North Cornwall: Chapel Porth to Porthtowan Walk.

Adventures

30 Oct

Stay at: The Owl Box.

Parking: Chapel Porth (narrow lanes) - National Trust. Porthtowan (cash required) - meter parking.

Dogs: Chapel Porth - not allowed 1st July to 31st Aug. Porthtowan - not allowed 15th May to 30th Sept.

Tide times for Chapel Porth and Porthtowan.

My AirBNB sat at the top of the National Trust track for Chapel Porth and as the early evening was so beautiful I couldn’t resist checking it out after checking in. The path opened up to spectacular views down the valley across the old tin mine ruins and down to Porth Chapel beach.

The blue waters looked inviting but I had another swim spot in my sights… more on that in a bit. It was about 5.30pm when Monty and I hit the beach as the sky was starting to turn from the autumnal gold that had been treating me for the afternoon for my favourite time of day - blue hour. I knew I wasn't finished here but was also aware of the dwindling light and that I’d need to get a fire going to cook some rice for tea so having lay my barefeet on the sand and enjoyed observing some of the textures of the sharp coastline we ambled back up arriving hot from an unusually warm October evening temperature.

The next day while being mostly underwhelmed by Padstow I craved to be back on this beach so I drove straight there for a slightly earlier afternoon jaunt. Having checked the tide times I knew I was in alignment for the walk I was thinking - along the top of the cliffs to Porthtowan and then back along the beach. For this walk you need to time it well - there is only a small window when the tide is completely out that you can walk between the two beaches. Leaving an hour before low tide I set off up the incline to the lefthand side of Chapel Porth (looking out to sea).

With each step along the well trodden, heather lined South West Coast path I was rewarded with an ever expanding view. At the top it took all my might not to fling out my arms and shout ‘tooooop of the wooooorld’. This is a short walk, taking around 25 minutes (or 40 if you take endless photos like me) to make your way over before you start your descent down to Porthtowan Beach.

Porthtowan is a surf destination and there is a hive of activity on this beach. Walking up to the village you’ll find a vegan cafe, a decent pub and public toilets. Head to the right of the beach at low tide and you might well come across a tidal pool (aka a mermaid pool) - I was starting to give up hope of finding it until I saw two guys seemingly perched in the cliff face given away by the corner of a cement wall, put there in the early 1900’s by one Walter Peacock. I’m not going to tell you exactly where it is as that’s half the fun of it but I would recommend not using the precarious steps down the cliff face and instead clambering carefully over the rocks to get to it from the front left side looking towards the cliffs.

My swim was cut short by Monty shaking all over my dry clothes and being mindful of the low time time lapsed. I was too weary from the days 30k steps to go back over the top and wanted to get back to Chapel Porth along the beach. I just about made it but did have to splash through a fair bit of knee deep water to get back, not that I ever mind a submerge in water.