Hotel Walking Theme Weeks
walkitcornwall arranges and leads themed walking holiday tours for hotels.
What could be easier than getting us to organize a themed week of walking?
Our programme of walks are aimed at 4 to 6 night breaks with three days of walking
all organised for you.
It is lead by our principal guide, Paul Simmons MA Cornish Studies.
2008 is our second year of operation and we are leading four themed walking weeks for
The Budock Vean Hotel and the Penmere Manor Hotel.
Dates:- Sunday April 27th to Friday May 2nd 2008
tbc A Sunday to Friday in October 2008
Itineraries are different for each week.
The April to May theme week we will be walking on the Roseland Peninsula, on the north coast
between St Ives and Cape Cornwall and on the Lizard and Helford river.
Come and join us for three days of walks and relax over five nights on the Helford River
amidst the 60 acres of this award winning hotel.
We are also providing one more separate five night stays with three days of walking
Dates:- Sunday May 4th to Friday 9th May 2008
Sunday September 14th to Friday 19th September 2008.
The May theme week we will be taking two walks on the Lizard, the coastal path from Nanjizal Bay around Lands End to Sennen Cove and Botallack Mine to Cape Cornwall plus two walks around the Padstow Area including part of the Saints Way.
Walking Week: Natural history and culture of Cornwall.
Six leisurely paced guided walks between 2 and 4 miles each over three days allows one
to discover and understand the flavours of Cornwall that have defined the county over the
past few centuries. Whilst concentrating on Cornwall's unique natural history and culture,
the county's industrial and nautical heritage are also brought alive through physically
exploring a variety of sites and habitats on both circular and linear walks. We will also
explore Cornwall's history of methodism, migration and mining along with the stories and
symbols of Celticism, mythology and literature, all of which have created the special
atmosphere that differentiates Cornwall from the rest of the United Kingdom.
An example of the three days of walking we provide :-
Day One:- The Lizard
Walk 1:- Porthleven. Linear walk from Penrose Estate to Porthleven
entitled "Chapels, 'chards and Chocks away". To Loe Bar and along the coast to
Porthleven's chapels, ranging from the Methodists first foothold in Porthleven
in a small nondescript house to the grand church that stands today tells the story
of how Methodism swept the county relying on the independent and different values
of the Cornish people such as the fisherfolk of Porthleven. The Pilchard industry
still evident in the village houses and buildings (e.g Salt Cellar studios) represents
one of the three main industries interwoven into the lives of the Cornish and
recognised as a defining symbol of Cornishness. Also, Guy Gibson, the RAF pilot
who commanded the Dambusters squadron has a memorial stone in the village cemetery.
These are but three of the many stories that unfold whilst we walk through
Breagueside and Sithneyside, the two opposing sides of the southern most
South facing port. The obligatory sea wrecks and rescues (and the occasional
smuggling trip) help frame the story of Porthleven.
Walk 2:- Kynance, Mullion or Lizard Point. The underlying theme of these three walks
conveys how the Lizard really should not be here! Indeed, the whole land mass
south of a line stretching from Poldhu Cove in the West to Porthallow (Praller) in the
East is an interloper. This line that separates the area we know as the Lizard from
the rest of the county is a fault line. The land south of this line came from 10 kms
below the original sea that separated Africa and Europe. The special rocks of
Serpentine, Gabbro, Gneiss and Schist are unique to the Lizard, with Serpentine
appearing nowhere else in England or indeed most of mainland Britain.
Thus the soils are different and so are the flowers. Victorian botanists came in
search of new species and they found them in abundance. Don your Victorian garb,
pack your hip flask (optional) and gather your magnifying glass.
This walk will amaze you when you discover plants and rocks found nowhere
north of Helston or indeed elsewhere in Cornwall.
Day Two:- All points West.
Walk 3:- Nanjizal to Sennen Cove. "Climate change special: The real Lands End
and the fabled land of Lyonesse".
In 1967 on the Seven Stones reef 16 miles WSW of Lands End the infamous
Torrey Canyon was wrecked. The reef is also the supposed fabled hill where
the City of Lions existed, the capital city of the lost land of Lyonesse.
