Gurnard’s Head, Cornwall

This wild, brooding rocky promontory sticks into the Atlantic on the north coast of Cornwall between St Ives and St Just. It makes a great day trip because you can walk the coast path for as much or little time as you want to take in the ocean views, guaranteed to clear the head especially when there’s a gale and the swells are smashing against the rocks.

  It’s been occupied for as long as 4,000 years, witness the remains of an Iron Age fort and (hard to recognize) the foundations of 16 round houses within it. The Celtic tribes who inhabited Cornwall probably arrived from Brittany where there are similar cliff forts.

  The village of Zennor lies about two miles/3 km east on the B3306, not to be missed as part of a Gurnard’s Head expedition. It’s got an interesting church and John Wesley, founder of Methodism, is said to have preached from a rock beside the road leading into the village, hoping to convert the locals – he didn’t succeed. Another famous visitor was the novelist D.H. Lawrence who described the locals as ‘…like insects gone cold, living only for money, for dirt. They are foul in this. They ought all to die.’ A bit much, since he admits having never met one.

 If you want to make a day and night of it – or preferably stay longer to do justice to this part of the North Cornwall coast – there’s one place to go: The Gurnard’s Head, a dining pub with rooms that has authenticity, flair and charm. It’s on the coast road about 500 yards inland from the Head. It’s also well placed for visiting St Ives, Newlyn and the Minack Theatre. See https://www.gurnardshead.co.uk/ and https://charmingsmallhotels.co.uk/britain-and-ireland/cornwall-and-scilly-isles/gurnards-head/.