By the 1880s, Rock was established as a small industrial settlement with quarries, crane and a limekiln. Stoptide and Porthilly were separate small hamlets. Rock consisted of roughly a dozen buildings including a hotel. Due to its sheltered position in the Camel Estuary, Rock became popular for sailing. In 1890 the first golf course was built. These were two hobbies favoured by the upper-class "sportsmen" of the time and this established Rock as a destination for this socioeconomic group. As with many of Cornwall's most-publicised tourist attractions (e.g. Tintagel Castle and Bedruthan Steps), the patterns established in Victorian times are still being repeated and reinforced in the 21st Century.
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.
On the opposite side of the Camel estuary is the Doom Bar, on which you may see waves breaking or even exposed sand, depending on the state of the tide.
The Camel Estuary is notorious for the Doom Bar - a sand bar which has caused many ship and small boat wrecks. For ships sailing into the bay on the prevailing SW wind, a great hazard was caused by the immediate loss of power due to the shelter from the cliffs. Once becalmed, they would drift helplessly and run aground on the Doom Bar. Therefore rockets were fired from the cliffs, to place a line onboard, which could then be used to pull the ship to the shore. Along the coastal path, on the cliff top, is an abandoned manual capstan which was used to winch the ships towards the harbour.
The calcium carbonate from seashells has been a key factor in Cornwall's natural and industrial history due to the shortage of lime-rich rocks. The golden colour of the sand on the beaches is due to the small fragments of shell and in the past this was transported around Cornwall using horses, donkeys, canals and even by railway. You may be wondering where the shellfish themselves got the calcium carbonate from in the first place, since it was so scarce. As well as the "salt" (sodium chloride) that you can taste, sea water contains a range of other dissolved salts and around 1% of the dissolved material is calcium. Molluscs are able to extract the calcium ions from the seawater which they use to construct their shells.
The River Camel runs for 30 miles from Bodmin Moor to Padstow Bay, making it the longest river in Cornwall after the Tamar.
The Camel Estuary is a geological ria - a deep valley flooded by rising sea levels after the last ice age, stretching from the headlands of Pentire Point and Stepper Point all the way to Wadebridge. The estuary is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Marine Conservation Zone.
In 1889, some local golf enthusiasts laid out a few holes amongst the dunes at Rock and they formed St. Enodoc Golf Club in 1890. A course was built in 1890 but initially only consisted of 9 holes. It wasn't until 2 years later that another 9 were added. In 1907, a new 18 hole course was laid out, which forms the basis of today's course, with a number of alterations in the intervening years. The course now ranks within the top 100 in the world.
Although the current town of Rock has only been built relatively recently, it is thought that in mediaeval times there might have been a settlement somewhere between St Enodoc church and St Michael's Church at Porthilly, and that this became overwhelmed with sand and was abandoned. In 1778, the shifting sands revealed a chapel and cemetery containing slate coffins and human bones. There are also reported finds of kitchen utensils such as spoons, ornaments and jewellery and English coins spanning the reigns of Henry I to Elizabeth I. Excavations at Porthilly to lay pipes have also found that the thick layer of sand seems to have been laid down after Tudor times.
A number of lead mines were located around Rock and Polzeath. As well as the big one on Pentire Point, there were a number of smaller mines including one at Porthilly and one within the dunes where St Enodoc golf course is now located. An incident in one of these is reported in The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times of 19 Sept 1874:
Mr Thomas Cock, draper, &c, Rock, St Minver had a narrow escape from death on Saturday last. Whilst superintending the removal of the woodwork of a mine shaft, the ground, chiefly sand, gave way, burying him up to the chin, and despite all the efforts made it was six or seven hours from the time of the accident until he was dug out and brought to the surface, men having to be lowered and suspended by ropes to extricate him.
St Enodoc church is located amongst the greens of the St Enodoc Golf Course. The church dates from the 12th century and is said to lie on the site of a cave where St Enodoc lived as a hermit. It is thought that St Enoder (aka Enodoc) was the grandson of the 5th Century Celtic King Brychan.
Over a number of centuries, the church became virtually buried by the towans (dunes) and was known locally as "Sinking Neddy". In order to collect its tithes, the church had to host services at least once a year so the vicar and congregation had to enter through a hole in the roof during this period. During the 19th century, the church was excavated and later it became a favourite place of Sir John Betjeman who is buried in the churchyard.
You'll notice that there is lichen growing on many of the headstones in the churchyard. Of the 2,000 British species, over a third have been found in churchyards and more than 600 have been found growing on churchyard stone in lowland England. Almost half the species are rare and some seldom, if ever, occur in other habitats. Many churchyards are found to have well over 100 species.