This land was destroyed by one cataclysmic event and reputedly the only survivor
is equally claimed by many of the important Cornish families to be their forefather.
This event is often portrayed on their respective coats of arms.
The legends of the far West including the Scillies are more likely based on historic
facts, of early Neolithic and later Roman sea inundations covering the many islands
of the near Atlantic. To give a more scientific slant to the legends, the facts pointing
to global warming and climate change reveal that the present "crisis" is not new.
This linear walk from Nanjizal Bay through Lands End to Sennen Cove gives a
fascinating insight into giant landmasses moving over an almost incomprehensible
geological timeline, creating, destroying and folding the landscape upon which we
tread. Yet, the Cornish have survived as a race from the earliest times of human
activity and so one dismisses the legends of sunken, lost lands as pure fantasy at
ones own peril.
Walk 4:- West Penwith, St Just and Botallack. "Mining, Migration and Monuments".
America was often called "the next parish". For miners, agricultural workers
and all others thinking of migrating in the early to late 19th Century, it was easier
to get on a ship and head West to America or to other destinations overseas
than it was moving East to Devon. Tin streaming had been going on for centuries
and the inherent trading with the Phoenecians was possibly from St Michaels Mount
or Looe island. We trace the development of the mining industry that shaped the
industrial world. Indeed, it is said that Cornwall was the cradle of the Industrial
Revolution. This is a walk highlighting the plight of the "Hard Rock Men" of the
western county of Cornwall whose knowledge, skill and sheer hard work was sought
after the world over. South Africa, Australia, Canada and South America were
destinations that still celebrate their links to their pioneering ancestors.
Day Three:-
Walk 5:-Frenchmans Creek and Cornish Literature or Rough Tor on Bodmin Moor or
walk 1 around Fowey/Polruan - Cornish literature, the Saints Way and maritime history
or Trevone Bay to Hawkers cove near Padstow.
Cornwall has often been reconstructed in the minds of those outside (and often inside)
Cornwall. Celtic Revivalism began early in the 20th Century where a Cornish identity
emphasised not only its difference from anywhere east of the Tamar River but its
common links to other Celtic nations.
Literature played an important part in defining Cornwall. Daphne DuMaurier, possibly
unknowingly was at the forefront of a movement that included artists and writers that
idealised and romanticised Cornwall. This walk will elaborate on Cornish identity and literature.
How do you view Cornwall? How has this view been achieved? By the end of the day we might
find some common cultural factors that have helped construct our own imagined Cornwall.
Oh by the way, the scenery is stunning, but don't take our word for it as that is our own
construction.
The Rough Tor (rhymes with cow Tor) walk is our chance to experience the vastness and
seclusion of Bodmin Moor. We climb to the second highest Tor on Bodmin taking note of
the Bronze age settlements.
We discuss the legends of King Arthur, The Hurlers, Dozmary Pool and the Cheesewring.
Again the Moors are the backdrop for literature such as Jamaica Inn (DuMaurier) to more
modern writers such as E.V. Thompson (Chase The Wind).
Walk 6:- St Anthony's Head, the Roseland Peninsula and the Fal or Trevone Bay to Padstow
or Minions on Bodmin Moor around the Cheesewring or walk 2 around Fowey/Polruan.
The Fal has its own history much of which can be viewed from St Anthony's Head. The Falmouth
packets (ships taking mail overseas pre Post Office) and St Mawes and Pendennis Castles
are but two of the stories.
Trevone Bay to Padstow enjoys some of the most spectacular geological scenery on the North
Coast. We will encounter giant limestone holes in the cliffs 30 metres deep and 20 metres
across, collapsed sea caves, islands full of Razorbills, Oystercatchers and Kittiwakes,
possibly seals and definitely quartz crystals.
The Cheesewring walk includes the Hurlers, three stone circles from 1500 B.C, tales of
King Doniert's stone, a king of Cornwall, Daniel Gumb the hermit and gold mining.
All with views from the natural forming balancing rocks of the Cheesewring (picture below)
with magnificent views over the Tamar Valley.
Fowey and Polruan have a maritime and literary history. Two walks reveal stories about
DuMaurier, Quiller-Couch and Grahame, the Saints Way and the quays that have been
used to transport mariners and china clay around the world.
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