St Austell to Helston – Coastal Road Trip

Day 45 – St Austell to Helston

Today we will be driving down to the most southerly point of mainland Britain, having already visited the most westerly, northerly and easterly points earlier on this trip! The unpredictable British weather has generally been kind to us along our journey, but today will be very wet…

Photo of the day

Coatal Road Trip, Cadgwith, Cove, Yellow Fishing Boat, FH26 — Fishing boats at Cadgwith Cove.

Pentewan

Coastal Road Trip, Pentewan, St Austell River — After leaving St Austell we followed the St Austell River to Pentewan. We were going to get soaking wet if we had walked to the beach, so made do with visiting the village set-back from the seafront.

Coastal Road Trip, B3273, Pentewan to Mevagissey, Rainy, Green fields, Valley, SW Coastal Path — Leaving Pentewan heading to Mevagissey with views over the rolling fields to the coast.

Mevagissey

CCoastal Road Trip, Mevagissey, Cornwall, Harbour, Red Fishing Boat, Resolute — Mevagissey was still slowly waking up on this rainy Saturday morning. Everyone else had clearly decided it was better to stay in bed.

Coastal Road Trip, Mevagissey, Cornwall, Harbour, View, Raining — Mevagissey still has a working fishing harbour, but it was very quiet this morning.

Gorran Haven

Coastal Road Trip, Gorran Haven, Church Street, Narrow Street — We had just driven down the crazy narrow Church Street into Gorran Haven.

Coastal Road Trip, Gorran Haven, Beach, Stream, Cornwall — A stream tumbling down Gorran Haven Beach.

Porthluney

Coastal Road Trip, Porthluney, Caerhays Beach, Estate, Castle — A few paddle-boarders were testing the waves at Porthluney Beach, at the foot of the Caerhays Estate.

Portloe

Coastal Road Trip, Portloe, Cottages, Cornwall — Portloe was a really cosy coastal village. It had a lovely genuine feel to it.

Coastal Road Trip, Portloe, Harbour, Julian, Jarno — The small boat slipway nestled into the valley.

Coastal Road Trip, Portloe, 3 Maidens Boat, Lugger, Harbour, Cornwall — A rather rocky looking entrance to the tiny harbour.

Pendower

Coastal Road Trip, Pendower Beach, Gerrans Bay, Rain, National Trust, The Roseland Heritage Coast — As we arrived at the National Trust Pendower Beach the heavens opened and it absolutely poured with rain. After a while we made a quick dash for the beach with our umbrellas, and through the rain manged to catch views across Gerrans Bay.

St Mawes

Coastal Road Trip, St Mawes, Tredenham Road, Roseland Peninsula — We then continued our journey down the Roseland Peninsula to St Mawes.

Coastal Road Trip, St Mawes, Castle, English Heritage, Roseland Peninsula — We had visited St Mawes and the castle last year with Julian’s parents, so we just made a brief stop in the small town. However, we still managed enough time to squeeze in a morning coffee and sausage roll from the famous local Curtis bakery.

Coastal Road Trip, St Mawes, Harbour, Ferry — The passenger ferry to Falmouth in St Mawes Harbour.

St Just in Roseland

Coastal Road Trip, St Just in Roseland, St Just's Church, Lych Gate — St Just’s Church tower peeping above the trees through the church lych gate.

Coastal Road Trip, St Just in Roseland, St Just's Church — The 13th century St Just’s Church in a charming wooded valley overlooking Carrick Roads.

Coastal Road Trip, St Just in Roseland, St Just's Church, Messages on Tree, Holy Well — Exploring the church grounds.

Coastal Road Trip, St Just in Roseland, St Just's Church, Nave, Interior, Altar — The church was quite compact inside, it felt almost chapel like.

King Harry Ferry

Coastal Road Trip, King Harry Ferry, Philleigh to Feock, River Fal — Avoiding a long trip north via Truro, we cut across the River Fal from Philleigh to Feock on the King Harry Ferry.

