The Hidden Lizard

from myCornwall June/July 2021

Weekend Away The Greenbank Hotel

The Lizard Peninsula remains one of Cornwall’s most mysterious and isolated regions. But despite crowd-pleasing tourist hotspots like Kynance Cove and Cadgwith there are still plenty of unknown corners to explore. Elizabeth Dale takes us to some of the area’s quieter coves, its wild, secluded moorland and dramatic headlands to tempt you away from the well-trodden tracks and help you to begin to discover the hidden Lizard.

Church Cove

Porthallow

Porthallow Porthallow (pronounced Per-ah-la) is a small fishing village on the Lizard’s east coast. Here the cottages are huddled in a deep valley close to the sea, reached by narrow winding lanes. Small wooden boats are pulled up on to the pebbly beach above a deep horseshoe of turquoise coloured water.

Porthallow’s claim to fame is that it marks the half way point on the 630 miles of the South West Coastal Path – England’s longest waymarked footpath. The name of the pub, The Five Pilchards Inn, harks back to the ancient industry of this once thriving fishing community. Established in 1830, it has had just 16 landlords in 190 years.

Coverack’s Sculpture Garden Coverack is one of the Lizard’s most picturesque fishing villages but to escape the hustle and bustle around the harbour a short walk along the coastal path will bring you to a real hidden treasure. The Terence Coventry Sculpture Park is a delightful place where you will find around 25 monumental works of art. Terence was inspired by the often opposing personalities he saw in the environment of the Lizard - its wild landscapes and semi-tropical climate, at once savage and harsh while also flourishing and verdant. His work reflects those extremes. The site is free to visit and with benches, grassy meadows and sea views it makes the perfect place to unwind and perhaps enjoy a picnic.

Church Cove, Landwednack With its whitewashed thatched cottages Church Cove is truly a picture postcard kind of place. Walking down the hill from St Winwallow Church feels like stepping back in time. Said to have once been a popular smugglers’ haunt the old pilchard cellars, disused lifeboat house and fishermen’s cottages huddle around a deep cleft in the cliffs, where the only access to the water is a steep, narrow slipway.

In the 19th Century day trippers from Falmouth would arrive here by steamer in their droves to snap up souvenirs from the numerous serpentine carvers in Lizard village above. These days it is mostly

visited by walkers making their way along the coastal path to the nearby lighthouse.

St Grada Church and St Ruan Holy Well This beautiful little church stands alone in the landscape with expansive views towards the coast. It has a wonderfully remote and peaceful atmosphere, perhaps partly because it can only be reached by foot.

The fabric of the church dates from various periods; the tower is 15th Century, for example, but some parts of the building may be much earlier. Inside the carved lectern and pulpit are arguably some of the finest examples of serpentine work in any Cornish church. Within walking distance from the church is a holy well dedicated to St Ruan. Here the cool, clear spring, which is said to never run dry, is covered by a lovely serpentine stone well-house.

Nare Point Watch Station Nare Point is a narrow promontory marking the south side of the entrance to the Helford River and has sweeping views of Falmouth Bay and the Lizard coast. On the little headland you can find a watch house, once a torpedo tracking station, now

Nare Point Watch Station

Coverack’s Sculpture Garden

manned by volunteers from the National Coastwatch Institution, a charity set up in Cornwall in 1994. The NCI filled the void when funding to many coastguard stations was cut and now has 56 watch houses nationwide, all funded by donation.

Nare Point is a particularly busy station, which records and monitors the movements of upwards of 18,000 vessels per year. The walk to the headland has stunning panoramic views and there’s an opportunity to watch all the comings and goings from Falmouth Docks and the Helford River.

Lizard Windmill & Nature Reserve. The interior of the Lizard Peninsula is dominated by the wild expanses of moorland known as the Goonhilly Downs and the Lower Predannack Downs. Close to the latter you will find the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Windmill Farm Nature Reserve. The reserve contains the remains of a 400 year old windmill which now acts as sort of observation deck, providing a bird’s eye view of the surrounding countryside. these days visitors come in search of the wide range of wildflowers, butterflies and birds, and to follow the peaceful wildlife trails.

The Lion’s Den On the night of 19th February 1847 a massive circle of turf and earth suddenly collapsed into a sea cave called Daws Hugo, just below the Lizard Lighthouse. Apparently the keeper on duty at the time didn’t hear a thing and only realised that something unusual had occurred when he saw the muddy colour of the sea the next morning.

The huge chasm left behind is now known as the Lion’s Den. It is perhaps best viewed from Bass Point on the other side of Housel Bay, although it is also possible to peer directly into the gaping hole, with care of course. This cliff is also a great vantage point from which to watch the birds nesting on and around Bumble Rock.

Godrevy Cove Godrevy Cove, not to be confused with Godrevy in St Ives Bay, is a lovely secluded, sandy beach with crystal clear water, not far from St Keverne. It and its neighbouring beach Leggan Cove have always been popular with divers and swimmers but as it is relatively hard to reach tends to be a little quieter than many similar beaches.

The dreaded Manacles Reef, which has claimed hundreds of ships over the years, can been seen just a mile off shore and the walk from the beach to Lowland Point is pleasant and offers the chance to spot seals on the rocky foreshore.

Discovering More: If this article has inspired you to discover more of the Lizard then why not just grab a map and get out exploring! As a general rule the interior and east coast of the Lizard tend to be less visited. Alternatively the excellent iWalk Cornwall app enables you to download self-guided walks which are packed full of interesting information. A new feature of the app, very appropriate given the current circumstances, is a list of Cornwall’s quietest walks each day, which is continually updated.

The iWalk Cornwall ‘Porthallow to Gillan’ walk is a circular route that also takes in Nare Point as well as some of the quieter countryside around the Helford River on the Lizard side. l