A few weeks ago when we were staying with my sister in Devon, we decided to go for a walk through the Mount Edgcumbe Estate in Cornwall to the twin villages of Kingsand and Cawsand, and back.
Our ferry/walk route is the white line: we headed south along the coast to Kingsand / Cawsand and then northwards on the way back to Cremyll.
We left late morning, catching the Cremyll Foot Ferry across the Hamoaze (the estuary of the River Tamar) from the delightfully named Admirals Hard in Stonehouse, Plymouth in Devon to the tiny village of Cremyll on the beautiful Rame Peninsula in Cornwall. The main entrance to Mount Edgcumbe House is in Cremyll, and our walk took us through large parts of the estate of this impressive country house.
Heading south we followed the coast, stopping frequently to admire the view and drink the pre-mixed chilled Pimms that my sister had cleverly brought. The twin villages of Kingsand and Cawsand are very pretty, with tiny narrow lanes barely wide enough to take a car. It’s hard to tell where the one village stops and the other starts: they merge into each other. We had a couple of drinks in one of the pubs and then sat on the beach to eat our lunch and collect sea glass and take in the view.
The weather was mild and with a strong sea mist blowing in as the day went on. The foot ferry journey at either end of the walk was an extra treat, giving as it does beautiful views of the Regency period naval buildings on the dock fronts.
I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Click on all to embiggen / bigify.
Setting out in some seriously comfy shoes.
The beautifully kept gardens at Mount Edgcumbe House.
A temple folly in the estate being conserved / renovated.
We watched a ferry come in as we drank our first Pimms of the day. The breakwater has a lighthouse on the end of it.
First sight of Kingsand / Cawsand.
A beautiful fuchsia hedge.
Getting closer.
A Pimms with a view. Second of the walk. Lushes, us?
Looking back towards Devon. Fort Picklecombe is in the middle distance, by the rocky shore, and is now converted into apartments.
The beach at Cawsand.
Looking across to Kingsand.
Beautiful footpath walk out of Kingsand.
Looking back at Kingsand / Cawsand with the sea mist rolling in.
Love this. Like an impressionist painting.
A War Department marker from the Second World War sea defences.
The WW2 military installation above the marker.
Big skies.
My sister doing her best Maximus Decimus Meridius impression in the barley field.
Looking up the Hamoaze to where Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge crosses the Tamar. If you click and then click again you can just make out the double arch of its lenticular iron spans.
More big skies.
Looking across to Torpoint on the Cornwall side of the Hamoaze.
Beautiful house and old stone tidal quay at Empacombe.
The Edgcumbe Belle, our ferry at the pier at Cremyll. Drake’s Island is to the right.
The Royal William Victualling Yard, Stonehouse, Plymouth. These impressive buildings were built between 1826-1835.
Parts of a favourite film of mine, Mr Turner, were filmed in Kingsand, with the village standing in for the Kentish seaside town of Margate.