In 1922 the French Trawler "Marguerite" lost her bearings and went aground in a southwesterly gale. The boat was equipped with a radio and sent an SOS signal saying it had run aground on Eddystone Reef. The Looe lifeboat was launched and began the long row out to Eddystone. In fact the trawler was so far off course that it was on the rocks of Talland Bay, but the crew could not see the land through the thick drizzly mist. About half an hour later the trawler was spotted and a motorised fishing boat was sent to tow the lifeboat back to Talland Bay. Once in Talland Bay, the lifeboat was released. By now, the trawler was up on the rocks with a huge sea breaking over her. The coxwain of the lifeboat used the lifeboat's anchor in the marine equivalent of a "handbrake turn" to keep the lifeboat afloat whilst bringing it alongside the trawler on the rocks and was able to rescue all 21 of the crew.
It is said that as the tide receded, the locals thought it a shame that the 50 tonnes of fish aboard the ship might go to waste and despite a guard being placed on the shore to protect the property, managed to creep in from the seaward side without the guard noticing. However, when they arrived, they found that the boat's acetylene lamps had spilled their calcium carbide (used to generate the acetylene) into the fish hold, contaminating the fish. In fact, the heat generated by carbide reacting with the water on the wet fish may have cooked them.
A cordial can be made from blackthorn blossom by dissolving 100g of sugar in 1 litre of warm water mixing one large handful of blossom, scaled up to produce the quantity you require.
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.
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.
As well as its thorns, another thing that makes hawthorn good for hedging is its very rapid rate of growth of around half a metre per year. Consequently one of the alternative common names for it is "quickthorn".
Common gorse flowers have a coconut-like scent but rather than fresh coconut, it is reminiscent of desiccated coconut or the popular brand of surf wax, Mr Zoggs. However, not everyone experiences the smell in the same way: for some people it's very strong and for others it quite weak. One complicating factor is that Western Gorse flowers don't have any scent, so you need to be sniffing a tall gorse plant to test yourself.
The Greater Black-backed Gull is the largest member of the gull family and a bird of formidable size, with a wingspan of nearly 6ft. Unlike other gulls, the Greater Black-backed Gull is highly predatory. Young birds are a significant portion of its diet and it tends to live amongst other seabirds where it can eat the neighbours. It has also been known to swallow whole rabbits and even eat young lambs. It often steals food from other seabirds using its large size to intimidate them into dropping it, and consequently it is sometimes referred to as a pirate.
Lesser celandines are common plants along woodland paths recognisable by their yellow star-shaped flowers. Despite their name, they are not closely related to the Greater Celandine. Lesser celandines are actually a member of the buttercup family and, like buttercups, they contain the poisonous chemical protoanemonin.
In the past, the cliffs were grazed regularly. Whilst this was primarily done for economic/subsistence reasons, it had the side-effect of keeping more aggressive plant species in check and allowing low-growing plants access to light. The resulting grassland habitat supported species such as the chough and large blue butterfly. As farming became more intensified and was moved inland to easier-to-manage hedged fields, cliff-top grazing declined and cliffs became overgrown with gorse and bracken. Some landowners such as the National Trust now carry out conservation grazing with cattle or ponies to help to restore these habitats.
A flight of steps leads from the gate to the beaches of Portnadler Bay. At the western end is Hendersick beach, which is composed of sand and shingle, with some areas of rock. The small, rocky beach at the eastern (Looe) end of the bay is known as Old Mills Cove. The bay is sheltered both by the headland and Looe Island which makes it a good spot for swimming. There are extensive reefs stretching all the way to Looe Island and Hannafore Point, and to Talland Bay in the other direction, so it's also a good spot for snorkelling. At low tide, the exposed reefs host a number of rockpools.
Looe Island has been inhabited since the Iron Age. Roman coins, pieces of Amphora and stone boat anchors all point to continued habitation and possibly trade before the Dark Ages. From the 13th to the 16th Centuries, the island was known as St Michael's Island, and after 1584 it became known as St George's Island.
Looe Island also had a history of smuggling, and the first cottage on Looe Island was built by smugglers. The second cottage on the island was built by the Revenue to clamp down on the smuggling!
In 1965 the island was bought by two sisters who lived there for the rest of their lives. The island was left to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust who now manage it as a nature reserve.
There is a mediaeval legend that Jesus visited Looe Island, with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, who traded with the Cornish Tin traders. Consequently, many early Christians made pilgrimages to Looe Island and a small thatched-roofed chapel was built here. The legend is not quite as far-fetched as it sounds as a fragment of an earthenware amphora was found on the island, originating in the Eastern Mediterranean and dating from around the time of Christ, which provides some evidence that there were trading links between Looe and the Middle East. Excavations by the BBC's "Time Team" found remains of Romano-British chapels built of wood with dating evidence that suggested use by Christians before the reign of Constantine the Great in AD 272.
