In essence the route is from Mevagissey to Portmellon, then inland and uphill to Gorran Churchtown. After Gorran Churchtown it was downhill to Gorran Haven and lunch by the beach. When we visited it in the winter the beach was deserted. This was far from the case on the sunny and relatively warm day of 27th July when the Gorran beach was as crowded as I've seen it.

At just gone 10.30 AM, we made our way from the Mevagissey car and coach park and headed down into the seaside village.

Mevagissey was beginning to get ready for the expected crowds this sunny day would bring and the gift shops and food outlets were open for the Sunday tourists.

As we made our way along the narrow streets, on our left hand side we could just see the harbour.

It was not until we gained height as we followed the road from Mevagissey up over the headland towards Portmellon that we got a good panoramic view of the harbour and the village itself.

Mevagissey prides itself on being a real working fishing port and there were plenty of fishing boats 'waiting for the tide' in the inner harbour. It is also a popular tourist resort too as the crowds of people beginning to arrive clearly showed.

It was a short, but steep, climb up out of Mevagissey and we were soon making our way down the hill from the top of the headland and were approaching the much smaller seaside village of Portmellon.

It was fairly low tide at Portmellon and although it has a nice sandy beach there seemed to be a lot of seaweed over it, spoiling it rather, perhaps brought in after the strong onshore winds of the past few days.

We took a morning coffee break by the curved sea wall shielding the houses behind the beach at Portmellon.

One of our walkers had stayed at this small port many years ago and recalled the ferocity of the sea during a storm when the houses at the side behind the breakwater were completely covered by huge waves and spray.

We walked along to a small boatyard at the west end, then we swung inland by the side of the yard and started to make our way west up a valley on the south side of a brook, following the right of way signposts.

We made our way carefully along the fields and over a few stiles in this steep sided valley.

Some of the stiles were rather slippery after the recent heavy rains in the Westcountry. One stile had stone 'steps' and this was particularly tricky

After a few hundred yards we entered a wood designated as a nature reserve, although there was no information to be had.

It was not until we reached the far end at the top of a steep hill that we found out details of the reserve.

After about a quarter of a mile or so of walking through the wood and a mixture of gates and stiles, we exited it over another stile, made our way along a meadow where the grass and weeds had been allowed to develop and the sound of the honey bees were clearly heard. Shortly afterwards we crossed another stile turned left and followed the footpath south west up a very,very steep climb, albeit mercifully short, up to the top of the field and over another stile.

Most people stopped at least twice, to enjoy the view and catch their breath. It was only when we reached this point that we found an information stand telling us that we had been walking through woodland looked after by the woodland trust who were encouraging wildlife of all varieties back into the woodland and the meadows.

Once over the stile, although still uphill it was far less steep than the valley side we had just dragged ourselves up.

In the distance, ahead of us, we could see the spire of a church in the distance, between the trees.

We continued on south west across relatively level terrain across more fields and eventually came out onto a lane.

We turned left into the lane and followed it up towards the village church whose spire stood out ever larger against the blue sky as we neared it.

We had arrived at the highest point on the walk, only 100 m or thereabouts above mean sea level, at a village called Gorran Churchtown. Obviously the large church had influenced the name of the village.

We made our way along by the church and turned right and into the small village until we came to a road junction.

From here we could have headed south across to Dodman Point, a magnificent Cornish headland, continued South West towards Boswinger and the coast path west of the Dodman or South East down towards the holiday village of Gorran Haven.

As it was a Mevagissey to Gorran Haven walk, it was no surprise when we turned left and headed along the road towards Gorran Haven. It was about a mile between the two Gorrans and I hoped it wouldn't be all the way on the road.

It wasn't. After a couple of hundred yards we turned left onto a wider road and shortly after near a road junction signed to Portmellon or Gorran haven, we turned right through a gate and from there, across a couple of fields, and two more stiles before emerging out on the road for the half a mile down to Gorran Haven and the beach.

On the way down, we walked by some beautiful houses and followed the signpost down the road leading to a car park off to the left.

At £1.50p for the day it was rather cheaper than the £5 for the days parking at the much bigger resort of Mevagissey.

