We have been blessed with a lovely dry and mild spell here in Cornwall this week, so a friend and I have been waiting for a free day to get out of Bude for a walk. I've had this particular walk on my to-do list for some time now, so we decided to give it a try.
Camelford is just up the A39 and normally a town I would drive through on the way to Wadebridge or Bodmin, so it was nice to park up and have a wander up the main street to start our walk. We popped our heads around the door of the wool and fabric shop first, both keen to see what was on sale. It's only open until 1pm, so we plan to return another time to spend a few pennies in there.
The walk starts from the side of the shop, and is clearly signed as the riverside walk. Within 50 metres, we were walking alongside the River Camel and no sound of the traffic on the A39.
We passed Fenteroon Bridge and walked up the road past the farm and cottages, crossing over into the field and woodland. After a mile or so, we reached Trethin Manor, and walked through the lovely gardens to reach the field leading up to Advent Church. We couldn't get inside to look around, but admired the building before continuing on our walk.
The next section was across fields and we were often confused by the lack of waymarkers and consulting the OS map to establish where we were headed. We left one field in the wrong place onto a lane, but otherwise did manage to come out at the points identified in the walk book. Many of the stiles were quite high, so we were really glad we weren't under 5' tall! Dogs would have to be lifted over them too, so this would be very tricky with larger (and muddy!) dogs. Passing by a couple of farms, we eventually arrived back a short distance away from Fenteroon Bridge. We returned along a lane and muddy track, down to the river and back into Camelford opposite the car park.
We both enjoyed the walk, but agreed that it was more arduous than the book suggested, and a mile longer. Thankfully, we had bought a car park ticket for 5 hours to allow us time for a picnic stop.
This walk is listed in the AA book of 50 Walks In Cornwall. I have the 2003 edition, but there may well be a more recent publication by now. I have done several of the walks in the book, many on holidays taken here before our move to Cornwall. I always ensure that I have an OS map of the region as a back up, and this proved very handy on this walk.
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