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OS Ref: SW 351 318
Last Visited: 1993
Before the invention of modern cartography, Cape Cornwall was considered the most westerly point of the British mainland. Then the surveyors came along, and discovered that a rather nondescript bit of cliff a few miles further south was, in fact, slightly further west. This they promptly named Land's End.
This is great, as all the crowds stream to Land's End, and stand on the cliffs wondering what all the fuss is about. Cape Cornwall is left in peace as Britain's spiritual westernmost point, and the only Cape in Southern Britain.
Standing on the end of Cape Cornwall, you feel that you are at a parting of the ways with the Bristol Channel to your right, and the English Channel just around the corner to your left. At Land's End you feel like you're standing on a cliff, looking out to the Longships and trying to spot the Isles of Scilly.
Great cliff top walking. Old mine buildings. Weird rocks on the beach at Porth Ledden, and at Porth Nanven just south of here, at the end of the Cot Valley.