Poldark Walks in Cornwall

I'll start with Charlestown because this along with several other locations listed below are not part of any single walk, this we can easily pop in to visit while en-route to other locations.

Charlestown harbour is home to several old square-rigged tall ships and was used as the port of Falmouth throughout all 5 seasons of Poldark. The small beach behind the harbour was used as the St. Mary's on the Isles of Scilly scene. The main street of Charlestown also frequently stood in for Cornwall’s city of Truro, although I should mention that most Truro scenes were filmed in Frome in Somerset, which we will not be visiting on this tour.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near St Austell, Cornwall.

Devon-Cornwall border - We now have beavers, wild boar, wild cats and water voles back in the Cornwall-Devon countryside. This add-on day is especially suitable for those wanting to see some exceptionally rare wildlife and get to see the landscape of how Cornwall would have looked say 3500 years ago. This location which is just over the Devon border from Cornwall is a farm which has been allowed to re-wild (revert back to nature) with a little help from Derek Gow (the owner) the wildlife reintroduction expert who has successfully reintroduced water voles and beaver to sites all over Britain. You now have this unique opportunity for me to lead you through this bronze-age landscape where you'll have the opportunity to see herds of traditionally native wildlife roaming free in unfenced scrub grassland forests and wetlands. Furthermore, you can get to sleep out in this environment if you wish to try out the expedition hammocks, especially for those intending to go on an overseas expedition with me, or for those who'd just simply like to try the hammocks in this environment.

Staying overnight in the hammocks is pretty much a necessity if you're serious about wanting to see some of this rare wildlife, which only emerges in the evening and early morning. We would typically combine this with walks over Bodmin moor (below) where we'd walk during the morning, arrive here in the afternoon, watch wild beavers/badgers/whatever in the evening, wild camp in hammocks overnight, watch wildlife in the early morning, then leave the location midday to walk elsewhere the next day.

The wildlife that you might see here include: Wild boar, Red and Roe deer, Eurasian Beaver, Water vole, Wild cat, Mouflon, White storks, Fox, Badger, Otter, Dormouse and a wild heard of enormous wild cattle (Aurochs), the ancestor of all domestic cattle.

Accommodation: Wild camp in hammocks or on your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Launceston, Cornwall.

Bodmin Moor - This is a short walk of only 2 miles return, but we can make it longer. The walk is over moorland in the heart of Bodmin moor, an area where almost nobody ever walks. This walk includes passing through the bronze age Trippet Stone Circle, the assent of the granite-capped Hawks Tor with fine views across the moors and from where you can look down at the source of the Warleggan river. We then walk down to visit the oldest historical site in Cornwall, the Neolithic stone-henge of the Stripple Stones which is a fascinating site, as old as any other in Europe (C.5000 years) and that is seldom ever visited, partly because it is on private land, but the land owner has kindly granted permission to visit.

The walk starts on Manor Common a stones-throw away from Jamaica Inn, Cornwall's most famous smugglers inn and the setting for Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name. For Poldark fans we can include a little detour to oversee the Nampara farm house and home of Ross & Demelza Poldark. Also on the drive up we can take the old horse-coach road over the river Warleggan and along to the tiny 12th century Temple church renowned for training the Knights Templar prior to their crusades.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Bodmin or Wadebridge.

Bodmin moor - This is a 7 mile moorland and hill walk over the heart of Bodmin moor, an area where almost nobody ever walks, and we will almost certainly see nobody but maybe for a couple on Rough Tor.

The walk starts near St Breward on the west of the moor, from there we visit King Arthur's Hall, Garrow Tor, Butter's Tor, Brown Willy (the highest point in Cornwall), Showery Tor, Little Rough Tor, Rough Tor, and we return via Candra Hill and King Arthur's Downs taking in the Bronze-age hut circles and standing stone circles of Fernacre and Louden Hill on the way. Poldark fans will want to take this walk as you'll oversee Ross & Demelza Poldark's Nampara farm house. The open moorland slopes of Rough Tor are also the filming locations where Ross and Dr. Ellis would gallop their horses into the distance.

This can be a one-day or two-day walk with a hammock or tent wild-camp if you need to try this out prior to joining an upcoming expedition.

Accommodation: Wild camp in hammocks/tents, or on your own maybe try ebookers.com to find hotels near Bodmin or Wadebridge.

Bodmin moor - In the very first Poldark episode Ross meets Demelza at the meeting of paths just north of the village of Minions. It’s also the site of the miners’ cottages, such as the one that Ross gives to Jim Carter and his wife Jenny. Most of the horse-drawn coach rides and riding or walking along roads was filmed here. You won't care to know this but Minions is also the place where they filmed the children's movie 'Minions'. Many movies get filmed here for some reason.

The walk starts on the paths that I just mentioned at Minions. We'll take a little detour up to see the bronze-age round barrow tumulus where in 1837 the 3000 year old Rillaton Gold Cup was found, one of the ten most important discoveries ever made in Britain. From there we walk out past the old tin mine ruins and the old Cheesewring quarry then head out to Twelve Men's Moor, visiting Sharp Tor and Kilmar Tor on the way. On the return to Minions you'll see Bronze-age hut circles, cairns and the Hurlers stone circles. Roughly 4 miles round-trip.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Liskeard, Saltash, or Bodmin.

