A new ADVENTURE

If you’ve never walked the South West Coast Path, this easy-going family-friendly stretch taking in its beauty, history, flora, fauna and wildlife is the perfect starting point

This walk sits between two picturesque fishing coves complete with the original pilchard cellars and capstan houses of their bustling past. Beside the colourful shingle in Carleon Cove formed of pink granite, banded gneiss, and red and green serpentines, toads hop around the fringes of a millpond. This walk is particularly good for dogs as it passes a beach and pub where dogs are welcome. Boots on? Let’s go!

1 From the car park in St Ruan take the path beside the village hall, turning right on the road and then bearing left after the shop.

Very little is known about the man St Ruan, but it is thought that he was one of many Celtic missionaries who arrived in Devon and Cornwall to defend Christianity from the aggressive Anglo Saxon pagans who invaded after the departure of the Romans in the fifth century. Also known as St Rumon, he came from either Ireland or Brittany and was principally associated with Tavistock Abbey, which had considerable land holdings in Cornwall.

2 After the shop, carry on ahead beside the chapel to take the footpath dropping downhill, crossing the footbridge, and continuing along the path to come out on the road.

Note the unusual stiles, consisting of granite slabs laid horizontally across the path. These are known as ‘coffen’ stiles, from the Cornish word ‘coffen’ meaning ‘man-made hole’. In some cases several slabs are arranged at different levels, like steps, and these are known as ‘cattle stiles’.