Of Walks and Crosses .. Gorran Haven to Dodman Point .. Cornwall

Dodman Point boasts of being the highest headland on the South coast of Cornwall. Hiking in from the beautiful fishing village of Gorran Haven we were perhaps distracted of the ascent by numerous wildlife encounters along the way? However, on the return journey along the coastal path it became clear that we were walking downhill most of the way home!

Our day's adventure started with the obligatory and very tasty Full English Breakfast at the Llawnroc Hotel. [As an aside the hotel's main restaurant has a flat "green roof " with a "wildflower turf " on it - this turf was in flwr at the time of our visit and a plethora of orchids - predominantly green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) made for an eye-catching effect. It took every fibre of good-will, for me not to climb out of our bedroom window - which immediately overlooked it - to get closer to the box of delights].

After breakfast we took a quick shifty around St Just Church which holds tightly onto the cliff top above the harbour beach.

St Just, Gorran Haven

St Just above the harbour beach, Gorran Haven

The walk to Dodman Point took us past Vault Beach. We had planned to go rock-pooling at Vault Beach at low tide later that afternoon, but we ran out of both time and energy in the warmth of the day. Instead we retired early to Cakebreads Bakery a One-Stop-Shop which includes the local Post Office / Grocery Store and Beach Bar! Cakebreads Bakery also helped to fuel our exploration of The Roseland Peninsula in its daily provision of fresh Cornish Pasties.

However, the aspirational rock-pooling does go someway to explain the seemingly random child's fishing net, hanging out of the back of my rucksack like a cheap mockery of some Japanese Samurai's foot-soldier's flag.

towards Vault Beach

                                   サムライと旗

Random wildlife on the coastal path:

Macrothylacia rubi

Cornish hedge

Umbilicus rupestris

Anguis fragilis

The most striking feature of Dodman Point is the large Iron Age earthwork which separates the headland from the mainland of Roseland St Just. Some 666m long and 6m high - the earthwork can be walked along it's entire length following the footpath that runs between it and an adjacent hedge on the northern boundary.

Iron Age Earthwork, Dodman Point
- travelling West to East

The passage of the footpath was filled with wildflowers and was consequently brimming with invertebrates - incl. numerous butterflies - and a handful of broad-bodied chasers (Libellula depressa).

Libellula depressa

The headland also features the archaeological remains of Bronze Age barrows (not seen on the day) and medieval field systems. An 18th Century Admiralty signal station (the Watch House) also stands on the Point - acting as a look out for Plymouth Harbour during the Napoleonic times.

Medieval field system (Rems.)

Watch House

Watch House detail

On the western tip of the Point an imposing 19th Century Granite Cross - also stands looking out to sea. The cross being erected in 1896 by the Rev George Martin of Caerhayes as a shipping navigation aid - in response to the collision two naval destroyers which had occurred near the point earlier in that year (The South West Coast Path 2018 ONLINE).

Of Walks and Crosses .. Porthgwarra, Treryn Dinas and Logan Rock .. Cornwall pt 4

The weather in vast improvement to the preceding days, saw the sun shining and a striking blue but not quite cloudless sky. We decided a walk to Porthgwarra was indicated - with hopefully some migrant birds along the way?

Taking an inland route we headed across the fields passing Rospletha Cross and St Levan Church then taking the footpath towards Roskestral. At the junction of this path with the footpath to Ardenswah is a stile containing a Cross head in a field called "Churchway Downs" (Macneil Cooke 1996).

Churchway Field Cross

Our next stop was a small pool to the south west of the Porthgwarra road, scrub lined it looked promising for any skulking migrants. Only a single calling chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) was of note. However, our attention was still held for sometime by three golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), in fierce aerial pursuit of each other.

On the cliffs to the immediate west of Porthgwarra, the heathers were in full bloom. An occasional wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) flushed ahead of us, but other than that birds on land were very scarce. Along the coast path a number of flighty grayling (Hipparchia Semele) tempted me to chase them for a photograph. With only the iPhone camera to hand I had to rely heavily on my meagre wildlife stalking skills, hampered as they were by the cast of a long shadow!

Grayling (Record Shot)

Whilst, head down chasing the grayling, a chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) called as it flew overhead.

No trip to Porthgwarra is complete without taking refreshment at the: Porthgwarra Cove Café The traditional Cornish Pasty served at this Café - is our most favourite pasty in all of our Cornish travels! The traditional pasty from Kynance Café comes a very close second, and on a good day it's very difficult to make the call between them both?

The best Cornish Pasty in the County? Probably!

With a very enjoyable lunch break over, we took a slow walk past the Cottage gardens following the coast path east out of the cove. The birds if any were hiding! We passed St Levan's Holy Well, Porthcurno and carried on towards Treryn Dinas.

All along the coastal path we kept stopping at the frequent clumps of ivy (Hedera helix) which grow within the hedgerows and scrub layer. No ivy was complete without an adornment of butterflies - red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) being the most common, with painted lady (V. cardui) and small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) also present in significant numbers. Between the hedgerows speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) defiantly held on to their territories, even so late in the season.

Red admiral(s) on coastal Ivy

Towards Treryn Dinas and the Logan Rock

Treryn Dinas is an Iron Age promontory hillfort dating somewhere between 300BC -100BC (MacNeil Cooke 1996). Historic England (2017) describes such monuments as: "a type of hillfort in which conspicuous naturally defended sites are adapted as enclosures by the construction of one or more earth or stone ramparts placed across the neck of a spur in order to divide it from the surrounding land".

The "naturally defended" aspect of Treyrn Dinas can be clearly seen in the photograph below - where a bank and ditch runs down to the cliff edge below it. In total the defences at Treryn Dinas comprise three banks and ditches and a causeway which is defended by a low stone wall (Historic England 2017).

Treryn Dinas - rampart detail

Treryn Dinas - Outer wall and ditch

Beyond the causeway lie towering rocky outcrops, one of which contains the famous "Logan Rock". Deriving it's name from the massive stones ability to be rocked - or logged - it is the local celebrity, and the public house at nearby Treen is named after it. The 19th Century account of its deliberate dislodgement by a Captain and crew of a cutter, is the stuff of legend. The eponymous Logan Rock Inn contains many an account of the cost born in returning the stone to its rightful resting place, after the act of deliberate vandalism.

It is not hard to see why the dramatic cliff top setting of this windswept hillfort has evoked other more mystical & magickal legends - of a site inhabited by witches, little people; and of a Giant who held the fort and hurled rocks at passing ships (MacNeil Cooke 1996).

Logan Rock

Logan Rock and windswept "selfie"

A description of some of the local legends associated with Porthcurno and its surroundings incl. Treryn Dinas can be found at: https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/myths-legends/porthcurno.htm

Bibliography

MacNeil Cooke, I. (1996) 2nd Edition Mermaid to Merrymaid Journey to the Stones Cornwall Litho Redruth

Historic England (2017) ONLINE Promontory fort known as Treryn Dinas Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1006733 Retrieved 2nd Jan 2018