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
Barley was one of the first domesticated crops and has been dated back over 10,000 years. Consequently beer made from barley is likely to have been one of the first alcoholic drinks consumed by the Neolithic tribes.
The footpath leads to Roserrow, which is pronounced "roz" (as in police) and "errow" (how the queen would say "arrow"). Ros was the Cornish word for "moor" and erow meant "an acre". The acre of moorland is now an acre of golf course.
The village of "Rock" is a shortening of "Black Rock" which was the name used in the 18th Century. This itself derived from "Black Tor" (recorded as Blaketorre in the 14th Century). The original Cornish name penmayn, documented in 1303, was also along the same lines, meaning "at the end of the stones".
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!
The golf course at Roserrow is now known as "The Point" due to the rather nice view of Pentire. Although the course's website states that "suitable golfing attire is compulsory", there is no need to dress in Argyle jumpers for this part of the route. However, please respect the grass when crossing the fairways (e.g. avoid stabbing it with walking poles). Also take note of the locations of any players and direction of play, to avoid any parts of your anatomy impeding the progress of golf balls.
Cargo washed from ships wrecked on the Doom Bar provided some supplements to the income of the locals. The West Briton Newspaper reported on 5 Feb 1819:
The country people in the neighbourhood of Padstow have been rather busily employed, for some time, in securing the part of the cargo of a vessel lately wrecked on their coast. On Wednesday evening last, a box of figs, part of this cargo, was discovered on St Minver Commons which gave rise to a serious affray between a party of damsels who were on the lookout for secreted plunder, and some bal maidens who were returning from a mine. The contest lasted for two hours in the course of which some of the combatants were reduced to a state of approaching nudity. In the end the bal maidens were victorious and carried off the prize.
In previous centuries, the mines in the area provided employment for both sexes.
During Georgian and Victorian times, many teenage girls were employed in Cornwall as "Bal Maidens" (sometimes shortened to "Bal Maids"). Whilst the period may conjure up images depicted in Jane Austen novels, young ladies were somewhat less sappy in Cornwall. The girls would break ore-bearing rocks with a heavy pointed hammer to separate the ore from the surrounding rock. The ore was then broken into granules (a process known as buckling) by bashing it with a lump hammer. It was recorded in 1851 that there were more than 6,000 women and girls working at Cornish mines.
Golf developed in The Netherlands during the Middle Ages and was introduced into Scotland towards the end of this period where it evolved to its present form. The word golf is thought to be a Scots alteration of Dutch colf meaning "club". Golf is first documented in Scotland in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, prohibiting the playing of the games of gowf and futball as these were a distraction from archery practice.
Cereal crops are sometimes grown in the field here.
When a cereal grain germinates, enzymes are released which break down the starch into sugars to feed the new plant. By allowing grains to germinate and then quickly stopping this by heating and drying them before sugars in the grains are consumed by the plant, the sugars can then be extracted. This process is known as malting and the sugary syrup (malt extract) that is produced is used for brewing beer and to sweeten the honeycomb in Maltesers. The sticky syrup also gives malt loaf its squishy quality.
Granite rubbing posts were erected in the centre of fields to encourage cows with an itch not to demolish the fences and gates surrounding the fields. Some can still be seen in a few fields both in East Cornwall and West Cornwall. Some of those around Lamorna Cove have been mistaken for ancient standing stones by over-keen megalith hunters. However, 18th and 19th Century farmers were not averse to repurposing megaliths or the shafts of wayside crosses as cattle rubbing posts, footbridges or building materials so a few may have a longer history.
In fields used for grazing, docks are not necessarily a problem. Their deep roots help to hold the soil together and they provide a good source of minerals (such as selenium and zinc) for livestock. Their bitterness is due to tannins, which are also helpful to livestock for preventing bloat and parasites.
Unlike many birds that just sing in spring, robins sing nearly all year round. In fact during winter if you hear birdsong, it's most likely to be a robin. Despite how cute robins look, they are actually very territorial and the chirp is an aggressive warning to any would-be intruders not to even think of trying it. When robins don't sing, this a sign that their body fat reserves are low and they are conserving what little they have left until food becomes more plentiful.
The tree overhanging the lane has been sculpted by the salt-laden wind blowing off the estuary to the south and west. The salt damages the leaves on the windward side of the tree so growth is more rapid on the sheltered side and the tree gradually leans as it grows. This is similar to a plant growing towards the light but in this case the increased photosynthesis on the sheltered side is due to less salt damage rather than more light.
The parish name St Minver (Sen Menvre in Cornish) is named after the saint to whom the church is dedicated. Menfre was one of the 24 children of the 5th Century Celtic king Brychan.
Brychan was a legendary Celtic king (originally born in Ireland) who ruled over Breconshire in South Wales and was viewed as the father of the Celtic saints.
