Pengersick is the original settlement above Praa Sands beach and was recorded in 1197 as Pengersiec. The name is from the Cornish for "top of the reeds" (which is presumably all there was on the cliffs at the time). There are also records of a 14th Century mansion and chapel.
A fortified manor, known as "Pengersick Castle", was built in 1510, probably to defend against raids from pirates. When the male line of the family died out, ownership of the house was divided between six daughters the complexity of which caused it to fall into disuse. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, much of the stone from the house was re-used for farm buildings but the three-storey tower still survives.
Before the 20th Century, the settlement of Praa Sands didn't exist. In the early 1900s, the area above the cliffs was grass with some disused mine workings and on the hill above this was fields. By 1909, the first houses are recorded near the footpath from Hendra Lane. After the First World War was over, during the 1920s, it became a popular holiday resort with a holiday camp. By 1930, the settlement of "Prah Sands" (as it was spelt then) was firmly established.
The memorial by the beach is in remembrance of a remarkable event that occurred at Praa Sands during the Second World War. In 1943, a Sunderland flying boat (a seaplane used for patrols) - crewed by 9 Australian airmen and 2 from the RAF - was searching over the Bay of Biscay for survivors from an airliner that was shot down the previous day. During the search, the flying boat was attacked by 8 German fighters. One RAF crewman was killed, most of the other crew were injured and one of the plane's engines was destroyed along with its radio. Nevertheless, the pilot managed to limp the damaged plane 350 miles back to the Cornish coast and beach it at Praa Sands. The residents of Praa Sands took the crew into their houses to give them medical assistance. Two months later, the crew - with the exception of the pilot - were sufficiently recovered to be back in operations in a new plane and were all killed in an attack by 6 German fighters over the Bay of Biscay. The memorial was unveiled in 2013 and marks the point on the beach where the plane landed.
Alexanders are very salt tolerant so they thrive in Cornwall's salty climate. They are just as likely to be found along coastal footpaths as along country lanes. New growth appears in the autumn so during the winter, when most other plants are dormant, it is a dominant source of greenery along paths and lanes in exposed coastal areas.
You may wonder what an acorn on the coast path waymarks has to do with the coast. All National Trails in Britain are marked with an acorn symbol and the coast path is just one of over a dozen. The first of these was the Pennine Way, opened in 1965.
All salt comes from the sea. Rock salt is just dried-up seawater. Roughly 90-95% of the sea salt is sodium chloride and the remaining fraction contains small amounts of other minerals. The production of table salt involves some processing to remove additional unwanted minerals from the rock which also removes some of the trace minerals from the seawater.
During winter, from November to March, winter heliotrope is visible along the edges of roads and paths as carpets of rounded heart-shaped leaves.
From mid November to January, the plants produce spikes with pale pink flowers. The scent of the flowers resembles marzipan i.e. almond and vanilla. The chemical responsible for the scent (4-methoxybenzaldehyde) has been found to attract pollinators whilst also repelling ants. It is a very similar chemical compound to vanillin (hence the vanilla-like scent).
Claims that sea salt is more healthy than table salt because the extra trace minerals make it lower in sodium chloride don't really stand up as the percentage is roughly the same in table salt. The reason for that is that a small amount of anti-caking agent is added to table salt to make it flow more easily. The health implications of these additives are worth some scrutiny, however, particularly any containing aluminium which is linked to neurological conditions. The more commonly-used ferrocyanide anti-caking agents may sound scary but the reason that "free" cyanide is poisonous is that it binds to iron in haemoglobin. In ferrocyanide it's already bound to iron so the cyanide is "locked-up" and effectively harmless at the very low levels present in table salt.
The purple flowers resembling a miniature pansy that you see along the footpaths from March to May are almost certainly dog violets, so-called because they are unscented (rather than scented of dog) to distinguish them from the sweet violet. The plants are able to thrive both in shade and full sun, so are found in grassland and hedgerows as well as woodland. Sweet violets prefer shade, so if you do encounter these it will most likely be in woodland, but the dog violets are more common even in this habitat.
