892, an Englishman patented a rubber-topped wooden peg which was sold as the "Perfectum". In 1899 an American dentist designed "an improved golf tee" consisting of a wooden cone containing a rubber sleeve to hold the ball but this didn't seem to catch on. Peg-based tees were adopted widely by the 1920s.
During winter, from November to March, winter heliotrope is visible along the edges of roads and paths as carpets of rounded heart-shaped leaves.
Winter heliotrope is native to Sardinia and North Africa. It was introduced to Britain in 1806 but only the male plant. The female plant has subtly different flowers with more rays.
Cowslips grow on chalky soils. Chalk is not found in Cornwall but a close approximation is a sand dune made up of fragments of chalky seashell. Cowslips can therefore be found in sandy soils along the coast, particularly on the inland edge of large dune systems such as Penhale Sands.
The name of the plant is thought to be from the Old English for cowpat (cow slop). Other common names including "Key of Heaven" and "Bunch of Keys" are based on the small flowers on the end of long stems.
Scientists have found that cows tend to lie down when the weather is cool but stand up when it's hot to improve air circulation and regulate their body temperature. The folklore about cows lying down being a sign of rain might well be due to the cold fronts causing precipitation being reflected in the "cow thermometer". Cows also lie down to sleep but they only sleep for about 4 hours a day.
The Portuguese man o' war resembles a jellyfish but is actually a colony of polyps, specialised into four different roles. Some provide the float and others make up the stinging tentacles which can stretch over 160ft long and catch 100 fish in one day.
The man o' war is easily recognised by the pasty-shaped float with pink and purple colouring. They are normally found in the open ocean but big Atlantic storms with strong winds can very occasionally drive them onto the Cornish coast.
It is named after a heavily-armed 18th Century warship as a sting is extremely painful and in rare cases can be fatal.
Scholars speculate that the Celtic Cross (a crucifix with a circular ring) developed from the sun cross (a cross inside a circle), a common symbol in artefacts of Prehistoric Europe, particularly during the Neolithic to Bronze Age periods. When Christianity came to the Celtic regions, Christians extended the bottom spoke of this familiar symbol, to remind them of the cross on which their new Saviour was crucified.
During the Second World War, the beach at Perranporth was fenced-off with three rows of barbed-wire, and landmines were laid in the dunes. An account from the St Agnes Institute records several soldiers from Penhale Camp being killed by these when returning across the dunes from recreation at Perranporth.
Two streams meet on Perranporth beach:
The Perranporth (aka Perrancoombe) stream flows for just under 5 miles from its source near Mithian church, and along Perran Coombe to the beach. This is the one that runs alongside the beach car park.
The Bolingey stream comes under the bridge on the beach to join the Perranporth stream. The stream and its tributaries run for just over 10 miles. Some of these start from the marshes on Chiverton Downs around Callestick and Ventongimps.
Since both streams run through old mining areas, some of the upstream sections have quite high mineral levels but this has been diluted to low levels by the time they reach the beach. However, the Environment Agency noted that after heavy rainfall, runoff from roads and agricultural land could have an effect on bathing water quality.
Mermaids purses are the egg cases of the shark family and are sometimes found washed up on the seashore. They are usually light brown, approximately rectangular and fairly flat, with curly strands on 4 corners. At first glance they could be mistaken for a piece of kelp or a melted piece of plastic. The strands attach to seaweeds to lodge the egg case in a safe environment for the baby shark or skate to develop.
Cuttlefish are molluscs related to squid and have a gas filled internal shell known as a cuttlebone which is used for buoyancy control. The high pressure from deep water would crush the cuttlebone so unlike squid, cuttlefish are only able to live in quite shallow water. Cuttlefish live for only 1-2 years so the floating cuttlebones from dead cuttlefish are common finds along the high tide line.
Cuttlefish are able to change their skin colour and the polarisation of light reflected from their skin. Since cuttlefish can't see in colour, they use polarisation (which the can see) and patterns such as spots and bands for signalling. As well as using colour, they are able to change the texture of their skin from smooth to rough for camouflage.
Like squid, cuttlefish release an ink when alarmed to distract predators. Whereas squid ink is typically black, the cuttlefish ink is red-brown. The ancient Greeks and Romans used this as a pigment and named it sepia.
Winston Graham published the first series of 4 Poldark novels from 1945-53 and these were set in the 18th century. In the 1970s Garham published a 5th novel and the BBC began adapting the first four Poldark books for television. Winston Graham didn't like the way they portrayed Demelza (the character based on his wife) as a "loose woman" and requested that the series was cancelled. The BBC ignored this and the Poldark series became such a huge success that vicars were said to have rescheduled church services to avoid these clashing with the broadcasts. The sixth and seventh Poldark books were published in 1976-7 after the TV series based on the first four books had started broadcasting and so the series was extended to include the three others. The BBC's 21st Century version of all seven books which broadcast from 2015-19 was also hugely successful both nationally and internationally, and was also very well-received within Cornwall where quite a few locals went to watch some of the filming. A series of 5 more novels were written between 1981 and 2002 which are set in the early 19th century and follow the lives of the descendants of the characters from the previous novels. As yet, these haven't been televised.
The RNLI was founded in 1824 under the original name of the National Institution for Preservation of Life from Shipwreck. It was renamed to the RNLI in 1854. Until 1890 all the lifeboats were rowed with oars until some steam-powered boats were introduced. By 1905, petrol-powered boats were being trialled and fairly quickly replaced the bulky steam-powered predecessors. Today a fleet of over 340 lifeboats provide a 24/7 search and rescue service around the UK. The charity has saved over 140,000 lives since it was set up.
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