HISTORY

The origins of the coast path lie in Cornwall's smuggling history. By the end of the eighteenth century smuggling had become so rife that in 1822 HM Coastguard was formed to patrol the entire British coastline. A coast-hugging footpath was created to enable the coastguards to see into every cove, inlet and creek and slowly but surely law and order prevailed and the smuggling decreased. By the early 1900s the foot patrols had been abandoned.

The South-West Coast Path
In 1948 a government report recommended the creation of a footpath around the entire south-west peninsula to improve public access to the coast which at that time was dire. It took until 1973 for the Cornwall Coast Path to be declared officially open and another five years for the rest of the South-West Coast Path to be completed. This is England's longest national trail, covering 613 miles (982 km) from Minehead in Somerset right round the bottom south-west corner of Britain to Poole Harbour in Dorset. If walking the Cornwall section whets your appetite there is plenty more to do!

HOW DIFFICULT IS THE COAST PATH?

No great level of experience is needed to walk the coast path as the walking is generally easy and you are never far from help. Villages and accommodation are reasonably close together so it is simple to adapt itineraries to suit all needs and levels of fitness.

The most challenging section of the coast path is the stretch from St Ives to Sennen Cove. The terrain is rugged and all places to stay and eat are located a little way inland. As long as you plan ahead and are reasonably fit you should not experience any difficulties. Other points to bear in mind are basically common sense: don't wander too close to either the top or bottom of cliffs; take care when swimming; be aware of the tides; and listen to weather forecasts. For more information see pp50-2.

Route finding
For most of its length the coast path is well signposted. At confusing junctions the route is usually indicated by a finger-post sign with ‘coast path' written on it. At other points along the trail where there could be some confusion there are wooden waymark posts with an acorn symbol and a yellow arrow to indicate which direction you should head. Occasionally you will come across sections of the trail where waymarking is poor, or even non-existent, but with the detailed trail maps and directions in this book and the fact that you always have the sea to one side it would be hard to get really lost.

HOW LONG DO YOU NEED?

Fit walkers who love to spend all day on the trail could walk from Padstow to Falmouth, or vice versa, a distance of around 160 miles (258km) depending on your exact route, in about 11 days. If you like your walking holiday to be a bit more relaxed with time to sit on the cliff tops, explore towns and villages, as well as have a few rest days, three weeks would be ample. Most walkers will fit somewhere between these two extremes, taking two to two and a half weeks which still allows time for exploring and one or two rest days. There are some suggested itineraries on pp24-8.

For walkers with less time on their hands there are some superb day and weekend walks possible along the best parts of the coast path; see p23 for these highlights.