Section: Padstow to Porthcothan

Length: 14 miles (22km)

Distance from Minehead to Padstow : 166.9

Distance from Porthcothan to Poole: 452.6

Grading: Easy

Height gained (and also lost): 2526ft (770m)

Summary:

This section of Coast Path offers a day of easy walking along low cliffs, with beautiful, tempting beaches below. The Path leaves the attractive town of Padstow behind, passing the sheltered beach of Hawker’s Cove, before leading you out to the Atlantic Coast. The Path can become narrow in places and is quite rocky around Constantine Bay. Walking round Trevose Head, one of Cornwall’s most prominent headlands, provides spectacular views of the sandy bays ahead and if you can resist the beaches on your journey you will have more time to enjoy the sheltered dune-backed beach of Porthcothan at the end of your walk.

Highlights along the path:

• Gun Point: Featuring on maps dating from 1801, here you will find the remains of fortifications thought to date back to the time of the Spanish Armada.
• Orchids and reed buntings in the marshes of Harbour Cove.
• Views from Stepper Point with its navigation station. Much of this area is farmed under the Countryside Stewardship scheme, which means that the land is farmed in an environmentally sensitive way, banishing chemical fertilisers and encouraging wildlife and flowers.
• Nesting birds on limestone layers of Marble Cliffs, Porthmissen.
• Round Hole near Trevone: a collapsed sea cave.
• Harlyn: An Iron Age cemetery was discovered buried beneath the Harlyn Inn. It contained over 100 coffins with human remains and bronze and iron ornaments. These are now in the museum in Truro. Keep a look out for seals around Harlyn Bay.
• The Old Fish Cellars above Harlyn Bay which were once used for processing pilchards. Carved into the lintel are the ironic words “Lucri Dulcis Odor” or “Profit Smells Sweet”. No doubt the smells were far from sweet when the building was a working fish cellar and the profit itself far from sweet due to the 16th century Curse of Mother Ivey! To read more about this fascinating legend, apparently responsible for several deaths over the years, see Luke Richards.
• Padstow's Lifeboat Station in Mother Ivey’s Bay, open to visitors Mon- Fri 10am - 4 pm (including weekends during the summer).
• Trevose Head Lighthouse opened in 1847, and is available for holiday hire.
• Enjoying the wonderful names, such as Big Guns Cove, Cat’s Cove and Stinking Cove.
• Watching the surfers and having a picnic at Constantine Bay: a beautiful beach of golden sands backed by dunes.
• The marine life of Treyarnon Bay exposed at low tide .
• Resting on the beach in Porthcothan Bay.

Worth a look (interesting places close to the path):

• The National Lobster Hatchery, Padstow with resident giant lobster Dai the Claw, open 7 days a week from 10am.
• Prideaux Place: an Elizabethan Manor House built around 1590. The extensive grounds, house and tearoom are open to the public. For more information tel: 01841 532411.
• St Constantine’s Church and Holy Well: situated on the golf course on the road between Constantine and Harlyn and said to date from the 3rd century AD.

Shorter option:

Stop at Treyarnon Bay (11.4 miles, 18.3 km)

Longer option:

Continue to Mawgan Porth (an additional 4.4 miles, 7.2 km)

Public transport info:


Plymouth has a mainline train station. From Plymouth you can take a train to Bodmin and then catch the Western Greyhound 555 bus on to Wadebridge. You are then able to continue on the hourly 555 bus service from Wadebridge to Padstow. The 556 service runs hourly between Padstow and Porthcothan. For details visit Traveline or phone 0870 6082608.

Refreshments:


Padstow has a wide range of pubs, shops, restaurants and cafes, including the Big Barn and Taste of the West member The Chough Bakery, which sells pastries and award winning pasties, 3 The Strand, Padstow. Tel: 01841 532 835. You can also find refreshments at Trevone, Harlyn Bay, Treyarnon Bay and the small village of Porthcothan.

Nearest Car park:

Padstow (Post Code for Sat Navs: PL28 8DT), Trevone, Harlyn, Trevose Head, Treyarnon Bay and Porthcothan.

Toilets:

Padstow, Harlyn, Treyarnon Bay and Porthcothan.

More information:

Padstow Tourist Information Centre Tel: 01841 533449,

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