Forest Walks in the South West - Part 3
11 Cardinham Woods
Cardinham Woods is the place which gives the lie to the mistaken adage that the best of Cornwall is always found within 100 yards of the sea.
The forest is beautiful – and although lots of it is the kind of coniferous timber woodland planted as a cash crop, there are sylvan swathes that remind us what a great deal of Cornwall must have looked like before mankind started clearing everything he could.
We don’t tend to think of Cornwall as being a wooded county – there are too many coastal heaths and bare downs for that – but actually there are still plenty of forested corners and the Cardinham valley plays host to one of the biggest and certainly the most visited woodland west of the Tamar.
We can make the claim because the Forestry Commission has counted the number of people who turn up each year to enjoy Cardinham Woods. And at the last count a truly impressive 100,000 visitors called by to enjoy the 650 acres of mixed forest which lies deep in a valley just east of Bodmin – and they did so despite the £2 fee which you pay to park there.
For this is nowadays primarily a recreational forest. So much so that the man who looks after Cardinham Woods for the Forestry Commission is called a recreation manager rather than a forester. And it was Chris Mason who explained how the woodlands are dealt with in a different, more visitor-friendly, manner than most.
There are four main way-marked walking trails in the wooded valley system. The shortest and easiest is called Lady Vale Walk after the ancient Chapel of Our Lady which stood beside the river back in
the 12th century. Just one-and-a-half miles in length, this is an easy access route suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
The one we were on was the three mile Wheal Glynn walk which makes its way up to the old lead and silver mine of that name. The engine house and chimney can still be seen tucked away amid the trees in a steep sided valley – and you can only wonder how tough the men must have been to not only work here, but to have walked to and from the remote and difficult to reach place each day.
As you walk among some of the tallest trees in Cardinham Woods there is a short strenuous ascent, but you will have wonderful views over the forest and a leisurely descent to look forward to.
Distance: 3 miles. Time 1.7 hours. Difficulty 4/10
12 Blackdowns Ridge, Somerset
This is an excellent hike on a spur of the Blackdown Hills high above Taunton. Within a minute of taking to the trail you will be confronted by vast vistas stretching from the Bristol Channel north-east of the Quantocks, south across the great flat redundant seabed otherwise known as The Levels, south again across a series of what were once noble headlands jutting now into nothing more than meadowlands, and south once more to the hills of undulating Dorsetshire.
Find Castle Neroche by embarking on a 10-minute car drive from the motorway at Taunton, south up into the steep woodlands of the Blackdowns just above the pretty village of Staple Fitzpaine.
That name might give you some clues as to the origins of the fortress high above. We're into 1066 and all that, with the Normans grabbing what they could of England's green and pleasant land. It was William the Conqueror's half-brother, Robert Count of Mortain, who had the ramparts constructed so that he could keep an austere eye on all those bothersome new subjects.
The forest is still there, though nowadays its run by the altogether more democratically organised Forestry Commission. This hike begins by following a section of this east from the car park at the top of the hill.
Here you are walking along the ramparts of the old Norman fort, and pretty spectacular ramparts they are. Apart from the breath-taking views the very slopes of the Norman workings are astonishing enough with near vertical drops plunging 70 or 80 feet down into the trees.
The path threads its way along the edge for a quarter-of-a-mile or so before dividing, with the Forestry Trail swinging down to the left and our own route continuing right along the top of the escarpment.
The path works its way east through fields following the edge of the Blackdown escarpment as it begins to descend in the general direction of Ilminster. Swinging gently south, and always downhill, it avoids Hisbeer's Farm and weaves its way through all manner of hedgerows, enclosed lanes, and copses not to mention crossing a few ditches and streams.
At last we reached the hamlet of Hare and the lane which would begin to take us back up onto the hills. We head west eloping a narrow lane which will take you all the way back to Castle Neroche but, never one to take the easy route when there's a convoluted and complex alternative, I turned left halfway up the hill - along the tiny road leading to White's Farm. At the first sharp bend a footpath branches off to ascend the curve of this amphitheatre-like a valley.
We turned right once the path had taken us to the lane at the top of the hill and walked the quarter-mile back to Castle Neroche where the ghosts of Norman overlords were beginning to stir.
Distance: 5 miles, Time 3 hours. Difficulty 6/10
13 Trelissick Woodland Walk, Cornwall
The hike around the estuarine peninsula at Trelissick in southern Cornwall is perfect in so many ways. It’s centred on one of the most famous National Trust properties in the region; it offers sweeping views containing great sparkling sheets of water; it offers a sense of intimacy with the landscape; it has history, charm and interest in bundles; and lastly it is ideal in length for those who wish to take a pre-breakfast, lunch or tea-time amble.
The estate at Trelissick is situated on a spur which is bordered on three of its sides by the River Fal and two of its creeks. This walk takes us around the spur, beginning at the car-park behind the big house. From here our clockwise circumnavigation takes us along the old drive through parkland to what used to be the lodge.
After the lodge the walk crosses the road and drops down through Namphillow Wood to a stream which leads into Lamouth Creek. By the small bridge here you'll see what remains of the old watercress beds and you can decide whether or not to extend your walk by strolling out to Roundwood Quay.