Not far beyond the car park, there were shops and a toilet to the right, a public house and of course the beach of Gorran Haven.

At just gone 12.30 we made our way onto and across the beach for the lunch stop.

On our winter visit in 2000, the beach had been deserted. In high summer in 2003 it was very busy.

It was nice to see that the tourists are coming to Cornwall for their main summer holiday and not all jetting off to resorts all round the world.

We had a nice break on seats overlooking the beach and the sea was very very calm and looked very inviting.

At the westerly end of the beach is the harbour wall of Gorran Haven and this must provide superb shelter from the prevailing south west wind .

After a comfortable half an hour in the sun we were off again. We returned from the beach to a narrow road leading uphill heading east up by Gorran Church,several houses, some older terraced ones and then some superb new ones with tremendous views out across the bay.

Soon we were off road/tracks and over a stile and onto the coastal path with its ups and downs for the return to Mevagissey.

Out to sea we could see a rocky outcrop, Gwineas Rocks and the coastal cliffs stretched on and on.  

We made good progress along the coastal path with the stiles here and there and a bridge over a stream.

Below us, according to the map was Great Perhaver Beach although the beach wasn't that obvious.

Ahead of us was a very distinctive headland, Pabyer Point, which protruded out to the sea and provided the nearest land point to Gwineas Rocks.

The coastal path was mighty close to the 200 ft cliffs from time to time and so care was needed during this section, particularly with the muddy conditions underfoot.

Beyond Pabyer Point, the high cliffs sloped down and we descended with care to Turbot Point.

Beyond that we could see another very low level promontory with some very distinctive houses on it. Julie told us that these were once the home of nuns, what order, I've no idea. there certainly had a lovely spot to have a nunnery.

No wonder the Point was called Chapel Point.

There was a very nice secluded inlet between Turbot Point and Chapel Point with a quiet and secluded beach, called Colona Beach. There were people on it but very few compared with the numbers we had found at Gorran Haven.

We stopped on the edge of Colona beach, just south of Chapel Point before the final leg of the walk back towards Portmellon and Mevagissey.

The sea water in the inlet looked very inviting and our guest walker from County Wicklow in Ireland, found the water too enticing to miss the chance of a swim and took the plunge.

Naturally she got a round of applause from the rest of us who perhaps also wished they had taken the opportunity.

Following the break for tea and the swim for Miriam, we were on our way again, for the final leg of the coast path back to Although for the most part relatively level we were walking along the side of a slope and the path was decidedly slippery.

In the distance we could see the houses of the two adjoining villages Mevagissey and Portmellon and we could easily pick out the outer harbour wall of Mevagissey a mile away.

We had an ascent up the slope of the coastal path to the track linking Portmellon to Chapel Point and soon we were descending the narrow road down towards the beach.

We skirted around the edge of the beach and passing the point where we had stopped for morning coffee at 11 AM.

It was a very different beach with the tide in. No masses of seaweed but boats sailing around in the light breeze and it appeared a much more attractive place than it had in the morning.

The rest of the walk back was a case of walking up the road linking the two resorts with the pub to our left, up the steep ascent to the top of small headland separating them and of course more good views

On the seaward side just above the harbour the coastal path descends through a little park before returning to the road again for the final descent into the village.

With water filling the outer and inner harbours of Mevagissey it certainly looked attractive.

By following the zig zag path down through the formal garden it is possible to go straight down to the edge of the outer harbour and then follow the road right by the harbour for the final run into the village.

We stayed higher and were soon picking our way along through through the very busy narrow streets and olde worlde houses of Mevagissey.

Many, including Julie, had the call of the cream tea in Mevagissey so we said our farewells and thanks to Julie in the centre of Mevagissey before returning to the coach and car park.

In the morning it was relatively empty, five hours later it was absolutely heaving with cars, barely an empty slot to be found.

The car/coach park owners must surely have been rubbing their hands.

By 3.15 PM we were on our way back to Plymouth after a lovely walk on a sunny summer day. It reminded us that there is a yellow thing up there in the sky, although we hadn't seen much of it for the past week.