Helford, Frenchman's Creek and Manaccan

In summer, a ferry runs across the river from Helford Point. The steep path gives steadily improving views out over Helford before levelling out into a lane across the headland.

Frenchman's Creek is narrow and secluded, given a secretive air by the woodland that crowds down to the water's edge. It became famous as the setting for Daphne du Maurier's romantic novel of the same name. In the 18th century this was the haunt of smugglers and many of the houses in Helford are said to stand over secret cellars.

The path begins high above the river, passing through a rough landscape of gorse and bracken with good views of creek and river. Frenchman's Creek appears at first as a broad inlet, but it steadily narrows and the path soon descends through increasingly dense woodland to the water's edge. Then the creek narrows to little more than a stream overlooked by a simple fisherman's cottage. From the cottage the path turns sharply uphill. As the path runs clear of the trees it emerges into farmland where in early spring the fields are crowded with daffodils.

At the end of the path the route moves on to a typical Cornish lane, narrow and hemmed in by high banks. Where the road swings sharply to the left it becomes even more constricted, and the banks rise up well above head height. Eventually, the walk arrives in the village of Manaccan.

Manaccan itself is a tight cluster of buildings, dominated by a grand house with a magnificent thatched roof. The village was first mentioned in AD 967 as 'Lesmanoc', the Place of Monks. But the church itself is later, dating from the 12th century. It has a curious memorial in the north wall to the 'Scientific Parson', the Reverend William Gregor, who in 1790 discovered a strange black powder. He called this menachanite, which is now known as the light, strong metal titanium.

From Manaccan the walk returns to Helford by way of quiet country roads and field-side paths.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.