Coastal Road Trip, King Harry Ferry, Philleigh to Feock, River Fal, Captain, Dummy — The ferry captain kept watch as we crossed the river.

Coastal Road Trip, River Fal, Nederland Reefer, Ship — A surprisingly large Dutch ship was anchored in the River Fal.

Trelissick

Coastal Road Trip, Trelissick, National Trust, Julian, Jarno, Channals Creek, River Fal — Exploring the National Trust Trelissick grounds, looking down to Channals Creek and the River Fal. Still raining!

Falmouth

Coastal Road Trip, Falmouth, The Wheel House, Carrick Roads — We made our next stop at Falmouth, which was much larger and busier than we had been expecting. It actually made quite a nice change from the quiet fishing villages. We discovered the port is the busiest in Cornwall.

Coastal Road Trip, Falmouth, Beach Huts, Discovery Quay — Yay! Finally we found some ‘beach huts’ in Cornwall at Falmouth’s Discovery Quay.

Coastal Road Trip, Falmouth, Falmouth Custom House Quay — Falmouth’s Custom House Quay, with Flushing and Carrick Roads through the drizzle in the background.

Pendennis

Coastal Road Trip, Pendennis Head, St Anthony Lighthouse — From Pendennis Head we could just about see across to St Anthony Lighthouse south of St Mawes.

Gyllyngvase Beach

Coastal Road Trip, Gyllyngvase Beach, Falmouth Bay — Gyllyngvase Beach just south of Falmouth, overlooking Falmouth Bay.

Gweek

Coastal Road Trip, Gweek, Helford River, Boats — As we continued our journey south to the Lizard peninsula we crossed over the Helford River at Gweek.

Goonhilly

Coastal Road Trip, Goonhilly Earth Station, Satellite Dish, Goonhilly Downs National Nature Reserve — The satellite dishes at Goonhilly Earth Station suddenly appeared on the horizon, so we made a quick stop at the nearby Goonhilly Downs National Nature Reserve to take a closer look.

Coverack

Coastal Road Trip, Coverack, Beach, Cove, Lowland Point — Coverack Beach and Cove with views over to Lowland Point. The small village was still recovering from a flash flood that had damaged property and the sea wall earlier in the year.

Cadgwith

Coastal Road Trip, Cadgwith, Cove, Yellow Fishing Boat, FH26 — A sunshine yellow fishing boat adding a bit of colour to this grey day.

Coastal Road Trip, Cadgwith, Cove, Crab, Shack, Crows Nest — Cadgwith Cove felt like another cozy and authentic Cornish village.

Coastal Road Trip, Cadgwith, Cove, Narrow Street, New Road, Inn, The Old Cellars — Cottages nestled around the narrow streets.

The Lizard

Coastal Road Trip, The Lizard, Sign Post, Heritage Centre — Finally we made it to The Lizard.

Coastal Road Trip, The Lizard, Lighthouse — The Lizard Lighthouse, dating back to 1752, sitting above the lighthouse keeper cottages.

Coatal Road Trip, Lizard Point, National Trust, Most Southerly Point of Mainland Britain — Lizard Point, the most southerly point of mainland Britain.

Coastal Road Trip, The Lizard, Julian, Jarno — On day 17 of our coastal road trip we visited the most westerly point of mainland Britain at Ardnamurchan. On day 24 we visited the most northerly point at Dunnet Head. On day 35 we reached the most easterly point at Ness Point. Then today (day 45) we finally reached the most southerly point at Lizard Point!

Coastal Road Trip, Lizard Point, Most Southerly Point of Mainland Britain — And it was so quiet, just us and another couple. Hint, to miss the crowds visit on a cold rainy late Saturday afternoon in November! So that was our final stop of the day before we drove back up the western side of the Lizard peninsula to Helston for the night.

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