Rivers, Lakes and Waterfalls
The River Fowey drops in cascades down through dense, sessile oak woodland on the edge of Bodmin Moor. There are humid aromatic glens and the trees are draped with rare ferns, mosses and ivy. This area, known as Golitha Falls, is home to otters, which live among the river roots, and bats, which sleep in the old mine workings.
Where the main path ends, at the beginning of a series of shallow falls, pick your way further down one of the narrow trails. Wagtails criss-cross the stream and a small, gladed pool opens up a few hundred yards below, out of sight of any crowds.
Golitha Falls, Redgate, Fowey
- Time: 15 minutes |
- Map Co-Ordinates: 50.4907, -4.5071
Here, the young river Fowey flows through ancient oak and beech woodland. Small beaches before the river cascades down over boulders and several falls to form a small plunge pool with golden sand. Good bluebells in spring.
2 ½ miles W of Minions, then R at Redgate (signed Draynes/Golitha). Follow the path for 10 mins to top of cascades. Find a rough track which continues 200m down, beyond the mine ruins, to the shady secret pool at bottom. Slippery rocks!
St Nectan’s Kieve
- Time: 20 minutes |
- Map Co-Ordinates: 50.6644, -4.7168
Found in a hidden valley only a few miles from the Arthurian castle of Tintagel, deep in the shadow of the gorge, this ‘kieve’ – or basin – is part of an extraordinary double waterfall which for centuries was used for baptisms. St Nectan, the hermit who lived here in the hermitage around 480ad, was one of the holiest of Cornish saints.
It’s easy to see why this place was revered. The flow of the water has sculpted a deep cylindrical well and a perfect man-sized hole through which the water spills. This upper pool is out of reach, but the lower pool is deep enough for an exhilarating splash and plunge. The guardians of this site, who run the tiny tea shop above, don’t mind bathing as long as it is done with sincerity and respect.
This has long been a place of pilgrimage and immersion and it was here that King Arthur’s knights were baptised before they set out on their quest to recover the Holy Grail.
Find the track with a postbox, opposite a telephone box, off B3263, in Trethevey, 2 miles east of Tintagel. Bear right and follow it for 1 mile, past St Piran’s Well, down into the woods, and up along the pretty stream, finally climbing the steps up to the shrine entrance.
Rocky Valley, Tintagel
- Time: 20 minutes |
- Map Co-Ordinates: 50.6740, -4.7299
Downstream from St Nectan’ Kieve. Pretty stream path leading down to waterfall pools by sea. Look out carvings of labyrinths, possibly 3,500 years old, behind old mill.
Park on B3263, just E of Bossiney, at layby by turn off to Halgabron. Find footpath opposite.
