Almost Circular Route from Porthleven and Around The Loe, via Loe Bar
Distance: 9.6 miles
Duration: Walking 3 Hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Date: May 31st 2020
The Loe is the largest freshwater body in Cornwall and is managed by the National Trust. It sits within Penrose Park between Helston and Porthleven.
There is a circular walk around The Loe that is six miles long, easy to do and usually the cafe is open.
For this walk I wanted to do ten miles (or close to it), so started in Porthleven (plenty of free parking as long as you avoid the car parks).
The Route
Porthleven is an odd place as it is privately owned and is the most southerly harbour on mainland UK. It is famous for its storms and ‘the bulks’ coming loose and smashing up a few boats in the harbour, back in February 2014. I got to meet and have a coffee with Mishal Husain, she is tiny and very pretty, and very, very clever and smart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quhM4vxjXyM Started walking at 9AM, a bit later than I intended, parked up alongside the outer harbour, not far from the Institute. The Institute is often mistaken for a church, it isn’t, it is the town hall.
The day seemed calm but there was an Easterly breeze just around the corner.
Porthleven beach is famous for being on TV as the Vanishing Beach. Sometimes it is all rock, other times all sand, and that can change within a day depending on the tide and wind.
From Porthleven it is a short walk along the road until the town ends and the South West Coast Path starts properly. Generally the South coast side of the county is easier walking than the North coast side. This is certainly true for this section. It undulates but nothing that could be considered a serious climb.
After a mile or so the road ends in a parking area (also free) and there are some steps, on the left, to the cliff top.
There was a landslip a few years back and the SWCP has been moved inland a few metres, and improved.
SWCP looking back towards Porthleven.
It is another mile until one reaches the Loe Bar. This is a natural sandbar that has created the largest lake in Cornwall. During the Second World War, a particularly nasty storm damaged the bar almost enough to cause a breach. It was quickly repaired and ongoing observations and maintenance works carries on to this day. One day it will be breached and the lake will vanish, leaving the River Cober to flow directly into the Atlantic.
Now I have always disliked walking across sand, but that is the only way to cross Loe Bar. Luckily it is not very far, less than half a mile, and apart from wintertime, has plenty of vegetation to make the walk easier.
Some sort of plant that grows on nothing but salty sand.
Once having crossed Loe Bar, there is a sandy path to the left that heads off around The Loe. It is only sandy for a 150 metres and then turns into a normal, proper, mud track, thankfully dry and hard at the moment.
This is one of my favourite section of the walk as it is sheltered, quiet, usually dry, but can be flooded at times (there is a diversion path for such times). On one side are high hedges and on the water side there are reeds and other water grasses. All very pleasant.
Plenty of wild foxgloves to look at.
This part of the walk is about a mile long until there is a gangway across a marsh and small tributary stream.
The gangway was surrounded either side by cowslips, which I have never seen so tall before.
Once the stream is crossed, one is in the woods for a few hundred metres, passing a very nice holiday cottage where the track changes to a farm track, with a single tree marking the entrance to a bit of pasture land.
The farm track to the pasture.
There is a spectacular view across The Loe to Loe Bar and the Atlantic Ocean.
After following the edge of The Loe, there is an incline that leads up to a gate that is the entrance to the woods.
This part of the walk is completely wooded but with glimpses and small paths down to the waters edge.
This relatively short section loops around the lake, crosses a flat meadow and then joins a concrete road.
Usually one does not have to walk to far on this as there is a bridge across the River Cober. This bridge was damaged during last winters rains and is currently closed.
This means that one has to carry on walking until the car park at Helston.
This working bridge leads onto a busy ‘dog walking’ field. Tread carefully, there are dog eggs in many places.
Thankfully the next field is quieter and the Cober runs next to it.
On the right, at the end of the field is a water meadow with some lovely irises in them.
And Gunnera.
After crossing this boggy area via another bridge, the main drag to Penrose House is tarmac, busy with dog walkers, children, pushchairs, cyclists and every annoyance there is. But thankfully it is not too long and as I was in need of a coffee, I deviated back down to the lake and set up for a drew.
Been carrying this all morning.
Then I sat down for half an hour or so by the waters edge.
Had been carrying my chair as well.
I purposely carried all this kit as I knew that the cafe at Penrose House was closed.
This did not stop the path being busy as it leads directly to the beach.
I had decided to cut up across the hills to the top of the cliffs, but saw some people I knew and started chatting (I met six sets of people I knew from when I lived down that way), missed my track and took the wrong one. This was a dead end and is the line on the route map that deviates off.
No bother really as I had never been up there before, and now I know it goes nowhere. Good place to camp though.
After less than a mile, one is back where the SWCP crosses, this area is well signposted and one cannot get lost, like I did earlier.
Soon one is back on the SWCP heading towards Porthleven.
With views of Porthleven, Penzance, Newlyn and Mousehole.
Rather than follow the same road back to my car, I deviated off to the right as I fancied a Mermaid or two.
All in all, this is a good walk and if I had not stopped to chat to people and have coffee, I would have probably done, the just under ten miles, in around 3 hours.