Travel Book Extract for October 2011
The UK's County Tops, 82 Walks to Reach the Top of 91 Historic Counties by Jonny Muir
- Location Bodmin Moor, 6.5km SE of Camelford
- Start Car park (free) at Poldue Downs road head. SX 1383 8191
- Os map Landranger 201 (Plymouth & Launceston), Explorer 109 (Bodmin Moor)
- Difficulty 3
- Enjoyment ****
- Distance7.5km (4.5 miles)
- Ascent 390m
- Time 1.5-2hrs
The name 'Brown Willy' normally raises a titter, but there is nothing funny or frivolous about Cornwall's highest point. Surveying brooding Bodmin Moor and the spectacular north and south Cornish coastlines, Brown Willy is a splendid hill that regularly features in lists of the UK's best-loved high points. The moor's most famous inhabitant (allegedly) - the Beast of Bodmin - needs no introduction; many claim to have spotted a black panther-like creature slipping through the mist. Brown Willy also features in an annual out-and-back race from Jamaica Inn (best known on account of Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name, published in 1936) on New Year's Day, which is run 'regardless of the weather'. The route described here takes the walker through wild moorland scenery and among rocky outcrops synonymous with Bodmin Moor.
Route
From the car park, cross a stream to reach the moor, where various tracks lead uphill to a trio of tors. Head ESE for the easternmost one, showery Tor, from where a terrific high route can be negotiated S around rocky outcrops to Little Rough Tor (pronounced 'row'), and then WSW to Rough Tor. Look W for views of the china clay works at Highertown. From the summit of Rough Tor, head downhill in a roughly SE direction towards the De Lank River which drains Roughtor Marsh. Shortly before reaching the watercourse, a bridleway will be met, which climbs the NW slopes of Brown Willy. A trig pillar and a large cairn stand on the highest point.
Descent
Return by the same route to Rough Tor, from where a path leads downhill to Poldue Downs.
DID YOU KNOW?
Famous native
Newquay-born poet and writer Sir William Golding (1911-93) is best known for his 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. Sir William, whose other books include the To the Ends of the Earth trilogy, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983.
Interesting fact
Lizard Point on the tip of the Lizard peninsula - some say the name derives from the underlying rock, serpentine, which when wet resembles the skin of a snake - is the southerly extent of the British mainland.
JAMAICA INN
Bodmin Moor is famously associated with Jamaica Inn, an 18th-century coach- ing house at Bolventer, off the A30 Exeter-Penzance road. The inn once pro- vided a night stop for travellers, among them smugglers, crossing the moor. Pirates used the inn to secrete goods such as brandy and tea that had been smuggled into Britain. Jamaica Inn, which is now run as a hotel and restaurant, is also reputed to be one of the country's most haunted places.
The UK's County Tops, 82 Walks to Reach the Top of 91 Historic Counties by Jonny Muir is published by Cicerone (paperback; £14.99). It is also available through amazon.com and all good booksellers.
