East Cornwall Run

As today was to be spent in East Cornwall, we made an early start to beat the Truro traffic on the A30. Task completed, we headed south toward St Austell then east again for St Blazey, before turning off for Tywardreath.

The recent BBC programme 'Its Not Easy Being Green' was filmed here, and we got as far as the gates to the Strawbridge's home, where we could see the water wheel that was featured early in the series. Of course, we also had to visit the village butcher, where we picked up some wonderful lamb leg steaks for tea later as well as some lamb and mint sausages.

Continuing east, the next stop was Castle Dore. I've tried several times to see this site, but have always been thwarted by the weather. Despite horizontal drizzle, I was not going to be beat again! The walk along the road from the layby is quite treacherous, as there is nowhere other than the road to walk on, and there's a dangerous bend to be negotiated. Once at the gate to the site though, the traffic is left behind and once inside the banks, all is relatively quiet. On the far side from the road, the outer bank is riddled with badger sets, and I was surprised to see a herd of cows were sheltering in the lee there.

Leaving Castle Dore, we had to head north to Lostwithiel, then south again having crossed the Fowey, to Looe. The intent was to get some fresh fish, but being Monday, there was none to be had. We stopped for a snack in a cafe, and I said a quick hello to Mark in the Tourist Office and got some tips on finding our next targets before hitting the road again.

North to Duloe, and the Cornish Orchard farm to pick up some apple juices then across to visit St Nun's Well for the first time. This is a very pleasant little well, set on the side of an extremely steep meadow. We parked just off the hairpin bend and I walked the 50 or so yards to the signposted entrance to the well enclosure.

A slightly longer drive north was next, back through Duloe, up past Dobwalls then passing King Doniert's Stone, Long Tom, and the Hurlers before parking up a short distance north of Henwood. A short walk up a track brought me to Bearah Common, a very enjoyable landscape, chock-a-block with stones and boulders of various sizes. I was looking for a 'gorse-choked long barrow', but found a collapsed burial chamber underneath a tree. A passing local farmer confirmed that this was the Bearah Common Chambered Cairn, my final target of the day. Despite the continuing horizontal drizzle, and very boggy ground underfoot, I was content with the day's work.

Slightly further north was the A30 again, but the drive back west was very slow with heavy traffic through the roadworks. One final stop at the Cornish Gold Centre to take a look at the shops there completed the trip, and we returned to the barn where we are staying for the week.