Cornish Coast Path - This is an easy, level walk of only 1 mile, accessible for anyone, to the cliff tops at Park Head which offer stunning views of the towering sea stacks and the picturesque Bedruthan Steps in the foreground. The cliff tops at Park Head are one of the locations used for scenes of Ross galloping on horseback while the neighbouring beaches of Porthcothan and Hendrawna star as part of Nampara.

I think the best time to visit is during high-tide on a stormy day for some really dramatic effect. Though the golden sand beaches below are in themselves stunningly beautiful we can't get down to them.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Newquay, St Austell, Bodmin, or Wadebridge.

Although this is on the Cornish coast path we won't be walking any distance here except along this enormous beach of golden sand backed by grass tufted dunes. So this is another easy place we can visit en-route to other places. But we kind-of have to visit this beach, it is by far the most used beach during filming of all 5 series of Poldark. You'll instantly recognize it with its iconic twin peaked Gull Rock just off shore, it has been used for many encounters between Ross & Demelza, Morwenna & Drake, and where they shot the horse races between Dwight and Caroline.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Newquay, St Austell, Bodmin, or Wadebridge.

Cornish Coast Path - St Agnes Head is where Ross & Demelza are standing when Demelza lets the baby's ribbon bracelet blow away on the wind after the death of baby Julia. Many famous gallops or walking scenes along the rugged Cornish clifftops were filmed on the cliffs between the headland and Chapel Porth. Ross Poldark's struggling mine 'Wheal Leisure' is filmed at West Wheal Owles in the Botallack area (below). However, the Wheal Coates tin mine that stands prominently on the cliff here at St Agnes stands in as Wheal Grace in the series.

I think most of you will be content with the walk up from Wheal Coates up to St Agnes Head and back. However, I can lead a much longer 9 mile circular walk here that also takes in a climb up St Agnes Beacon for those of you who want something more challenging.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Newquay or Truro.

Kynance Cove is located near the tip of the Lizard Peninsula, the most southerly point on the British mainland and is one of Cornwall's most spectacular and recognisable beaches. With its brilliant turquoise waters, white sand, sea caves and towering serpentine rocks it isn't hard to see why Poldark's film-makers couldn't resist using the cove for certain scenes of Nampara Cove.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Helston, Penzance, Hayle, or Camborne.

Cornish Coast Path - Predannack Wollas on the Lizard Peninsula with its wild qualities of windswept headland and wild-flower strewn cliffs provided the location for many of Poldark’s charges on horseback.

The walk here is a 3.8 mile circular. It visits the picturesque Mullion Cove, with a fishing-boat harbour and an island, formed of lava, that is home to many nesting seabirds. The walk returns across the Lizard National Nature Reserve, on moorland and heathland dotted with prehistoric burial mounds and a medieval stone cross.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Helston, Penzance, Hayle, or Camborne.

Dollar cove and Church Cove are used in Series 1 for the night-time shipwreck, mainly Dollar cove. A little further along in Fisherman's Cove is the clifftop cottage of Dr. Dwight Enys. And in series 3, Dwight and Caroline are married in the beautiful church of St. Winwalloe while young Geoffrey Charles and Morwenna view them from Church Cove.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Helston, Penzance, Hayle, or Camborne.

Cornish Coast Path - If you're up for it we can do a full day, 20 mile, 7 hour, Coast Path circular walk around the stunningly beautiful Lizard Peninsula, visiting Goonhilly Downs, Cadgwith, Lizard Point, Kynance Cove, Predannack Wollas, Dollar Cove and Church Cove.

This can be a one-day or two-day walk with a hammock or tent wild-camp if you need to try this out prior to joining an upcoming expedition.

Accommodation: Wild camp in hammocks/tents, or on your own maybe try ebookers.com to find hotels near Helston, Penzance, Hayle, or Camborne.

Cornish Coast Path - Porthcurno and Pedn Vounder beaches feature in several scenes, but just 1 mile along the coast is the beautiful stone hamlet of Penberth. Immediately recognisable by the quaint stepping stones that characters use to cross the stream, the giant cobbled slipway, and in many shots the large black capstan winch. This is where the patients of Dr. Enys live, and in series 3 the location for Sowle Village where Demelza's brothers live.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Helston, Penzance, or Hayle.

Cornish Coast Path - Ross Poldark's famous skinny-dipping scene was filmed in Porthgwarra, with Demelza watching from the clifftop. Also Jim Carter's night-time escape to France and many fishing boat scenes. The walk from Porthgwarra to Gwennap Head is an absolutely fabulous one along the granite sea cliffs, used frequently throughout all 5 series, and it is absolutely essential that you visit here.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Helston, Penzance, or Hayle.

Cornish Coast Path - So most of the mine scenes are shot on the coast at the world heritage site at Botallack. The famed Crowns engine houses clinging to the foot of the cliffs (a place everyone must see before they die) is the site of Grambler Mine, which Francis gambled away in series one. A short distance away is West Wheal Owles which depicts Ross Poldark's Wheal Leisure. Much further along the coast to the north is Levant Mine which portrays Tressiders Rolling Mill.

The walk I usually lead here starts at the Queens Arms pub in Botallack, where we usually have lunch. From there I try to make 1 to 2 hour, 3 mile loop along the cliff visiting Wheal Owles, Crowns engine houses and Levant Mine, in that order.

Much longer Coast Path walks are available here if you're up for it! If you wanted to do the full distance from St Ives to Newlyn around Land's End it would take 3 days with frequent stops to take in the views.

Accommodation: On your own. Try ebookers.com to find hotels near Helston, Penzance, or Hayle.