Rollercoaster Path to Port Quin

The North Cornish coast between the sea inlets of Port Isaac and Port Quin is a marvellous chaos of tumbled cliffs and convoluted hills. The price of all this, for the keen walker, is a strenuous passage along the coastal footpath between the two. You rise and fall like a dipping gull, but without the same ease and effortlessness. The inland return, across fields, to Port Isaac, is undramatic but is not strenuous. On the coastal section, be prepared for airy clifftop paths that in places are pinned narrowly between thin air on the unprotected seaward edge and a lengthy stretch of wooden fencing inland, said by ironic locals to be as visible from space as the Great Wall of China.

The North Cornish village of Port Isaac is one of the West Country's most popular visitor destinations. The appeal of Port Isaac, however, lies partly in its relative freedom from too many visitors' vehicles. The village is enclosed between the steep slopes of a narrow valley that reaches the sea at a protected inlet, a natural haven for vessels. It is this orientation to the sea that has produced the densely compact nature of the village. The sea was the common highway here, long before the modern road became so; until the early 20th century trading ships brought coal, limestone, timber and other commodities to Port Isaac and carried away, fish, farm produce, mineral ore and building stone.

It's worth taking a little time to explore the village of Port Isaac (PWhile You're There) before setting off uphill on the coastal footpath. The path leads round the smooth-browed Lobber Point, then traces a remarkable rollercoaster route along the folded coastline to Kellan Head and then to Port Quin. There is a slightly haunted air about Port Quin today. It is a remote, silent place, yet in 1841 nearly 100 people lived here in a village of over 20 households. Now only a few cottages remain, not all of them occupied permanently. Like most inlets on the North Cornish coast Port Quin survived until the 19th century on pilchard fishing and on coastal trade that involved the import of coal and lime in exchange for slate, and lead from small mining concerns. Legend claims that most of the men of Port Quin were lost at sea in some kind of fishing or smuggling disaster and that the womenfolk and children moved away. There was certainly rapid depopulation, but it may simply have been through emigration when mining failed and pilchard fishing declined in the late 19th century. The route you follow through the fields back to bustling Port Isaac must once have been a local highway between two thriving communities.

While you're there

Take the opportunity to explore Port Isaac. The alleyways of the village reach their most eccentric form in the narrowest of passageways, known as 'drangs', with splendid names such as 'Shuggy's Ope' and 'Squeeze-ee-Belly Alley', the latter speaking for itself. Where Fore Street, at its bottom end, bends sharply round to the harbour, keep ahead along a narrow alley to find these.

What to look for

The tangled vegetation of the Reedy Cliff area makes an ideal habitat for small birds such as the stonechat. This is a typical passerine, or percher. The male bird is easily distinguished by its russet breast, white collar and dark head while the female is a duller brown overall. The 'stonechat' name derives from the bird's distinctive chattering note that resembles a rapid tapping of stone on stone.

Where to eat and drink

There are no refreshment stops on the route, but Port Isaac has a number of cafés and restaurants. The Slipway Restaurant, Harbour Cafe and the Wheelhouse Seafood Restaurant and Bistro are clustered round the entrance to the harbour beach and the nearby Golden Lion does sandwiches and bar meals. The Old Drug Store, on the way down Fore Street serves fish and chips.