Falmouth to Helford Passage

Falmouth to Helford Passage
10 miles

Working out bus transportation can be a crazy, complicated process involving multiple bus schedules and maps, decisions about how long to walk, timing of connections, and—surprisingly important—identifying the right bus stop.

This last tip we cleverly picked up that time we were convinced we were at the wrong stop and that the real one was at the top of a lovely cobblestone hill. After hurrying up the hill we reach the bus seconds before the door closes and plonk down thankfully on orange upholstered seats, very pleased with ourselves. And then—after all that—the bus turns and slowly meanders down the hill we had just climbed and stops at the very bus stop where we'd been standing.

The map above shows the bus routes in the Falmouth/Lizard area. Our big goal this year is to walk the entire corner of coastline called the Lizard, witnessing—and hopefully touching or standing on—a super rare geological phenomenon called Mohorovicic Discontinuity, which I explain here using all the geology words I know.

You can see that there are no buses directly from Falmouth, where we're staying this week, to Mullion Cove, which is where we ended the 2015 hike. There are frequent buses from Falmouth to Helston, however, where we can change to another bus that will pass relatively close to the trail. After an hour or so of intense back-and-forth timetable and map work, it looks like we can take the 9:45 #2 from Falmouth to Helston, arrive at 10:30, take the 11:30 #37 from Helston to Mullion and arrive around noon, depending on where the bus drops us. From Mullion we walk to Lizard Point, then up to the village of Lizard, where we take a bus back to Helston and another back to Falmouth. It works on paper.

The hike on the other side of the Lizard is a bit trickier to plan, as there are few bus stops in the area, and buses run only a few times a day. In fact, there's really only one reasonable plan: Leave Falmouth again at 9:45 on the #2 to Helston, arriving at 10:33, catch the 11:15 #36 to Coverack, arriving at 11:56. This time we'll walk to the Lizard from the other direction. Then a bus to Helston and another back to Falmouth. So that's the plan. If all goes well, it will work.

First thing is food; we pack hearty lunches.

The coastal path runs straight through Falmouth, practically right outside our cottage.

Falmouth's harbour is the third deepest natural harbour in the world. It is only beaten by Sydney Harbour and The Port of Mahon. The first few miles of walking are through town, on sidewalks or lanes.

Henry VIII had the Pendennis Castle built to defend against the French and Spanish.

It's a school day and this class is practicing SUP and kayaking.

Today we're heading to around that first headland. By tomorrow we should have walked round that very far away headland. This part of path leads through all kinds of terrain.

We've walked from Falmouth, way over on the right edge of this photo. It's nice to know where you've come from.

Lunch. We decide to keep track of how long we take breaks so we can compare our walking times to what the path book says. Usually we are slower. So Susanne decided we would take breaks on the hour or half hour to make it easy to calculate time. A good idea but it ends up not mattering at all because we don't bother writing things down, and by the end of the day, we forget.

We've gone ten miles and are excited that we've reached the Trebar Gardens, where there will be lovely unusual tropical plants and, best of all, cream tea, So we are seriously bummed that there is absolutely no way in. We walk round and round, can see garden-goers enjoying tea, can see the marvelous private beach—but we can only see it over a stone wall with a locked gate. The entrance is way up at the top, with no access from the coast path.

Susanne has yoo-hooed over the wall. Her hand gestures explain exactly what she's asking of the poor man—who was simply trying to enjoy a tea and the sea view while his wife was traipsing round the gardens—but he has no idea how we can get in. When they look down and see that I'm already on the wall, Susanne is aghast but comes running anyway to join me. I sit on the wall pretending to take photos, waiting to see if somebody comes running, waving their arms with angry aggression. When they don't, I slide down, and I'm in. Eventually, Bob and Susanne follow. It was like breaking into prison.

We talk to the man at the cafe on the beach, who says we can pay him to get in the garden and then show the receipt to the people at the top. Nice man. Our goal now is to walk quickly up through the gardens to reach the restaurant before it closes.

We enjoy a quick cream tea and congratulate ourselves for squeaking into the garden just before they close.

In order to do every step of the coastal path, we have to go back down to the place where we climbed in. And because the man down there is leaving in 5 minutes, we have to dash. (The man has kindly agreed to open the gate so we don't have to climb back over.) I snap pictures on the way.

Back on the path.

We climb the hill to the bus stop, this time in plenty of time to catch it.

Falmouth to Helford Passage ​10 miles

Working out bus transportation can be a crazy, complicated process involving multiple bus schedules and maps, decisions about how long to walk, timing of connections, and—surprisingly important—identifying the right bus stop. ​

Falmouth to Helford Passage
10 miles

Working out bus transportation can be a crazy, complicated process involving multiple bus schedules and maps, decisions about how long to walk, timing of connections, and—surprisingly important—identifying the right bus stop.