A typical pattern of sea temperatures in Cornwall is shown below, although it can vary by a degree or two between years
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
| Jan | 10 |
|---|---|
| Feb | 10 |
| Mar | 9 |
| Apr | 10 |
| May | 12 |
| Jun | 14 |
| Jul | 16 |
| Aug | 17 |
| Sep | 16 |
| Oct | 14 |
| Nov | 12 |
| Dec | 11 |
During late winter or early spring, if you encounter a patch of plants with white bell-shaped flowers, smelling strongly of onions, and with long, narrow leaves then they are likely to be three-cornered leeks. Once you're familiar with their narrow, ridged leaves, you'll be able to spot these emerging from late October onwards.
The plant spreads to form dense colonies, crowding-out native species. The onion-flavoured seeds are very attractive to ants who carry them quite large distances and forget some of them, allowing the plant to colonise new areas. In fact three-cornered leeks are so invasive that they are illegal to plant in the wild.
Sea beet has been cross-bred with domesticated crops to re-introduce some of the disease resistance from the tougher wild plant that were lost in the domesticated plants. It is also able to withstand quite high sodium levels in the soil which allows it to grow in salty conditions on the coast.
Shafts which are fenced and completely open are one of the favourite nesting places of bats and the Cornish chough. Therefore resist the temptation to drop stones down the shafts otherwise you may unknowingly be stoning bats or chough chicks to death.
Rinsey House was built on the headland in 1927 as a holiday home. A firm of architects was commissioned to design the house in "Arts and Crafts" style, based on the family home in Yorkshire.
The path leading downhill after the gate goes to the beach.
The beach of Porthcew, also known as Rinsey Cove, is owned by the National Trust. There is little or no beach at high tide, but as the tide goes out, a fairly large beach is revealed, with rockpools either side. In calm conditions, typically during the summer, the beach is composed of fine white sand. Winter storms can move the sand offshore, exposing smooth granite boulders. Due to very strong currents around Rinsey Head, swimming is not recommended, particularly at low water.
Wheal Prosper was opened in 1860 and produced mainly tin but definitely did not live up to its name and closed in 1866. The engine house is constructed of slate from quarries on the clifftops nearby and was used for pumping water out of the mine. Due to the crumbly nature of slate, the engine house is strengthened with granite blocks along the edges (known as quoins) which act as pillars to hold the weight of the tall structure.
Cornwall's iconic engine houses were built to house huge beam engines - a type of steam engine with a pivoting beam. This configuration was particularly suited to powering pumps to stop the quarry pits and mines from flooding as water trickled into them from above. Inside the engine house, steam from a boiler would push up a piston, causing the beam to tilt downwards, pushing the pump down into the shaft. The steam would then be shut off and cold water would be used to condense the steam within the piston back into water, creating a partial vacuum. Atmospheric pressure then pushed the piston back down into the vacuum, raising the beam and lifting water out of the shaft. The valves to apply the steam and cold water were mechanically automated, maintaining a steady rocking motion of the giant beam.
In marshes, micro-organisms thrive in the wet mud and use up the supply of oxygen. To survive being partially buried in mud with low oxygen levels, many marsh plants have therefore evolved snorkels: air channels in the stem which allow oxygen to reach the base of the plant. This is why the leaves of reeds feel spongy.
As you cross over the wall, the ring of stones to the right of the wall ahead is Trewavas Cairn.
On Trewavas Head is a Bronze Age burial chamber surrounded by a ring of stones. In the 19th Century, it was excavated by a local miner (who was convinced he'd find his fortune there) which destroyed much of the archaeological integrity. Nevertheless, excavations in the 1960s found some water-worn pebbles which had been part of the burial. Similar ones have been found at other burial sites in Cornwall but their significance is a mystery.
As you round the headland, there is a rock stack that looks a bit like a compressed camel. It is consequently known locally as Camel Rock, but is labelled as The Bishop on OS maps. It was recorded as Bishop Rock in 1865 and described as "a colossal figure with its back to the sea, with clasped hands resting on a lectern, whilst the robe trails down to the sea".
