The Kelseys



OS Explorer Map: 104
Start Ref: 768 589
End Ref: 768 589
Grading: Easy
Distance: 3.5 miles
Time: 2hrs

This short, circular walk is an ideal walk in Cornwall if you are wanting to blow away those cobwebs, or if you have family who just want to go to the beach whilst you have a walk. We have beaches a plenty, coastline and open access areas to walk and to breathe deep of coastal air, and if you feellike a short detour you can even (at low tide, and check with the tide times first) visit one of Cornwall`s many Holy Wells.

We start this walk in the National Trust car park in Holywell, and leave the car park joining the footpath on the opposite side of the road, following it down and to the small footbridge that crosses over the stream and the base of the sand dunes.We are going to cross over this bridge and follow the footpath along the back edge of the dunes fronting onto the beach as it leads us the half mile up to the gate which leads us through onto the open access area that is The Kelseys.

We are going to follow the path through the gates as it leads us around to Kelsey Head, at which we will find the remains of an old settlement and ditch system, and be greeted with some lovely Cornish coastline views.

A clifftop view of the bay with the ocean in view

Aroundthe headland we will continue as we look left out towards Pentire Point West which is on the far side of the beautiful Porth Joke. We follow the path towards the beach and cross over a little footbridge until we come to the head of the beach. Here, rather than cross over another bridge which would continue to take us on the coastal path, we are going to follow the path up the valley and through a gate which will lead us up a path and alongto (and through) the car park which services this car park.

As weleave the car park, we turn right and follow the bridleway until we reach the far hedge and a signpost pointing us left or right. We are going to turn right, but rather than follow the path as it leads along the hedge taking us left, we are going to bearright and up, as we head up The Kelseys until we reach another wall, with a gate on our right.

We need to go through this gate and then keep the fence/hedge on our left (the other side of which is the Golf Course), until we reach the end of this field andagain find a little gate on our left. As we go through this gate we start to head downhill BUT keep an ear and eye out for stray golf balls as again we track the edge of the golf course!

An uphill view of the grass covered dunes with a small wire fence in the distance

At the bottom, we head slightly rightthrough the trees and after a short burst in the dunes find ourselves in what feels like private gardens. This soon re-emerges as the lower section of the dunes and soon we see the footbridge that we initially walked over to join the sand dunes.Crossing this bridge we pick up our original path that leads us back to the car.

Of course, we may decide to spend the rest of the day on the beach, or visit one of Holywell`s pubs for a bit to eat, or visit the Holy Well. The Holy Well,is in a cave just below the mean high water mark atthe north easternedge of the beachalmost under the fence line where the open access area joins the field system above us.If you are going to visit, please check the tide tables first to make sure that you do not become cut off!