Walks in Cornwall with a fishing village

A circular walk through Padstow's mediaeval network of streets to the church, the Elizabethan Manor at Prideaux Place and Tregirls Farm, with panoramic views of the estuary, returning along a mile of sandy beaches.

A circular walk along two miles of beaches around Gerrans Bay which were once used by Portscatho smugglers to land contraband and strewn with the wreckage of sailing ships that overshot Falmouth Harbour and ran aground on The Whelps reef.

A circular walk through the woodland alongside the Loe to the most southerly port on the British mainland, famous for its huge storm waves.

A figure-of-8 walk from Daymer Bay thorough the dunes to Rock, passing the once-buried St Enodoc church, before crossing on the ferry to Padstow, and returning along three miles of sandy beaches.

A figure-of-eight walk around the fishing village and headlands surrounding Polperro, passing the net loft perched above the harbour, the Victorian sea pool, the site of the mediaeval chapel and the harbourmaster's route to the lighthouse.

A circular walk from the fishing village of Port Quin to the golden sandy beaches of Epphaven Cove and Lundy Bay with spectacular coastal scenery, via the cliff-edge folly on Doyden Point built as a gambling den.

A circular walk on the coast path and Saint's Way from Par to the fishing hamlet of Polkerris where the pub has retreated into the Lifeboat station after being washed away by a storm in Victorian times, and Napoleonic cannons were built into the harbour wall as mooring posts.

A circular walk from Boscastle to Pentargon waterfall and Willapark coastguard lookout with magnificent views of the village and harbour from the headlands where the village women once gathered dressed in red to fool a French ship into fleeing from British army redcoats.

A circular walk from the busy fishing port of Mevagissey into the Portmellon Valley and through the West Bodrugan Woods nature reserve to the beachside village of Portmellon where boats have been built for hundreds of years, and still are.

A short circular walk from Padstow harbour to the viewpoints at the War Memorial and Victorian obelisk, the Elizabethan Manor at Prideaux Place, and including some pretty backstreets that lie off the main tourist routes.

A circular walk on The Lizard to the most southerly point from Church Cove, where the Lizard lifeboat is now launched to the old lifeboat station at Polpeor Cove.

A figure-of-8 walk from St Endellion to Port Isaac, via the estate of the ancient family of Roscarrock, who survived torture on the rack during Tudor times for being Catholic sympathisers, returning to the parish church, dedicated to the daughter of a Celtic king, on the ancient route which itself influenced the fervent adoption of Methodism in Port Isaac.

A circular walk on the Roseland coast where, during the Napoleonic Wars, smugglers would row out to the middle of The Channel in pilot gigs to trade with the enemy.

A circular walk on the serpentine coast of The Lizard from Cadgwith Cove to Church Cove, returning via two ancient churches and the holy well of St Ruan.

A circular walk from St Ives through the Steeple Woods nature reserve to the monument overlooking St Ives Bay where the eccentric quinquennial ceremony of John Knill has been performed for over 200 years, returning along the coast via the white sandy beaches of Carbis Bay and Porthminster.

A circular walk at St Ives along the granite coastline and white sandy beaches which have inspired so many artists, through some of the most famous parts of the town including the harbour, The Island and The Tate, and via the church and holy well of the Celtic girl Ia who, according to legend, was the first to settle here.

A figure-of-eight walk from Readymoney Cove past the Tudor fort and along the coast where Daphne du Maurier lived to Polridmouth, where the shipwreck inspired the end of her book Rebecca, and then along the mediaeval streets of Fowey.

A circular walk in the bays of Mevagissey and Veryan from the fishing village of Gorran Haven to the remote, sandy Hemmick Beach via The Deadman's Point of old nautical maps, still marked with a huge cross to warn sailors of the perilous lee shores, and Vault Beach where the wreckage washed ashore.

A one-way coastal walk, made circular via an initial bus journey, along the dramatic coastline of islands and arches from Boscastle to Tintagel, rated as one of the top five walks in Cornwall.

A circular walk from Gorran Haven to Portmellon via the sheer cliffs from which Henry Bodrugan leapt to escape execution and sheltered Colona Beach, returning through West Bodrugan Woods Nature Reserve and via Gorran church which now has some of the finest bells in the country.

A circular walk from Boscastle along the dramatic coastline of islands and arches towards Tintagel, following the cascading river up Rocky Valley past the ruined mills and labyrinthine carvings and returning via the mediaeval churches of Trethevy, Trevalga and Forrabury.

A circular walk from St Ives on the ancient churchway towards Zennor and returning along the rugged coast to Porthmeor, where a Victorian cargo ship and the St Ives lifeboat were both wrecked and the ship's boilers are still visible at low tide.

A circular walk on The Lizard from the pretty fishing hamlet of Cadgwith Cove, past the Devil's Frying Pan, lifeboat station, restored Marconi wireless hut and the infamous lighthouse, to the most southerly point, returning via two ancient churches and the holy well dedicated to the Celtic Saint accused of being a werewolf.

A circular walk to Padstow from Trevone beach, which tracks the route taken by sailing ships along the rugged Atlantic coast to the daymark at Stepper Point, past the infamous Doom Bar and the sandbanks of Hawker's, Harbour and St George's coves before finally reaching safe harbour in Padstow.

A circular walk between Talland Bay and Polperro along an area of coastline so famous for smuggling that there is even a museum on the subject.

A circular version of the famous Hall Walk from Bodinnick to Polruan, recorded as a walk with "sweete senting flowers" in Tudor times and during the Civil War where a gun shot aimed at Charles I is said to have instead killed a fisherman who stood on the same spot moments later.

A circular walk with lovely views of Veryan Bay to the pretty fishing village of Portloe from West Portholland, where one of the last of Cornwall's mediaeval coastal farmsteads has survived.

A circular walk following the coast from the historic fishing village of Mousehole through the Kemyel Crease nature reserve and around the towering cliffs of Lamorna Cove with views over Mount's Bay, returning along the route was that taken by the Victorian postman on his round from Penzance.

A circular walk along the rollercoaster path from Port Quin, descending into Port Isaac, with spectacular views of the harbour, via the old houses of Roscarrock Hill including Doc Martin's, one with roof timbers tied on by an anchor chain, and the Sunday School with a bell from a shipwreck.

A circular walk around Nare Head, past the restored Cold War nuclear bunker, to the pretty fishing village of Portloe, with views along the length of The Roseland coast and over The Whelps reef - a graveyard for sailing ships that misjudged the entrance to Falmouth.

A circular walk from Pentewan to Mevagissey via The Lost Gardens of Heligan which were discovered in the 1990s after 7 decades of neglect and what followed The Times described as the garden restoration of the century.

A circular walk along the coastline from Boscastle via the Pentargon waterfall and the rugged cliffs at Buckator, returning along the Valency valley.

A circular walk from Port Gaverne around Port Isaac Bay to Barretts Zawn, where a tunnel leads to the beach, through which donkeys used to haul slate.

A circular walk near Fowey, from the tiny harbour of Polkerris, past the daymark tower on Gribbin Head and along the coast where Daphne du Maurier lived and based many of her books on, to the sandy beach at Readymoney Cove, returning on the Saint's Way.

A circular walk from Porthleven to the cliff-edge engine houses of Rinsey Head and Trewavas where the under-sea mine, set out with tables and food for the annual Tribute dinner, is said to have been breached by the sea just minutes before all the miners were due underground.

A one-way coastal walk, made circular via an initial bus journey, from the fishing port of Mevagissey to Charlestown - one of the best-preserved Georgian ports in the world and an engineering masterpiece which included a seven-mile-long leat.