Merry Maidens and the Way Down to Lamorna

The coast at Lamorna, to the south west of Penzance, is one of the loveliest in Cornwall. This is a south-facing coast, protected from prevailing westerly winds although storms from the south and east can be merciless here, as witnessed by a bitter record of terrible shipwrecks over the years. The bare granite cliffs are enhanced by swathes of lush vegetation that turn the coast into something of a wild garden in spring and summer.

The walk starts from the hugely popular Lamorna Cove, once the scene of granite quarrying. The sturdy quay at Lamorna was built so that ships could load up with the quarried stone, but the swell and the tidal regimen made berthing difficult. Much of the stone was carried overland by horse and wagon to Newlyn Harbour and to Penzance. The coast path west from Lamorna winds its sinuous way through tumbled granite boulders, then climbs steeply to the cliff tops. It passes above Tater du Lighthouse, by jet black, greenstone cliffs, a startling accent in all these miles of golden granite although the upper parts of the greenstone are dusted with ochre-coloured lichen.

Soon the path descends steeply to the delightful St Loy's Cove, a secluded boulder beach where a brisk little stream pours out of a wooded valley. Spring comes early at St Loy; the sub-tropical vegetation through which the walk leads reflects the area's mild and moist micro-climate. From St Loy's woods you climb inland to reach two enthralling ancient monuments. The first is the Tregiffian burial chamber, a late Bronze Age entrance grave that was uncovered during road widening in the 1960s. The cup-marked stone is a reproduction, the valuable original is in the County Museum at Truro.

Just along the road from Tregiffian stands one of Cornwall's most famous monuments, the Merry Maidens' stone circle. This Late Neolithic/Bronze Age structure represents an ancient ceremonial and ritual site of major importance. Its popular name, appended by a much later superstitious society, refers to a myth of young girls being turned to stone for dancing on a Sunday. Later in the walk you can see two nearby standing stones, the mythical 'Pipers' who supplied the sacrilegious music. The true spirit of the stones reflects a far more intriguing ancient culture. The final part of the walk leads from the Merry Maidens to a wonderful old trackway that leads over water-worn stones into the Lamorna Valley along a route that may well have originated in the time of the stone circles themselves.

What to look for

If you do this walk in spring you will be treated to a genuine 'host of golden daffodils'. The cliffside paths are flanked by hundreds of daffodils that have spread from cultivated meadows. Until recent years, flower-growing was an important element in the small-scale market gardening carried out along this western coast of Mount's Bay. Another marvellous floral display is offered by the swathes of bluebells, found on the open cliffs and in the lush woodland behind St Loy's Cove.

Where to eat and drink

There are no outlets on the route, but there is a shop and a café at Lamorna Cove that serves drinks and food. The Lamorna Wink Inn a short distance inland from the Cove serves bar meals.

While you're there

Spend some time at St Loy's Beach, often claimed as one of the first places in Britain to enjoy rising spring temperatures. There's not a grain of sand but the boulder beach with its little tidal channels is a delight on a peaceful summer's day, although in south east storms the conditions here can be frightening. Just east of St Loy's beach at Boscawan Point, in a ferocious storm in December 1981, the locally-based lifeboat the Solomon Browne was lost with all of its eight crew. The lifeboatmen had made heroic efforts to save eight people, who also died, from the stricken vessel Union Star.