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[grandmakod]

Hello, I'm Christine, and I am currently staying in Lamorna Cove until 26 May, on holiday. Went over to Oliver Land on Monday and as usually happens, the sun came out! Glad to be able to get there through the fields from the top of th hill this time, as it wasn't overgrown, we are getting too old for rock climbing!

[Kath Mulligan]

Hello Christine, nice to meet you via the forum.

Lucky you being on holiday in Lamorna and visiting Oliver Land this week. I was there in March on Memorial Day, and like you was glad to be able to access it via the inland path to Carn Barges this time. My first time at Minack was via the coastal path from Lamorna - not an experience for the faint hearted.

Did you ever meet Derek and Jeannie? Do tell us how you came to the Chronicles, we are a friendly bunch and look forward to chatting with you and hearing your views on the various topics.

Kath

[grandmakod]

Hello Kath
Thanks for your reply to my post. I first came to Lamorna in 1998, it wasn't easy to find Dorminack at that time but after talking to a farmer and the barman at The Wink, we finally stumbled onto it! This was via the winding lane, as there were no restrictions then, the cottage looked derelict and deserted. We were able to go through the gate and look around everywhere! Then when the cottage became occupied, we actually walked up to the cottage and were greeted by Samson and Bryher, followed by Jane, who chatted to us and was very nice. After access from the lane was stopped, we started coming with the others on Memorial Day, thus finding out about how to get onto the clifftop walk. We did this 2 or 3 years then found we had to use the coastal path from the cliffs, and although we are quite fit, I am 60 now and my husband nearly 67, and prefer a safer route! We stopped coming on Memorial Day as we had usually used up our holday for the year by March, the new holiday year stared in April. So we began visiting on our main holday week nearer the summer, though we have been here in April, May, June and September, avoiding the peak months. We used to stay near Falmouth but we spent so much time visiting THIS end of Cornwall, we started staying in the Cove 5 years ago.
So what happened re the path? I assumed this year that it was because we came in May instead of June, and that the grass had not grown so much! What do you think?
I am off to get dressed and breakfast now! I didnt notice where you are from? We are from Luton in Befordshire.
"See" you online soon
All the best

Christine

[Dex Cameron]

My wife and I are down in west Cornwall before long. We were once defeated by the coastal path (well it was drizzling and the wind was getting up with little daylight left!). Where is the inland path please as we'd like to give that a go!

[Joan]

Christine - Hello and welcome to the Forum. As Kath has already said, everyone is really friendly. Lucky you, staying at Lamorna Cove. Hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday.

My husband and I tried the costal path route to Oliver land last year, but found the going difficult. In the end we gave up, as I had recently been having physiotherapy for a torn cartilage in my knee. Little did we realise how close we actually were, only about five minutes away!

This year I joined in the Memorial Walk (where I met Kath and quite a few others - all really nice). The going was much easier on the inland path. The only problem I had was getting across a small stream without falling in. It was an emotional moment finally being at Oliver land, and I burst into tears as soon as I saw the gate.

Am glad you made it down the Winding Lane. It is something I would dearly love to do, and also to cross Monty's Leap. Unfortunately, it will never be possible, as access has rightly been stopped in order to preserve Jane and Peter's privacy.

Looking forward to making your acquaintance on the Forum.

Joan

[Brenda]

Hello, Christine,

Welcome from Skinner's Pond in Northern Ontario. I hope you enjoy participation in this discussion group as much as I have. What a great bunch of people!

I posted a photo in my personal album of the coastal path to Minack from Lamorna Cove - my first-ever experience with the Cornish coastal path. You can imagine how impressed I was! In Canada, we sometimes groan about the inclination of the do-gooders to put a six-foot high chain-link fence on the water side of such a path, and to encourage everyone to wear knee and elbow pads, helmets, long pants, steel-toed boots, condoms, safety glasses and insect repellent, and to get a flu shot before setting out! :wink:

Will look forward to reading your posts and communicating with you from time to time. Brenda

[Janet Swan]

Hello Christine

We are almost neighbours! I'm from Hitchin, just a short distance from Luton.

I understand that the inland path we all mostly use now to get to Oliver Land is privately owned, which explains why it is sometimes too overgrown to use. We were all very lucky in March as it had been recently opened up and we could walk fairly easily along it. Apart from crossing the stream, that is, which is a bit tricky, as one member whose name begins with the letter K will remember :wink:

Looking forward to reading more of your postings and so envious that you have been on holiday in Lamorna Cover :lol:

Janet

[Janet Swan]

Dex

You've asked about the inland cliff path to Oliver Land. You start from 'The Wink' in Lamorna Valley (its worth having lunch there and asking if you could leave your car for a couple of hours - not sure of response but worth a try, as I understand parking in Lamorna Cove is very expensive now).

Cross the road from The Wink and take the steep lane which bends towards the left and the sea, passing the new Memorial Gardens and, further on, Lamorna Apartments - used to be the hotel.

When the lane runs out, look to your right where there are a couple of concrete/garage type buildings, and you'll find the tiny footpath leads off to your right.

