Boscastle Harbour Walk

P1190075This is a gentle, level one mile walk along the river to the ‘blow-hole’ and has lovely views of the village and the harbour. At the end there are some steps to climb and the rocks here can be slippery when wet.

P1190084Now I could fancy one of these cottages. What about the pink one? It already has a bench in the garden for me.

P1190090We’ll walk along one side of the river to the next bridge (footbridge) passing by the witch museum, a lovely National Trust shop, a tea-room and the YHA. I love the Cornish walls in which you can plant a host of flowers, including these beautiful tulips (header photo). Look out for wild flowers too, such as the Danish scurvy traditionally considered a coastal plant with its love of salty places, salt marshes and sea shores grass. Full of Vitamin C, it gets its name from sailors chewing it to avoid scurvy.

Which/Witch Way
Along the river
Danish Scurvy Grass
Tea-room
Arched window

The witch museum looks very interesting, but we didn’t go inside. I rather liked the herb container with it’s witch messages:

  • Witches were said to pick parsley and curse their enemies
  • If sage thrives in a garden then the man of the house will never be the master
  • Strawberries should be left as a gift to the birds (spirits of nature)
  • Garlic can protect you from the evil eye
  • Drink St John’s Wort in red wine to prevent melancholy
  • Comb your hair with rosemary to prevent baldness

I’m sure one of those will be useful to you.

At this point cross over to the other side of the river unless you enjoy walking along a very narrow strip and onto a stony track. One advantage of crossing is that you get a very good view of the lovely tea-room, which must have once been a chapel, and the Youth Hostel. Now there’s a room with a view.

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The Youth Hostel

Turn right after crossing the bridge and follow the river to the ancient harbour and the two breakwaters. The outer breakwater was built 1820, but destroyed in 1941 by a drifting mine and since rebuilt by the national trust.

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The 16th century harbour
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The outer breakwater

Climb the steps onto the rocks above the harbour and you have views to the open sea, the blow-hole and the outer breakwater. Be careful though as these rocks can be very slippery as the surface is smooth slate.

Return to the road along this side of the river and you will pass a shop where you can buy locally produced ice-cream. Or if you are in time for lunch then head for the Cobweb Inn opposite the car-park where you can have reasonably priced, home cooked food. They also serve real ale and local ciders.

If you enjoy a walk, long or short, then have a look at Jo’s site where you are welcome to join in.

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

62 thoughts on “Boscastle Harbour Walk”

  1. Such a quaint little village! Adore the witch house…shame you didn’t go inside. WOuld have loved to see what evil lurks in there 🙂

    1. The flood was dreadful, fortunately no loss of life and they have rebuilt it beautifully. Sadly the pink cottage wasn’t for sale.

  3. What a quaint place to go for a walk. I would have definitely entered the witch museum though 🙂

  4. When are your moving to Cornwall? Your camera obviously loves it. My favourite shot is the Youth Hostel with its straight lines and diagonals, and the water at the outer breakwater is Narooma-blue. I wonder what the commonality is?

    1. My camera didn’t love it today 😦
      Visited Cape Cornwall, the only Cape in England, climbed up to the chimney stack on the summit in a gale-force wind, took loads of photos, only to get back to the cottage and find that the card was damaged and I lost all my images. Not happy.

  5. Wonderful, nostalgic walk for me, Jude – thank you! I did have to laugh at the comment re: sage ☺️

    1. It’s an interesting little village on the north Cornish coast. Glad you found the time to walk with me 🙂

    1. I just wish I was thirty years younger and a lot fitter, there are a lot of ups and downs in this county, especially along the coast!

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