This is a sort of branch line to the main course of your circular walk, but one well worth taking if the weather is fine and you’re not too lazy or, in my case, hungry. It runs through the trees along the north side of the creek and eventually ascends slightly to what remains of an Iron Age fortress in roundwood itself.
Back up the creek and it’s simply a matter of walking down the creek’s southern shore. This rounds North Wood and brings you to the River Fal itself.
As you walk down towards King Harry Ferry the beauty of these riverside woods can sometimes echo with the amplified voices of tour guides aboard the pleasure steamers plying up and down.
Other noises join in the general clatter as you approach the ferry crossing, namely the rattle of the chains which the vessel crosses on and the engines of cars awaiting to embark. Cross the road, and you'll soon be back amid the silent reaches of arcadia as the walk passes down through South Wood to turn the corner into Channels Creek.
This superb stretch of the hike takes you down what would - in my bovine analogy - be the cow’s face, and as you proceed down its southward pointing its nose so you will be treated to better and better views of the Carrick Roads. Eventually you will round the lips of the small peninsula and enter the shores of short and sweet Channals Creek.
Now we turn up the slope to ascend back towards Trelissick House, which you will see on the ridge above. Turn around as you climb and the panorama of the Carrick Roads and the distant sea just gets better and better every step of the way.
Distance - 3.5 miles - Time - 1.8 hours - Difficulty -3/10
14 Golden Cap
Golden Cap is the highest point along the entire English south coast. It has a bald summit, but it is the first and last parts of our hike which pass through forests.
Golden Cap, by the way, one of the most highly protected places in the region being a key point of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and being owned by the National Trust as part of its wonderful Golden Cap estate.
To find the altitudinous demesne you must reach a hilltop village called Morcombelake on the A35 between Charmouth and Chideock. Just past the garage, over the hilltop heading east, watch out for a tiny lane on the right.
Then, once you've negotiated your way onto it (and be careful, if you’re heading east you must cross a nasty bit of road), follow the turn left marked Langdon Hill car park in the hill-top forest.
You'll find the parking place in the woods and from here you have a choice of numerous walking routes. At just over 600 feet the car park is at much the same altitude as the top of Golden Cap itself, so when at last you come to the edge of the trees you are delighted to discover that only a small dip separates you from the great and famous hill.
From this particular angle Golden Cap looks like an Alp - perfectly conical so you think the top must be crowned by a small peak. It's not, because the peak stretches in a tiny escarpment toward the sea, but you only find that out once you've descended a little way down into the dip, crossed a field or two, and then climbed the steep footpath to the top.
This first portion of peak allows for breathtaking views of the coast to the east. There is Seatown deep in its gully a long way below, then there are the rolling ridges leading up to Thorncombe Beacon past Doghouse Hill. You cannot see Eype Mouth which is hidden beyond all this, but further still there's a glimpse of the quay at West Bay.
It's only a few hundred yards past the Bronze Age burial mounds before you reach the other end of Golden Cap’s plateau, but at the edge of the cliff you are treated to yet another stupendous view.
This time it's west, down across the gargantuan landslides that mark this coast - past a million dinosaur fossils to Charmouth, and on again along more of the region's Jurassic Park as the coast rises, reluctantly, at The Spittles - the jumble of cliffs that so haphazardly lead the roving eye around to Lyme Regis.
We return by taking the western loop around the woods that crown Langdon Hill.
Distance: 2 miles. Time 1.5 hours. Difficulty: 3/10
15 Sticklepath-Belstone Circular
The National Trust’s excellent Finch Foundry at Sticklepath is only minutes off the main A30 near Okehampton, and so easily reachable to anyone who happens to be plying between Devon and Cornwall. It also sits at the beginning of a beautiful and satisfying walk.
The foundry is a symphony of water-power – a living working example of how the energy of our fast-flowing streams can be harnessed to make beautiful and practical objects. In this case it is the River Taw that does the muscle work, issuing - as it does - from the bowels of Belstone Cleave.
It is the Cleave, or gorge, which is the venue for this walk.
My advice is to call at the foundry for a visit before starting the hike. Having admired the workmanship of the foundry-men, find the beginning of the walk by following the signposts to Belstone situated across the green at the rear of the car park.
The path wends its way pleasantly all the way up the riverside. Eventually we swing north, crossing the river via a footbridge, and take the path that leads diagonally up to the village of Belstone.
This is a quiet, scenic village full of the joys of mountain air - a highland community that is forever witnessing the donning of walking boots. And Belstone somehow exudes a sense of times past.
We leave it to continue our hike by walking into the moors south of the village. There’s a main track which strikes off under Watchet Hill following the Taw which tumbles down its valley 100 feet below.
At a narrow point we crossed this to gain the westerly slopes of vast Cosdon Hill, which we climbed to the place where Lady Brook meets up with one of Dartmoor’s many disused leats. The old man-made waterway provides a useful guide that shepherds you around the contours.
At its northernmost point we leave the leat and strike off down hill to the point where the moors and therefore the right-to-roam area cease at a corner above Skaigh Warren. Here a pubic footpath strikes of directly down hill to enter Skaigh Wood - and here we turned right to take the path along the top edge of the trees. This eventually does a dramatic zig-zag and descends sharply to join up with the Belstone Cleave path just a couple of hundred metres from the foundry.
Distance: 5 miles. Time 3 hours. Difficulty 5/10