Most of his children were reported to have evangelised Cornwall and North Devon, with many of the churches dedicated to them. Consequently, many of the place names in North Cornwall (St Teath, St Mabyn, St Endellion, St Minver, St Clether, Egloshayle, Egloskerry, Advent, Morwenstow, Lelant etc) are associated with the names of his children.
St Minver church dates from the 12th Century and has been rebuilt a number of times, including the addition of the unusual, and slightly wonky, spire. This was originally added in the 15th Century and rebuilt in the 18th Century restoration. The churchyard is full of Celtic crosses, and inside there is a carved "pious bird" bowing before the altar. The village stocks in the church entrance date back to mediaeval times (circa 1400).
The stocks was a form of punishment introduced in mediaeval times and was a common sight in most villages by the 16th Century. Many sets of village stocks were able to accommodate the ankles of multiple offenders seated on a bench. The last recorded use was in 1872 but it was never formally abolished and is therefore still a legal form of punishment in the UK although the acts carried out by passers-by in mediaeval times would not be. By Victorian times, it was mostly foot-tickling by mischievous children.
As sunlight passes though the atmosphere, the rays of light can interact electromagnetically with the molecules of air. This interaction causes each ray of light to be sent off in a random direction and is therefore known as "scattering".
Sunlight includes all the colours of the rainbow, each with different wavelengths. The shorter waves of blue and violet light interact with air molecules more strongly than the other colours in sunlight and this is responsible for the colours we see of the sun and the sky.
Swallows are known by the name "barn swallow" due to their preference for nesting in man-made structures open to the elements such as stables or under bridges. Before these were available, swallows used to nest in caves and on cliff faces but they now nest almost exclusively on man-made structures. In the case of barns, these are conveniently located near insects associated with livestock. They may also be using presence of humans to help keep predators away.
The reason the sky looks blue is due to rays of light travelling out from the sun in directions that would normally not reach your eyes. When these bump into a molecule of air, they are scattered in all directions, one of which is the way you are looking. As the blue-violet end of the rainbow is scattered more, there are more of these colours but we see just blue both because our eyes are much more sensitive to blue than violet and also because some of the violet is absorbed by other interactions with molecules in the atmosphere.
In summer, you may see swifts high in the sky, chasing insects. Visually, they resemble swallows in that they have long scythe-like wings and forked tails (they can be distinguished by their uniform brown-black colour apart from a small white patch on the throat) and also, like swallows, they migrate to Africa in the winter. That's where the similarity ends because swifts are much more closely related to hummingbirds. They never perch on wires, in fact they even sleep whilst in flight.
Numbers of swifts have fallen by about 30% in recent years and Cornwall Wildlife Trust is working with the RSPB to gather information on swift nesting sites to see if this decline can be halted. The RSPB are running a national swift survey online where you can record any sightings.
Since methane is a powerful greenhouse gas (reflecting more heat than carbon dioxide) and there are around a billion cows in the world, this has led to concern about the contribution that methane belched out by livestock is making to global warning. However, since methane is quite a short-lived greenhouse gas (about 12 years) and since the number of cattle hasn't changed that quickly over time, atmospheric methane levels are fairly stable. Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, lasts hundreds of years in the atmosphere so this is much more able to build up over time. One other factor is that pastureland is able to absorb triple the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide as grain fields so grass-fed cattle are preferable to grain-fed.
Where an electric fence crosses a footpath, it should either be covered by an insulating sheath (e.g. on stiles) or there should be a section that unclips with insulating plastic handles to allow access through the fence. Ensure that you re-clip this on passing through so animals cannot escape. The connecting cord/spring between the handles is often conducting so avoid touching this and be aware of any dangling rucksack straps.
The place names of Rock, Splatt and Pityme seem surreal but are for the most part explicable: Rock refers to the Blue Elvan quarried nearby and Splatt is the Cornish word for "patch of grass" (which has presumably since had the settlement of Splatt built on it). The origin of the name Pityme is debatable, and there are a couple of other places in the UK called Pity me. As well as the obvious expression of despondency, one possibility is that it is a mangling of "petite mer" which would not be incompatible with the Camel Estuary.
Just the other side of the building ahead is Sharp's Brewery where there is a shop selling their beers and cider. Once you've explored, return back to the sign.
Sharp's Brewery was founded in 1994 at Rock. Their Doom Bar is now one of the UK's most popular cask ale brands and the brewery has had to scale up its capacity a number of times to keep up with demand. As well as producing the ubiquitous Doom Bar and their seasonal specials, Sharp's head brewer enjoys experimenting with new beer flavours and has won a number of awards for these. Consequently, a number of limited edition beers are produced, trying out novel recipes. Look out for these in local pubs or the brewery shop.
