St Ives to Penzance

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Day 1: Travel to St Ives.
St Ives is a captivating little town with steep, winding streets lined with fishermen's and miner's cottages, narrow cobbled alleyways, hidden corners and a picturesque harbour. Artists have been drawn to St Ives since Turner visited in 1511. By the beginning of the 20th Century it had a vibrant artist's colony. St Ives Tate Gallery is the showcase for this famous School of Art.

The Cafe at Porthminster Beach is a great place to eat before setting off on your walking holiday.

 

Day 2: St Ives to Zennor. 7 miles (11km)
From the harbour the path winds around St Ives Head past a little chapel dedicated to St Nicholas, Patron Saint of Seafarers. Beside the chapel is the Huer's Hut where the look-out would watch for pilchards and then cry 'Hevva' to the waiting fishermen when he saw a shoal. Headland follows cove as the path weaves it's way above the sea to the picturesque little village of Zennor. The church contains a bench end with a finely carved mermaid clutching a comb and glass. The legend is that she sat in that place to listen to the beautiful singing of a certain choristor.  She then enticed him down to the sea, at Pendour Cove, where he was never seen again but only heard therafter singing in the deeps with his love. Opposite the church is the Tinner's Arms, an excellent old pub.

Day 3: Zennor to Pendeen Watch. 7 miles (11km)
The path continues around some beautiful little coves to Gunnard's Head, topped by an Iron Age fort containing the remains of round houses, to the Geevor Tin Mine Heritage Centre which has an interesting museum and offers tours of the mine. At Pendeen Watch the lighthouse can be visited in the afternoon.

 

Day 4: Pendeen Watch to Sennen Cove. 9 miles (14.5km)
From Pendeen Watch the path follows the cliff top past a series of evocative ruins of the lead and tin mines and passes through the grounds of Levant Mine with its beautifully restored beam engine and engine house. Soon after the path passes the Crowns Mine at Botallack perched on the rocks above the sea. After Cape Cornwall, which provides magnificent views, the path continues past the village of St Just, to the golden sands of Whitesand Bay and the attractive little fishing port of Sennen Cove.

 

Day 5: Sennen Cove to Porthcurno. 6 miles (9.5km)
Soon after Sennen Cove the path arrives at Land's End, the extreme western tip of England, which provides spectacular views of the Irish Lady, Armed Knight, Doctor Syntax's Head and the rest of the Land's End islets, beyond which you can spot the Long Ships lighthouse, Wolf Rock lighthouse and sometimes the Isles of Scilly. From here exhilarating walking past the hamlets of Porthgwarra and St Leven ends at the spectacularly located open-air Minack Theatre perched on the edge of the cliffs overlooking Porthcurno Bay. From the theatre steep steps lead down to the beach and the village. Porthcurno Bay is one of the most beautiful coves in Cornwall - golden sands backed by rugged cliffs face a wonderful bay where the sea varies in colour from deep purple to jade green and mediterranean blue.

 

Day 6: Porthcurno to Penzance 11.5 miles (18.5 km)
From Porthcurno the cliff top path goes to the Logan Rock, said to weigh 80 tons. In 1824 a Lieutenant Goldsmith pushed the boulder of its perch causing considerable local outrage and was ordered by the Admiralty to replace it at a considerable cost, the bill for the task can been seen in the Logan Rock Inn. The walk continues past several coves to the village of Lamorna with its well-known pub, the 'Lamorna Wink' originally an illegal beer house. The nickname arose from the time when, for £20 anyone could open an alehouse. Spirits were banned but a wink could produce a smuggled brandy, as shown on the sign!. After rounding Penzer Point, which provides breathtaking views over Mount's Bay, the path arrives at the old fishing village of Mousehole (pronounced "mow-zell"). From here the path continues through Newlyn, which was the centre of a community of artists in the late 19th Century, to the old port of Penzance.  The Pilchard Works, the last vestige of the Cornish pilchard fishery is also worth a visit, in the works you can sample traditional cured pilchard and learn how the pilchard gave 'meat, money and light, all in one night'.

 

Day 7: Depart from Penzance.