Beginning in the picturesque seaside village of Boscastle, this walk explores the cliffs above Boscastle's medieval harbour before heading inland across the Valency Valley and through peaceful woodland, along the meandering Valency River.

The charming village of Boscastle is sheltered in the steep sided Valency Valley. From the reign of Elizabeth 1, right up until the end of the 19th century, the practise of pressing and preserving pilchards was a vital source of income for the village and was carried out in the building that is now a National Trust gift shop. Pass some attractive old cottages dating back to the 15th century as you walk the Old Road.

The Valency Valley is rich in wildlife. It's meadows are filled with wildflowers in summer, attracting butterflies like the rare pearl-boarded fritillary, and the oak woodlands are home to colonies of protected horseshoe and lesser horseshoe bats. The secluded paths running alongside the Valency River offer a peaceful retreat.

The area around Boscastle provided inspiration for one of Thomas Hardy's early books, A Pair of Blue Eyes. It is also where Hardy met and courted his first wife, Emma. He returned to the wild cliffs of North Cornwall in 1913, after Emma had died, and was once again inspired by the landscape, resulting in twenty-one of his most emotional poems.

The cliffs above Boscastle Harbour are frequented by birds such as kestrel, peregrine, stonechat, gannet and fulmar. The blowhole in the harbour booms and spouts water two hours each side of low tide- an impressive site if you're lucky enough to catch it!

At Forrabury Comman you'll see evidence of a medieval way of farming, the Forrabury Stitches. The long strips or 'stitches' were individually farmed to grow food crops in the summer and used for grazing in the winter. Many of the original strip boundaries are still visible and the practice continues today.

Minster Church is nestled between Minster and Peter's woods in the Valency Valley. The original church at Minster is Norman and dates back to the 12th century. The valley landscape changed immensely after the heavy floods in 2004, but is gradually growing back into its natural woodland habitat.