Carry along, ignore another tiny footpath which leads off on your left towards the sea, then negotiate the stream (it is possible!) and carry along the path and you'll see Carn Barges ahead.

From Carn Barges, you can see Dorminack in the distance and just follow the footpath along the coast a short way until you reach the Oliver Land gate.

Hope this helps.

Janet

[Dex Cameron]

Thank you Janet: that's brilliantly clear! I guessed it was somewhere near the Wink so that's a good excuse to pop in. The only time we visited Dorminack was from the main road, in the days when you could drive down.

[grandmakod]

We are fortunate in that we now stay in the cove and do not have to pay car park fees. I am a little confused about the mention of a "stream". We went up the hill, through the buildings and just followed the trail, up towards Carn Barges and leading to the gate at the Nature Reserve. Neither of us recall seeing a stream! The only drawback for me was, I was paying such close attention to where I was putting my feet, I got hit on the head by a heavy branch which I did not see! We must have gone the right way, as we got there ok!

[grandmakod]

I remember having a chat with an old local gentleman at Treen one year that we went to Lamorna, he said no one wanted the responsibility of keeping the grass cut on the path, neither the residents or the council. He did say it was cut once a year. I remember him saying "cut in June, cut too soon, cut in July, cut to die" after June it begins to die off apparently! So in March maybe it hasn't started growing too much!

[Kath Mulligan]

Yes it was me who slipped and fell into the stream on our way back from Oliver Land!! :lol: :oops: I was OK on the way out because I borrowed Judy Castree's stick to steady myself, but on the way back she had gone on ahead and Janet and I were mooching back. The banking at the side of the stream was quite steep and slippery and despite wearing wellies, down I went, kneeling not very gracefully at the edge of the water and grabbing at what I thought was a clump of grass to steady myself - it turned out to be a patch of nettles!! So I arrived back at the Wink with muddy knees and filthy dirty, stinging hands.

So, Dex I would recommend that you and your wife go well prepared with sturdy sticks to avoid my fate.

Christine, if you don't remember the stream, did you perhaps take the path to the left that Janet mentioned, rather than carrying on through the fields? The path that we took brought us out onto the cliff path at Carn Barges. It was quite narrow, certainly single file only, in March and I can imagine that by June it has almost disappeared under the grass.

Kath

[grandmakod]

We started off through the fields, but we did come out by Carn Barges, as I thought that was the correct way - it does lead you to the gate to the Nature Reserve. Where does the other path lead? I believe we have probably gone both ways in the time we have been going there, but because the last 2 or 3 years we had to use the coastal path, we may have forgotten the route! It seemed quicker this time! Why do the directions say not to go to the left? We first found the way with John (Coles?) who led the group of people from The Wink, on Memorial Day, I had no idea at the time if anyone was going to be there at The Wink on March 23, but thought it was a safe bet! We had nothing to lose, and needed to find out the way, after only having been there via the lane. I remember being interviewed by John in the pub about how we got into Derek's books. It started for me in the library at home in the 1980's when I saw A Cat in the Window and being a dedicated cat lover I was hooked! I always wanted to see Cornwall from then on, but didn't think hubby would want the long drive! I remember bursting into tears the first time there, I never thought I would see it, as the first couple of years we went to Cornwall we never found out where Minack was. Yet I was always determined it would happen one day!

[gloria townsin]

Hi Christine
I live in Hertfordshire between Watford and Rickmansworth not that far from that huge and dreaded car park - the M25!!
Nice to have someone else in the area as we have talked in the past about a Minack coffee/get together and Janet is the nearest person to me.
We all have made it to Oliver Land for different reasons/ different times and differing routes, we have done all three routes now. The first climbing up to the coastal path from Lamorna was probably the most thrilling and the sense of seeing Dorminack the way Derek and Jeannie first saw it was a wonderful feeling. The inland route via the stream is easier but the stream is a bit of a 'youknow what' to negotiate at different times. I did it easily the first time and was glad no-one else, other than my husband, was around the second time as I looked like goodness knows what slipping and sliding with lots of ouch and whoops going on!
Have a happy time in the West and keep posting, as you can tell we are all pleased to hear from you. :lol:

[Dex Cameron]

I've just remembered that the last time we saw Dorminack was in April 2005 - from the deck of the Scillonian. We didn't see it too clearly because of fog, the very reason we were on it: the plane had been cancelled!

[Linda]

It is said that the the pathway just a little further on from the stream may be ley lines, both myself and a friend of mine have felt a strange sense of peace as we pass through that small section of the inland route. Has anyone else ever heard of any reference to ley lines for this area?

I must admity I have alsways been lucky with the inland path, having used it throughout the year ~ the coastal route scared me the first time with its drop over one side of the gorse...I do not have a head for heights as it is!....yes it was brilliant to see Minack the way Derek and Jeannie saw it but I must admit I love the inland route when Carn barges opens out before you and you get a real sense of excitement in your tum....as you know Minack is not far ...

[BunnyHankers]

I confess I know nothing about ley lines but I remember reading once there's one running through Cornwall called the Dragon Line. As far as I remember it criss crosses right across Cornwall.