On the cool, north-facing, hillside above the sinuous entrance to Boscastle harbour, primroses still flower with vernal squill and scurvy grass. The incoming tide sloshes beneath the slate cliffs of Blackapit, where thrift clings to crevices and gulls perch on ledges. Swaths of red campion spread across the defensive bank of Willapark – an iron age cliff castle or fortified headland.
Out there, above slopes of seeding bluebells, bladder campion quivers in the gentle onshore breeze and stonechats patrol their thickets of blackthorn. From the summit, with its white-washed former coastguards’ lookout tower, visitors linger to admire the views – southwest towards Tintagel, up-coast to Cambeak and the far-off, hazy shape of Lundy.
Just inland, a skylark sings above the Forrabury “stitches” – unfenced, medieval strips that used to be cropped by individual tenants in the summer months then common grazed later in the year. Now, the low banks and curving plots are smothered in pollen-full grasses with sorrel, plantain, buttercup and yellow rattle.
The harshness of this coastal belt is belied by the profusion of summer blooms; Cornwall’s typical hedgerow flora, with foxgloves and ferns at their best, thrive in sheltered hollows. On the most exposed land, on stone walls and outcrops, natural rock gardens are dominated by cushions and tufts of sea pinks like dollops of strawberry icecream.
Walkers stroll in the June warmth, along paths set above precipitous cliffs, caves and offshore islets surrounded by sparkling sea. It is hard to imagine the 19th century, when workers from inland hamlets made their way seawards to be lowered on a system of cables to extract slate from California Quarry.
Beyond Trevalga cliff and a caravan park, the Rocky Valley, with its shady gullies and little waterfalls, leads inland, past a ruined watermill and the strange maze carvings on a rock face. People converge on the tea gardens at St Nectan’s Kieve and we meander through sunny meadows and across airy pastures overlooking the sea before reaching Paradise and the steep descent back into Boscastle.
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