During the breeding season (beginning of April to the end of June), chough eggs and chicks are very vulnerable to predators (including dogs) and many young birds die in their first 6 months. You can make a substantial difference to their chances of survival and to increasing Cornwall's chough population by keeping dogs on leads along the coast and also by avoiding naming exact locations if you post photos on social media during this period.
If you think you've seen a chough, take a photo if possible and email choughs@cbwps.org.uk to report the sighting. This will help the "Chough Watch" team keep track of the growing population.
The Greater Black-backed Gull is the largest member of the gull family and a bird of formidable size, with a wingspan of nearly 6ft. Unlike other gulls, the Greater Black-backed Gull is highly predatory. Young birds are a significant portion of its diet and it tends to live amongst other seabirds where it can eat the neighbours. It has also been known to swallow whole rabbits and even eat young lambs. It often steals food from other seabirds using its large size to intimidate them into dropping it, and consequently it is sometimes referred to as a pirate.
The Wheal Trewavas mine opened in 1834 and worked four copper lodes which ran under the seabed. Wheal Trewavas produced over £100,000 worth of copper ore, which in today's money would be over £10 million. By the 1840s, the lodes were beginning to peter out or were too close to the seabed to be mined safely without causing flooding. Mining became uneconomical and it closed in 1846 with allegations that the last dividends had been paid from bank overdrafts.
The large, circular area next to the lowest engine house was known as a "capstan platt", where a capstan powered by horses would be used for winching ore up from the mine. The flat, round area has proved irresistible to helicopter pilots from Culdrose who are reported to sometimes use it for landing practice.
A story of when the mine flooded was published in 1961. One of the mining traditions was a "Tributer's Dinner" where tables would be set out within the mine for an annual meal. According to the account, the tables had been laid with food and two miners were just putting the finishing touches to the tables, when they noticed water dripping onto one of the tables from the under-sea tunnel. The miners made a hasty exit and shortly after, the sea broke through and flooded the mine, washing away their dinner and employment, but no lives were lost.
Stonechats are robin-sized birds with a black head and orange breast that are common along the Cornish coast all year round.
During the summer months, stonechats eat invertebrates. As temperatures drop and there are not so many of these about, they make do with seeds and fruit such as blackberries. Quite a few die in cold winters but this is offset by their fast breeding rate during the warmer months.
English Stonecrop grows as a mat in rocky places and is recognisable in summer as dense clumps of star-shaped white or pale pink flowers. This is now being actively encouraged to grow on roofs in eco-housing projects to provide insulation.
The leaves turn pink in dry conditions when moisture to move nutrients around the plant is limited. This causes sugars created by photosynthesis to build up in the leaves. At high concentrations, these react with proteins in the sap to produce red anthrocyanin compounds. This is the same process that causes autumn leaves to turn red when the plant cuts off supplies to the leaf.
Granite is pretty hard stuff. It ranks at 7 out of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. It's harder than normal steel but not quite as hard as hardened steel (which is 7-8). Cutting on granite worktops is therefore not a good idea as knife blades become blunt quickly.
Between the two species, some gorse is almost always in flower, hence the old country phrases: "when gorse is out of blossom, kissing's out of fashion" (which is recorded from the mid-19th century) and "when the furze is in bloom, my love's in tune" (which dates from the mid-18th century). Common gorse flowers are bright yellow. Western gorse flowers are very slightly more orange - more like the colour of the "yolk" in a Cadbury's creme egg. Also like creme eggs, gorse flowers are edible but are significantly better for use in salads and to make a tea, beer or wine.
The settlement of Rinsey dates back to the Dark Ages and the name is from the Cornish words rynn and chy, meaning something along the lines of "Cottage on the point". By Norman Times, there was a manor at Rinsey which is documented in the 1086 Domesday survey as "Renti" and was sub-let from the Royal Manor of Winnaton. It is recorded as having "land for 12 ploughs, pasture ½ league long and as wide". The unit of a league was based on the distance that one person could walk in an hour, which was standardised at 3 miles.
