Gunwalloe and Church Cove
I had an outing down west in mid-February 2017, primarily to visit Mullion but also to re-visit delightful Gunwalloe Church Cove on the west side of the Lizard peninsula, not to be confused with equally charming Landewednack Church Cove on the east coast of the Lizard. There is some name confusion here, too, as both are named for St. Winwaloe, also know as Wednack and commemorated elsewhere too: at Towednack near St. Ives and at Poundstock near Bude. I was last in Church Cove in 2010 in the course of walking the whole of the Cornish Coast Path. Things have changed a bit; there is now a large National Trust Car Park with space for 100 cars and, linked to that, the Cove is much busier than I remember it, even in February. Not surprising, with a sandy beach, all that parking and, in season, refreshments. Between the car park and the Cove is Winianton Farm, National Trust property but farmed by Roddas, famed for their clotted cream. On this occasion I also looked around Gunwalloe village, a most attractive and surprising place in that half the cottages are thatched, including Toy Cottage (pictured left) where Compton MacKenzie, author of Whisky Galore, lived in 1908. A mile or so north of Church Cove is Gunwalloe Fishing Cove, where the catch was hauled up to the pilchard cellars on the top of the cliff by winch, recently enough for one winch to have been petrol driven. At Chyanvounder, just south of Gunwalloe village is the Halzephron Inn, a bit gastro-pub for my tastes but not unreasonably priced.
Toy Cottage, Gunwalloe
St. Winwaloe's Church from the cliffs
St. Winwaloe's Church
Photographs
More in Towns & Villages
Gwennap
The name Gwennap occurs elsewhere. Gwennap Pit may make some sense as it is only about 2 miles away. Here it refers to St. Gwenap or Wenapa. Down on the south coast of West Penwith, the headland looming above the tiny Porthgwarra Cove, featured in the 2016 Poldark Series, is also Gwennap; the name thehe is a puzzle. After you turn off the Falmouth road, the church car park is straight ahead; up a drive to the left is the big house, Trevince. The graveyard is vast, the lych gate in the photo is halfway up it towards the church. Unusually you approach from the north side. The church consists of nave and two aisles. There is no tower but a separate bell tower stands to to south west. When I visited on a Saturday in early November 2016, when I also investigated Carharrack and re-visited St. Day and Gwennap Pit, I was disappointed to find the church locked, despite the usual 'Welcome' notice in the porch. Too often recently I have found churches locked; have those responsible wondered what God might think about his people being locked out of his house? I probably didn't miss much: Pevsner merely refers to rebuilding in 1862 and Cornish historian Charles Henderson took the view that "few Cornish churches are less interesting than Gwennap".
Gwithian
A tiny village on the road from Hayle to Godrevy, Hell's Mouth and Portreath, you are almost through Gwithian before you realise it. But it is worth stopping for a closer look. At the Hayle end of the village are the attractive Gwithian Farm, handsome Churchtown House, a thatched Methodist Chapel, recently restored and the rather ugly Red River Inn which (2015) has apparently had a makeover and is much improved with enterprising food. The inn, originally the Pendarves Arms, was renamed for the river that reaches the sea here, discoloured by mine spoil. At the Godrevy end is another handsome house, Churchtown Farm, and a charming church with a Cornish cross in the graveyard. The church remembers the 5th/6th century St. Gwithian or Gocianus. The saint's remains were said to have been found in the sands in the 19th century but lost again. The present church was originally built in the 15th century. It was rebuilt in 1866 though the tower is original. Gwithian Towans (dunes) lie between the village and the sea. The beach runs from just south of Godrevy Point for three miles to the mouth of the Hayle River. It is popular with surfers, swimmers and families.
Halsetown near St. Ives
I had driven past Halsetown many times, on the B3311 road from St. Ives to Penzance, but knew nothing about it except that it has a car park and a pub. Then, in November 2007, I took a walk, with my sisters Mary and Frances, that took in Rosewall Hill, Trink Hill and Halsetown. Fascinated by what seemed to be, unusually for Cornwall, a planned village, I did a little research and came up with the following (which I have re-interpreted somewhat) discovered on Genuki and St. Ives Trust web sites.