The small beach is known as Samphire Beach, which is composed of coarse sand and shingle and has a few rock pools. It can be reached via some steps leading from a stile in the bottom corner of the fence on the opposite side of the field.
Rock samphire has been a popular wild food since Celtic times. It has a strong, characteristic, slightly lemony flavour and recently has become more well-known as a flavouring for gin. It was very popular as a pickle in 16th century Britain until it almost died out from over-picking in the 19th Century. Consequently, it's currently a protected plant but is now making a good comeback. In Shakespeare's time, a rope was tied to a child's ankles and he was dangled over the cliff to pick the rock samphire that grew in crevices and clefts in the rocks.
The completely unrelated but similar-looking golden samphire also grows around the North Cornish coast. The leaves look almost identical, but the daisy-like yellow flowers in summer are a giveaway, as rock samphire has tiny green-white flowers that look more like budding cow parsley. Golden samphire is edible, but is inferior in flavour to rock samphire; it is also nationally quite rare in Britain.
Also completely unrelated is marsh samphire (also known as glasswort) which looks more like micro-asparagus. This is what typically appears on restaurant menus or in supermarkets as "samphire".
A path also leads up to the remains of Lamanna Chapel, located roughly in the middle of the top hedge of the field.
During the Dark Ages, the sea crossing to the chapel on the island resulted in quite a lot of drowned pilgrims, so Lammana Monastery was built on the mainland. It is thought to have been in existence by the 6th Century and grew into a Benedictine Priory and Chapel. It still maintained a chapel on the island which was occupied by two Benedictine Monks until 1289.
The foreshore along Hannafore Point is popular with wading birds such as egrets and herons.
In mediaeval Britain, roast heron was a prized dish reserved for aristocratic banquets. In Tudor and Elizabethan times, hunting herons with peregrine falcons was considered a royal sport which resulted in the population being protected from peasants who might otherwise have caught and roasted them.
The Banjo Pier was created by Joseph Thomas in the late 19th Century as the previous pier wasn't effective at stopping the river silting up. Thomas worked out that a circular pier head would hold the sand back and was so confident in his design that he refused payment until it was built and proven effective. The Looe pier has become the prototype for other banjo piers around the world.
A scarred, one-eyed grey bull seal, who was consequently named Nelson, was a familiar sight in the harbours of South Cornwall for over 25 years. He eventually made Looe Island his home and lived there for over 20 years, and was popular with both locals and holidaymakers. After he died in 2003, the life-size bronze sculpture was created as a memorial which now overlooks Looe Harbour from the Pennyland Rocks.
In tidal rivers, the discharge of freshwater and friction with the riverbed effectively "holds back" the rising tide. The further up the tidal region of the river, the shorter the interval between low and high tide and the faster the rising tide comes in when it eventually does.
The name Looe is from the Cornish word logh (meaning sea lake, similar to the Scottish word) and on 17th Century maps the name still appears as "Low" or "Lowe". East Looe and West Looe originated as separate towns. East Looe is the older of the two and by 1310, Looe had five ships in the wine trade with Bordeaux. There are still a number of mediaeval buildings in the old town.
The Old Mill gift centre was the location of a tidal mill, known as Polvellan, first built in 1621. The name is from the Cornish words pol and melyn meaning "mill pool". The mill pool on the edge of the car park today is a small remnant of the original which extended for 13 acres, covering pretty much the entire area of the car park and boat yard, and was surrounded by a high wall. The mill, which had 4 waterwheels, was initially used to grind corn for brewing and was last used in the 19th Century for grinding bones to make bonemeal. The full-sized mill pool was still in place at the start of the 20th Century and is recorded on the 2nd edition of the OS map in the 1900s.
Kingfishers can occasionally be seen, zipping up and down the river
Kingfishers are found near slow-moving or still water where they dive to catch fish, as their name implies, but they also eat many aquatic insects, ranging from dragonfly nymphs to water beetles.
The Kingfisher is able to switch between light receptors in the main central area of its eye and a forward-facing set when it enters water, allowing it to judge distances accurately underwater. It is estimated that a female needs to eat over twice her own body weight in order to increase her condition sufficiently for egg laying.
The unmistakable metallic blue and orange birds fly fast and low over the surface of the water so may only be apparent as a blue flash. The pigment in their feathers is actually brown but the microstructure of their features results in light interference patterns which generate the brilliant iridescent blue and orange colours. Unfortunately the result, during Victorian times, was that kingfishers were extensively killed for display in glass cases and for use in hat making. The population has since recovered and is now limited by the availability of suitable waterways.