There are 2 sparrow species in the UK but only the house sparrow is common in Cornwall.
Since the 1970s the UK house sparrow population has declined to less than half with an even greater loss in urban areas. Consequently the house sparrow is now listed as a species of high conservation concern in the UK. The exact causes for the decline are not known although a number of likely factors have been identified. In the countryside a reduction in aphid populations due to changes in farming practices is thought to be significant whereas in urban areas a loss of suitable nesting sites, roadkill and a more intense level of predation by cats may be significant. Since 2008 the population seems to have stabilised but no-one is quite sure why.
Postboxes are a Victorian invention. The first pillar boxes were erected in the 1850s and by 1857, the first roadside wall boxes were in place. Early postboxes were green and it wasn't until 1874 that some in London were painted red. Over the next 10 years this was applied elsewhere. Postboxes are initialled with the reigning monarch at the time which allows them to be approximately dated. For example Edward 7th (marked as E VII) was only on the throne for 10 years so these date from the 1900s before the First World War.
In fields with crops where the footpath doesn't run along the edge, if there is a well-trodden path then follow this to avoid trampling any more of the crops. If there appears to be no path through the crops then you do have a right to walk through the crop but stick as close as possible to the line of the path to avoid damaging any more of the crop than strictly necessary. Alternatively, you can follow around the edges of the field to avoid trudging through the crop.
The nearest headland is Hoe Point. The buildings on the cliff behind this are at Prussia Cove. The headland in the middle is Cudden Point. Behind this is Penzance with Newlyn near the end. Further to the left is Mousehole and then furthest to the left is Tater Du with the lighthouse.
In the spring and summer you may hear skylarks over the fields.
Skylarks are the most common member of the lark family in Britain and are often known simply as "larks".
The phrase "up with the lark", used to describe early risers, dates back to at least the 16th century. Skylarks are the first birds to sing in the dawn chorus, often whilst it's still dark.
Comfreys are a genus of flowering plants in the borage family. Common comfrey is native to the UK and has cream, pink, purple or blue flowers. Also now even more common than common comfrey is Russian comfrey, formed when common comfrey hybridises with prickly comfrey - an introduced Asian plant. This tends to have bluer flowers than common comfrey but the colour is still quite variable.
Although the plant's medicinal use in classical and mediaeval times gave rise to common names such as "knitbone", it has been found to contain compounds which are toxic to humans with the potential to cause liver damage and cancer. Being hit by another axe was probably of more immediate concern in mediaeval times.
For bumblebees, it's an excellent source of nectar.
The reason the sky looks blue is due to rays of light travelling out from the sun in directions that would normally not reach your eyes. When these bump into a molecule of air, they are scattered in all directions, one of which is the way you are looking. As the blue-violet end of the rainbow is scattered more, there are more of these colours but we see just blue both because our eyes are much more sensitive to blue than violet and also because some of the violet is absorbed by other interactions with molecules in the atmosphere.
The beach is a mile long stretch of golden sand with some boulders near the high tide line at either end. It's reputed to be the best surf beach on the south coast - its location west of The Lizard means it gets the large swells coming around the corner from the Atlantic that have also made Porthleven a popular storm watching spot. The cliffs are unstable - prone to falling stones and collapses - so sitting directly underneath them is unwise.
West Cornwall locals pronounce it "pray", and "prah" is frowned upon although is likely to be closer to the sound of the original Cornish name. It was recorded in 1331 as Polwragh (witch's cove) but Cornish place names expert Craig Wetherhill points out it could actually be "wrasse cove" as the word for wrasse and witch is the same in Cornish. The rocky headlands are an ideal habitat for wrasse.
Lesser celandines are common plants along woodland paths recognisable by their yellow star-shaped flowers. Despite their name, they are not closely related to the Greater Celandine. Lesser celandines are actually a member of the buttercup family and, like buttercups, they contain the poisonous chemical protoanemonin.
