Lerryn is located on a tributary of the River Fowey and is approached by driving down almost to Lostwithiel and turning left to the well signposted but narrow roads leading to Lerryn. I've included a basic map of the area for those wishing to find Lerryn and the walk.

 

32 ramblers made it to the start and Adeline gave us a good expanation of the planned figure of 8 walk with a walk down the southern edge of the river during the morning with a return to Lerryn for lunch. We would then cross over the river by the stepping stone ford and then continue up the river to St Winnow before returning over the hills and back to Lerryn.	The river Lerryn is a picturesque tidal river with lots of small boats and the first stage of the walk was to take us down the river close to where it meets the river Fowey. We set off promptly at 10.35 passing the village shop and the pub. I made a mental note that the store sold pasties!!
The river is heavily wooded on both sides and Adeline had explained that a hundred years ago it was a thriving port with a great deal of trade. There had been a big house near the river with a large fountain marking the entrance. As you can see the fountain is now almost swallowed up by the woods.	After 45 mins we found ourselves down by the river and we took our morning coffee break watching the herons, egrets and other wildlife foraging the mudbanks as the tide receded.
From the river bank there were good views down the Lerryn and across the river Fowey to Golant on the other side. The first road bridge over the Fowey is at Lostwithiel so it was about 10 miles to get around to this unspoilt village on the other bank	We continued down the river for a further 20 minutes before swinging left for a brisk climb up through the woodsand then on a small road. Surprisingly the group kept reasonably close together during the climb. We left the road and continued up through fields of linseed waiting to be harvested. At the top we had good views of Lerryn and of the high ground behind.

Unfortunately one of the group was unwell and needed treatment fairly urgently. Some of the group were cutting the walk short and returning to Plymouth at this time and transport was available. One of our group was also a district nurse and she volunteered to accompany him back to the hospital. Lets hope he is alright.

We were soon crossing the stepping stones across the Lerryn and were making our way down the northern side of the river through the wooded valley. We continued right down to where the river joined the Fowey. It was now dead low tide and there was very little water in the river. The views across the mudflats were interesting, with plenty of boats dried out. Just to think that only a couple of miles down the river, there was one of the finest deep water sheltered harbours in the Westcountry.	About a mile up the Fowey we came upon an old church nestled right against the river. I wonder what its history was??. The pictures shows just how close it is to the river. It was the parrish chuch of St Winnow. We took a coffee break here as many of the group took the opportunity of looking over the inside of the church.
Naturally it was now to be an uphill climb over the top and back to Lerryn through woods and fields. Adeline can be seen leading some of the group up through a right of way over a field. There were really good views again from the high point at the top.	There was certainly quite a lot of variety in this walk and we were soon passing thr ough woods again and an area where the national trust had bought an old mill and were busy renovating it. It should be quite a local attraction if they can get it back to the original working order.
Climbing up through the woods again we were soon at the top of the hill and passing close to an old manor house, St Erin Manor. The last mile was all downhill and before long we were making our way through a local council hng ousing area before dropping back down to cross the river at the stepping stones once again.	Just upstream of the stepping stones we could see an old bridge and Adeline told us that it was built in the 15th century. There were plenty of superb vistas such as these on this walk.

It was now getting on for 4PM and we had covered 9 miles or more. There had been rain on and off throughout the afternoon but luckily for us the heaviest rain fell when we were under the canopy of the woods.

All that was left was to return to Plymouth to our cars and home again.