Kilminorth Wood is the largest area of sessile oak woodland in this part of Cornwall. A Local Nature Reserve was created in 1993 and is owned by Cornwall Council. A local group, known as the Friends of Kilminorth Woods, promote the conservation and improvement of the woods and its use for education and recreation. The woodland is classified as ancient and contains other broadleaf species including beech and chestnut. The woodland bordering the West Looe River provides a habitat for an array of wildlife including birds and mammals.
Many of trees forming the canopy over the track are beech.
Compared to many native trees, the beech colonised Great Britain relatively recently, after the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago. Beech trees have a shallow root system and are therefore often found in areas where water is plentiful such as near rivers. In the 17th and 18th Centuries, tall, stately beech trees were very fashionable in the estates of wealthy landowners and many mature beech woodlands today are the result of 18th Century parkland landscaping projects.
The bank on your left is the Giant's Hedge and the path runs along a ditch that accompanied the bank.
The Giant's Hedge is the remains of a wall from the Dark Ages which runs for ten miles from Looe to Lerryn. In some places it is still twelve feet high and it was recorded as being 16 feet high in Victorian times. Where it is best preserved, it is stone-faced and has a ditch running alongside. It is thought that it marked and defended the border of a Cornish Kingdom, which was otherwise surrounded by water from the River Fowey to the West Looe River.
Bluebells are also known by folk names based on their shape including Lady’s Nightcap and Witches’ Thimbles.
Other common names for the bluebell include "wild hyacinth" and "wood hyacinth" as they are related to the hyacinth family. Their Genus name Hyacinthoides also means "hyacinth-like".
The broadleaf trees in the woodland include chestnut - the spiky husks may be visible on the path near the embankment in September and October.
Since chestnuts don't need to hang around for a long time on the ground, they are nutritionally more similar to a cereal - containing principally starch and sugars - than a typical nut. They contain very little fat and are consequently much less calorific than other nuts: the kernels contain around a third of the calories of a similar weight of other nuts.
In fields with crops where the footpath doesn't run along the edge, if there is a well-trodden path then follow this to avoid trampling any more of the crops. If there appears to be no path through the crops then you do have a right to walk through the crop but stick as close as possible to the line of the path to avoid damaging any more of the crop than strictly necessary. Alternatively, you can follow around the edges of the field to avoid trudging through the crop.
On a clear day you can see Caradon Hill across the fields to the right.
Caradon Hill is the 6th highest hill in Cornwall with a 371 metre summit. The name is thought to originate from the Cornish word car for fort. The slopes are dotted with the remains of engine houses and the area was once famous for its copper mines, which were discovered relatively late in Cornwall's mining history. In an account documented in the early 20th Century, the area was described:
On Saturday nights after pay-day, the populous villages of Caradon Town, Pensilva, Minions and Crows Nest were crowded with men, and resembled in character the mining camps of Colorado and the Far West.
The hilltop on the right is surrounded by a stone-faced hedge. During Victorian times it was recorded as a prehistoric settlement. However, the stone walling is thought to have been built after the mediaeval period which casts doubt over this, although the walls could have re-used existing earthworks. The enclosed field is known as and recorded as "The Warren", so one theory is that the walled enclosure could have been for keeping rabbits.
The quarry is recorded on the 1st edition OS map from the 1880s and the stone is likely to have been used for the wall to the track and possibly some of the cottages nearby. By the 1880s there were a few cottages near Kilminorth House on the opposite side of the lane. Kilminorth House is thought to date from the 16th Century and been rebuilt in the 18th Century. A manor at Kilminorth is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 so the settlement overall is likely to date back to early mediaeval times. This is consistent with the name being based on Cornish words - kyl means "ridge".
Handling primroses is best avoided as the hairs on the leaves and stems can cause contact dermatitis which is quite severe in some people. It is thought that some people may develop a tolerance with repeated exposure but nevertheless a study in a medical journal found that over a quarter of Primula growers experienced skin reactions.
The sun looks white in space. Here on Earth it looks yellow because colours from the blue-violet end of the rainbow are scattered more so the rays of light reaching us directly from the sun are missing more of those colours.
Recreational camping was first popularised in the UK on the river Thames as an offshoot of the Victorian craze for pleasure boating. Early camping equipment was very heavy and so transporting it by boat was pretty much essential. By the 1880s it had become a pastime for large numbers of visitors.
