Three Days in Cornwall – Part 3

In Part 1, we visited the far west end of Cornwall, Land’s End, Penzance, Mousehole, and St. Michael’s Mount. In Part 2 we visited along the north coast of Cornwall, with St. Ives, Newquay, Port Isaac, and a mention of Tintagel. Now, in Part 3, we’ll look at an area called The Lizard, then go along the south coast to Falmouth and Fowey.

The Lizard is a large peninsula on the south coast of Cornwall. The name probably comes from a corruption of the Cornish name “Lys Ardh,” which means “high court.” The nearest town is Helston. A nearby royal manor of Winnianton is recorded in the Domesday book from 1086 AD.

The western coastline of The Lizard. Image copyright England For All Reasons, 2023.

The Lizard is populated by many small villages and hamlets along the narrow country roads of the area. The beaches and coastal areas are spectacularly beautiful and rugged. It is a walker’s paradise, and the walking trails are very popular.

Helston is a lovely village, with a population of just under 12,000. There is a nice shopping area on the main road, Coinagehall Street, and the town has a nice combination of old and new feel to it. Other villages in The Lizard include Gweek, Mawgan, St Martin, and Helford, along with Cadgwith and Coverack, but the main attraction of The Lizard is the coastal scenery! Near Helston is the coastal village of Porthleven. The most famous landmark is the Bickford-Smith Institute, pictured above, a tower building right next to the pier and harbor entrance. If you are a watcher of the British TV series “Wycliffe”, you may have seen the building. The BBC UK also uses a picture of the building with a large wave breaking as a background in weather forecasts, particularly when windy weather and rough seas are forecast.

Boats in the harbor at Falmouth. Image copyright 2023, England for All Reasons.

The Lizard is a natural protection to the port of Falmouth, just to the east. Falmouth is at the mouth of the River Fal. It once had been called “Pennycomequick,” an Anglicisation of the Celtic name “Pen-y-cwm-cuic” translated as “head of the creek.” Henry VIII built the Pendennis Castle in 1540 to defend the estuary, and then in 1613 the town was created by Sir John Killigrew. Today the town has about 22,000 residents. During WW II, Falmouth was the launching point for the raid on Saint-Nazaire in 1942, and as a base for the American troops planning for D-Day. Today the harbor is popular for cruise ship operators and has a still-functioning cargo port. There is a lovely old section of the town near the riverbank, complete with pubs, restaurants, shops, and lots of interesting places for photos.

The Ship Inn, a lovely pub in Fowey. Image copyright 2023, England for All Reasons.

Further along the coast is Fowey, pronounced “Foy,” another coastal town on a river mouth, in this case, the River Fowey. There were two manors listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the area, with a priory built shortly after that. The town was granted a charter c. 1300 for people to live there. The natural harbor made it a successful place for shipping, although it was popular for pirates as well. The town is small, with just 2400 people, but it is a bustling, picturesque tourist village. Many trawlers and yachts are anchored or homeported in Fowey. Again, along the waterfront there are lots of small shops, restaurants, and a few pubs. Well worth a visit!

And with that, our three days in Cornwall are over. We didn’t get to Truro, a beautiful cathedral city with the most recently built cathedral, constructed between 1880 and 1910. It is a lovely city, with an active market area near the cathedral, but we’ll save that for another day!