Almost 90% of plants depend on pollinating insects. In the UK it has been estimated that honeybees pollinate crops worth about £200 million a year, and their total contribution to the economy may be as high as £1 billion.
Crows have a vocabulary of different calls with specific meanings and these can be varied to convey emotion like a human tone of voice.
The sounds that crows make have also been found to vary with location rather like regional accents in humans. When a crow moves into a new area, it mimics the calls of the most dominant flock members to fit in with its peer group.
The settlement of Penmayne was first recorded as Penmain in 1223. It is based on the Cornish words pen for "top", "end" or "head" and men meaning stone.
Rock has been referred to as "Britain's Saint-Tropez", the "Kensington of Cornwall" and "Chelsea-on-sea" due to its popularity as a holiday or second home location for celebrities (including Prince Harry, the actor Hugh Grant, the Rothschilds, the Sainsburys, the Freuds, Mohamed Al-Fayed, Jay Kay of Jamiroquai, Gordon Ramsay and David Cameron). Contrary to stereotypes about how celebrities might spend their holidays and despite the density of fine dining establishments in and around Rock and Padstow, Bodmin's Barnecutt's bakery still very much holds its own here. It's only a matter of time before "Wasson my 'ansome?" is customary in the House of Lords.
St Enodoc golf course spans from the area around St Enodoc church to the hill above Rock, and is one of the golf courses in Cornwall that includes a Holy Well.
The Jesus Well at Rock is said to be where St Enodoc baptised converts to the Christian faith in the 6th Century and the water is still used for baptisms. The well was rebuilt in Victorian times and was restored to its current form in the 20th Century. The reason for it being known as Jesus Well is connected with the tale of a visit to the estuary by tin-trader Joseph of Arimathea with the young Jesus.
In the bay, to the left, is a shellfish farm producing mussels and oysters.
Mussels are filter feeders and their "foot" is used to generate threads which they use to anchor themselves to rocks. Mussels clump together both to create a more secure attachment to the rock and also to trap water at low tide.
Mussels are preyed on by dog whelks which dissolve a hole in their shell, through which they inject digestive enzymes which result in mussel soup. Mussels have evolved a defensive strategy whereby they lasso invading whelks with their threads and tether them to the rocks, where the whelks starve to death.
Fortunately, consumption of mussels by humans is a little less fraught with danger provided you don't harvest them between May and August: a species of plankton that is poisonous to humans can be hoovered up by the mussels in this period. Make sure you collect more mature mussels of at least 50mm in length as smaller ones are less good to eat. It's worth studying the tides to get the beach for a low spring tide as this is when you'll find the biggest, juiciest mussels. Ideally, take a bucket and bring your mussels home in clean seawater. Once harvested, soak them for a few hours somewhere cool in clean saltwater to allow them to purge any sand (don't submerge them in freshwater as this will kill them). Sort through them, tapping any that are open on a surface to see if they close shut. Discard any that remain open or any that are damaged (they have perished and are not safe to eat). Before cooking, mussels must be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed and the "beard" (threads that secure the mussel to the rock) should be removed.
Down the hill to the left is Porthilly.
Porthilly is first recorded in 1284 and is from the Cornish words porth (meaning harbour or cove) and hyly (meaning saltwater), referring to its location on an inlet on the Camel Estuary. During mediaeval times, Porthilly was a village centred around the church of St Micheal's which was a gift from the priory of Bodmin in 1255. It is thought that the settlement was later abandoned due to the encroaching sand dunes and excavations in the area found fragments of 17th and 18th century pottery through the layers of sand deposited above the remains of mediaeval buildings.
On 9th August 1879, the four Prideaux-Brune sisters (of Prideaux Place) and their friend Miss O'Shaughnessy were in a rowing boat and being towed into Padstow by a fishing boat after the rapid onset of strong winds. On their way up the estuary, they spotted a sailor in distress who had been capsized by a squall of wind off Bray Hill. They asked to be cast off, and rowed through heavy surf - at considerable risk to their own lives - to his rescue. Their "intrepid and prompt services" resulted in the award of Silver Medals for Bravery.
Free water refill next to the ferry slipway
The sandy beach at rock stretches towards Brea Hill and at low tide it joins with Daymer Bay to form a huge expanse of sand. The area around the slipways is used to launch and retrieve boats (by 4 x 4 vehicles pulling trailers when the tide is out).
Since 2015, a large strip of the dunes near Brea Hill has been washed away by the sea resulting in sandy cliff edges that are prone to collapse. The coast path has been moved away from the edge. The sand from the demolished dunes has extended the spit from Rock beach further into the channel which has whittled away some of St George's Cove on the opposite side and is starting to push the channel into the edge of the Doom Bar at Harbour Cove.
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