The headland sticking out in the distance is Rame Head - the last headland in Cornwall before Plymouth Sound. This and the headland between Talland Bay and Looe enclose one of the largest bays on the Cornish coast, sometimes referred to in its entirety as Whitsand Bay although this name is more commonly applied to just the section between Portwrinkle and Rame Head.
The structures on the opposite side of the valley with white fronts are nautical measured mile markers.
Two pairs of towers, known as "measured mile markers", are set exactly one nautical mile apart and are used by ships to calculate their speed. The ship sets a steady course on a bearing perpendicular to the markers. When the two markers align, the time is noted and again at the second pair of markers. The ship then turns around and repeats the process in the opposite direction and the average of the two values is taken. Now that ships have GPS, this can be used to measure speed, but the markers are still used by some ships coming out of refit at Devonport. At night, the marker towers are illuminated so they can be seen from the sea.
The place name Talland is from the Cornish words tal (meaning "brow") and lan (meaning "church site" or "monastic enclosure") so this is generally thought to mean something like "the holy place on the brow of the hill". A Celtic Missionary, known as St Tallanus, is said to have erected a holy altar where the altar of the current church now stands.
The present church dates from the 13th Century and the bell tower was originally completely detached from the church. The church was enlarged in the 14th and 15th Centuries and reconstructed in the Perpendicular Gothic style, and at this point the bell tower was joined into the church. Much of the mediaeval woodwork and carved pews from the Tudor era have survived. There is also an elegantly carved Elizabethan tomb of Sir John Bevill.
During the 19th Century, part of the churchyard collapsed into the road and the gravestones now lining the path were salvaged from the rubble.
Talland Bay was used in one of the largest smuggling operations of the 20th Century. In 1979, police found 1.5 tonnes of Moroccan Gold cannabis wrapped in Christmas paper and hidden in a secret underground store beneath the café's counter. In all, 30 tonnes - with a street value of over £100 million at today's prices - had been imported by the smuggling gang using a converted fishing boat. The owner of the café was jailed and only legal herbs are now used by the café's new owners.
Stonechats are robin-sized birds with a black head and orange breast that are common along the Cornish coast all year round.
The name "stonechat" comes from the sound of their call which resembles stones being knocked together.
During the summer months, stonechats eat invertebrates. As temperatures drop and there are not so many of these about, they make do with seeds and fruit such as blackberries. Quite a few die in cold winters but this is offset by their fast breeding rate during the warmer months.
A similar-looking bird called the whinchat is also present in the summer but this can be identified by a white stripe across its eye. Both stonechats and whinchats can often be spotted perching on dead sticks or brambles protruding above gorse and heather, and consequently the term "gorse chat" or "furze chat" has been used locally to mean either species. For a long time, stonechats and whinchats were thought to be members of the thrush family but genetic studies have revealed they are actually members of the (Old World) flycatcher family.
The fulmar is a grey and white bird related to an Albatross although it can be mistaken at a distance for a gull. Close up, the beak is the giveaway: the fulmar has a tube on its beak which is visible as a black bar across the beak at a distance. The tube is a gland for excreting salt from the seawater that they drink. As a defence mechanism, the fulmar regurgitates foul smelling oil from its stomach - the name comes from the Old Norse for "foul" (full) and "gull" (mar). The oil disrupts the waterproofing of predatory birds' feathers in a similar way to a crude-oil spill, so they avoid preying on fulmars.
The large black birds nesting on offshore rocks, known colloquially as the cormorant and shag, are two birds of the same family and to the untrained eye look pretty similar. The origin of the name "shag" is a crest that this species has on top of its head and the cormorant doesn't. The cormorant is the larger of the two birds with a whiter throat. The shag's throat is yellow, and mature shags have a metallic green sheen on their feathers which cormorants lack.
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.
The game of bowls dates from mediaeval times and was first clearly documented in the 13th Century. From the 14th Century, it was banned along with several other sports for being a distraction from archery practice. However bans on bowling continued long after guns had replaced the longbow due to the disreputable nature of bowling alleys which were often attached to taverns. Until 1845, labourers, apprentices and servants were forbidden from playing bowls except at Christmas under the supervision of their masters!
There are two shingle beaches at Talland Bay. The right-hand beach (with the café) is known as Talland Sand which as the name suggests is the more sandy of the two beaches. The other one is known as Rotterdam Beach.
On both beaches, as the tide goes out, finer sand is revealed. A large rock platform with rockpools along the cliffs to the right is also uncovered at low tide. The rocks are particularly colourful with reds, brown and greens.
At low tide, another small beach to the far left - known as Stinker Cove - joins with Rotterdam beach. There is no separate access to this beach so care must be taken not to be cut off by the tide.
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