Walking

St Teath circular

St Teath village is a little under 2½ miles away: a circular walk from Tom’s Cottage would be to walk out the entrance lane & turn left, continue to the grass triangle & turn right around a bend (signposted St Teath), continue down-hill past Treroosal Farm and enter St Teath village. Turn right at the T junction to reach the centre of village (White Hart on the left, Churchtown Café a little further on the left).

Turn right at the clock tower to start return leg (entrance to churchyard immediately on the left here), follow the road down & up, along a flat-ish stretch and down & up again to reach a crossroads. Turn right here (signposted Delabole), continue past Cornish Tipis entrance, over an old railway bridge on a bend, and Tom’s Cottage entrance will be on the left after about ¼ mile.

Trekee circular

A shorter version of the St Teath walk mentioned above (a bit over half the distance): turn left out of Tom’s Cottage’s entrance lane & take the 1^st right. Follow through Trekee farm, up a short hill & on to a T junction. Turn right and follow the road down and up a valley to the crossroads; turn right and pass Cornish Tipis, continue till you find Tom’s Cottage entrance on the left.

Along the Trekee road (on a corner at the top of the hill, by Higher Suffenton entrance) is a footpath across fields that leads to almost St Teath village – it comes out in Rosewater caravan park at the bottom of Treroosal hill.

St Kew circular

Various versions of this walk can be found in books and online and the St Kew Inn is a great refreshment stop part way. One leg of it is to turn right out of Tom’s Cottage entrance to the crossroads, turn right, go down & up hill, pass Tregildrens Farm on the right and almost immediately on the left is ‘Blackydown Lane’ (a bridleway). Walk up this green lane to the very end, through the gate into the field and follow the left hedge down through Lannow and out onto the public road. Turn left for St Kew churchtown to the pub.

The return route we’re a little hazier on, but involves walking the country lanes to Trequite (not far from St Kew, and a pretty hamlet), turning left and finding the footpath on the left at the end of the hamlet which takes you up over fields to the hamlet of Trelill, from where you’d walk the country lanes back to the crossroads, going straight across (for Delabole) until you reach Tom’s Cottage entrance on the left.

Barrett’s Zawn, out & back

This is closest point of the coast-path to Tom’s Cottage. Take a picnic to enjoy at ‘Freshwater’ (the grassy banks of the stream where it flows over rocks to join the sea) …

Walk up the entrance lane, turn left & follow road (bearing left around a corner) to ‘China Downs’ junction on the B3314 (by a white cottage). Beware of fast traffic here, but go straight across the main road, signposted Port Gaverne. Continue for about ¼ mile to the first farm entrances (Higher Hendra on the left and Middle Hendra on the right) – to this point from Tom’s Cottage is about 1¼ miles.

Turn right into Middle Hendra, as if entering the farmyard. Follow the left-hand hedge which will lead you into a track, follow the track past a cottage to a gate into a sloping field below the cottage. Walk the length of the field toward the sea (keeping the wooded valley to your right) to a wooden railed entrance to a footpath.

Follow this path through the thorn alley and on down the valley path down to the sea edge, where it joins the coast-path (Freshwater). You’ll pass Barrett’s Zawn on your left over a great drop below: there is an old smuggler’s tunnel down to the beach but only the bold and local youths ever dare venture down it (unadvisable without local knowledge). If you’re lucky you may see a seal in the water from the clifftop.

Amble back at your leisure, grateful that the picnic bag is lighter on the return ascent – don’t forget to pause and glance back: the view changes as you go!

For the fitter walker, there are 2 extensions of the Barrett’s Zawn walk. At Barretts Zawn:-

1. Turn left onto the coast-path to Port Gaverne (& on to Port Isaac* if you wish).   From Port Gaverne there is a somewhat overgrown footpath up the valley back to Pendoggett, coming out in the Cornish Arms carpark. For a backroad route back to Tom’s Cottage, cross the main road from the car park to go up a residential lane which leads into a pretty bridlepath, coming out on an unclassified road. Turn left, pass Tregildrens Farm on the left, go down & up a hill to a crossroads, turn left (signposted Delabole), past Cornish Tipis entrance and Tom’s Cottage entrance will be on the left.
   *Alternatively, go on to enjoy a wander round Port Isaac and get a taxi home! Port Gaverne, by backroads, is about 2¼ miles from Tom’s Cottage, & Port Isaac is a further ½ mile on from Port Gaverne.                                                                                                                                 
2. Or, turn right on to the coast path at Barrett’s Zawn, for Tregardock, Trebarwith and Tintagel. At Tregardock there is a public footpath going up through the farm onto the public road, at which stage turn right to wind your way back onto the B3314. We’d not advise walking along the B3314 due to the traffic, but the committed walker would be able to do a short stretch along the main road & then turn left for St Teath (& come home from the village as described above).

Guided walking tours of Port Isaac are also available with Port Isaac Tours. Enquires 01208 881277

If one happens to be on foot in the Trelill area in May, a walk down Coombe Lane is fantastic for the bluebell’d woodland either side of the road. Turn down the road opposite the converted chapel on the edge of the hamlet, walk about half a mile down the hill and take the right turning into a small country lane, just before Pengenna Manor on the corner. Coombe Lane is about ¾ mile long, is fairly level and ends on the A39 in the Allen Valley.

• More info on each specific area can be found on our designated pages The Camel and Other Trails, The Coast and Bodmin Moor.
• to walk up the entrance lane and back – ideal for soaking up nature, stretching the legs and taking in the freshest of Tom’s Cottage air
• on arrival at Tom’s Cottage, take a look at the walking books and local OS maps in the den
• size up the iWalk Cornwall app for lots more walks