From December until the spring, celandine leaves are quite noticeable along the edge of paths. They have a shape similar to a "spade" in a pack of cards and are patterned with lighter green or silvery markings.
Lesser celandines are one of the first flowers to appear in springtime, and start flowering in late February with the peak in late March before the bluebells come out in April. They continue flowering through the bluebell period into early May so they are often seen together.
Due to their early flowering period and prolific quantities in shady places, celandines are an important nectar source for pollinators emerging from hibernation such as a queen bumblebee.
On one of our walks we encountered a schoolteacher telling a group of children holding a celandine that they had found a buttercup. Children can correct their teachers by noting that that "normal" buttercups have wide petals that overlap whereas celandine petals are thin spikes with a large gap between each. Also whilst celandines are out from mid-February, buttercups are normally seen from mid-April and their peak flowering is in May and early June. Their flowering periods do overlap slightly in late April but by May, celandines are past their best.
The name celandine is thought to be derived from the Greek word for swallow, based on the arrival of swallows being a sign of spring. Another common name for celandine is spring messenger, based on the early flowering. This was presumably also the basis of the Victorian use as a symbol of "joys to come".
Celandine flowers close each night and open each morning. This is controlled by a circadian rhythm, so they really are "going to sleep" at night and "waking up in the morning". It is likely that this has arisen to protect the internals of the flowers from any frost during the night as they begin flowering in March when frosts are still common.
Celandine roots have numerous knobbly tubers and when these break off, a new plant can regrow from the tuber. Digging animals such as rabbits and squirrels can therefore help to spread celandines. In some parts of the world they have become an invasive problem where their dense mat of leaves chokes out native species which have not evolved to compete with them.
Another name for celandine is pilewort as the tubers of the plant are said to resemble piles. Based on the "doctrine of signatures" (i.e. a plant that looks a bit like something must be a cure for it), the resemblance suggested to mediaeval herbalists that celandines could be used to cure haemorrhoids. This was done by applying an ointment containing crushed celandine leaves to the relevant area. Since celandine contains a poisonous compound, some attempts to ingest celandine in an effort to cure piles have not gone too well.
During the Second World War, about 28,000 concrete fortifications were built across England and around 6,500 of these still survive. The hexagonal blockhouses known as "pillboxes" are assumed by many to have been named after similarly-shaped containers for medical pills. However, commentary on early models during the First World War suggests the origin of the name is actually from "pillar box", based on the slots for machine guns resembling a postbox.
The Cornish palm is neither originally from Cornwall nor a palm! As its Latin name - Cordyline australis - hints, it is from New Zealand where it is known as the cabbage tree (which is thought may be due to settlers confusing it with a Florida palm where the central shoot's flavour resembles cabbage). It was introduced to Britain after being collected on Captain Cook's first voyage to the Pacific on the Endeavour. It is now one of the most widely cultivated native New Zealand trees.
The stems and rhizomes (underground stems, shaped like giant carrots) of Cordyline australis are high in natural sugars and were steamed by the Māori to convert the carbohydrates into fructose and then flattened and dried for storage. The top of the stem from which the leaves shoot was also harvested, resulting in something resembling an artichoke. It is bitter so it was traditionally eaten with fatty meats such as eel to make it palatable.
In the UK, Cordyline australis can often reach around five metres high. In New Zealand it normally reaches around 8 metres. The largest specimen of the plant is thought to be around 500 years old, is 17 metres tall and has a circumference of nine metres at the base!
During the last Ice Age, sea levels were lower due to all the water trapped in ice and Mounts Bay was part of the land. The ice sheets stopped at the Bristol Channel, so Cornwall was under permafrost most of the year, apart from summer days where the sun melted the frost to create a layer of surface mud. Pieces of slate within the soil were shattered when moisture within them re-froze and expanded. The small shards of stone then sank through the mud to collect in a layer on top of where the soil was still frozen.
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