This stunning section of Gribben Head coastal path just west of Fowey, offers a variety of landscapes made famous by their association with author Daphne du Maurier, who used them as settings in her many Cornwall based books. This area offers breathtaking natural beauty and is rich in historical significance.
Start your walk by parking at Menabilly Farm, making sure you have a 50p in your pocket for the car park honesty box which is an old milk churn located at the gate to the farmer’s cottage. It’s a short ten to fifteen minute, easy walk down a country path that winds through farmland, until you get down to Polridmouth Beach.
Depending on the state of the tide upon your arrival you may be confronted by a shipwreck. This is the wreck of Romanie and she was a 260 tonne, 100ft long, three-masted steel sailing vessel built in 1918. On January 16th 1930, she was sailing from Fowey to Par when a sudden storm whipped up and the ship was wrecked against the rocks at Polridmouth Bay.
Captain and crew managed to escape to shore but the ship ran aground on the beach and was left for the sea and the elements to reclaim. The area is now synonymous with the author Daphne du Maurier who lived in the Menabilly Grade II estate, and used the landscape and shipwreck as the backdrop to her book “Rebecca”, written in 1938.
From the beach if you head east along the coastal path within a minute or two you’ll find yourself at Polridmouth Cottage. The cottage sits on the edge of a shingle beach and a freshwater lake (circa 1925-1935), and incorporates an old watermill which ground grain for the Menabilly estate.
Continue west and you can venture up the steep hill of Gribben Headland and towards the 26 metre tall Daymark that is banded in red and white stripes, and has stood out on the headland since 1932. The Daymark was erected so that sailors didn’t mistake the treacherous shallow, narrow and rocky harbour entrance of St Austell Bay for the deep waters of Falmouth harbour.
From July to early September the Daymark is usually opened every Sunday and you can climb the 109 steps to the top and admire the truly sensational views. This service has been closed during the Covid19 pandemic but it is hoping to resume its opening soon. You can find more information on the National Trust website: www.nationaltrusts.org.uk
This is a great walk for exploring, confident swimmers (not a lifeguarded beach), wild flowers, rock pooling and families. Its a relatively short and easy walk although the hill up to the Daymark is quite steep.
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