Caerleon
Cove
|
We first searched the dunes at Kennack more
thoroughly and recorded autumn lady’s tresses, clary, rough clover, common
storksbill, carline thistle and lesser meadow-rue. There were also two rare beetles, the
Notable A dune dung beetle Onthophagus
nuchicornis and the Notable B leaf beetle Chrysolina haemoptera restricted to southern coasts. So it was late morning by the time we set
off below the caravans and golf-course along the cliffs, fairly level, but
with few chances to reach the shore.
Towards Cadgwith the geology changed back to hornblende schist and
plants were less interesting, with a predominance of introduced species
clambering over the cliffs, although in one arable field we noticed lesser
snapdragon.
The
first cove was Caerleon with a wonderful mix of large pebbles. It was the next cove at Cadgwith where we
stopped at the lookout for lunch above a working fishing harbour littered
with boats and paraphernalia, watching a wheatear working the sea-walls. It has a pebble shore, the boats placed on
thick tree branches as rollers to move them up and down. The rocks are striated and curled yellows
and greys of hornblende schist. We
walked up the road from the village and wound around the Devil’s Frying Pan,
a collapsed cave with sea showing through a gap under a natural arch at the
entrance. A pond below the path was
red with water-purslane, but also contained ivy-leaved crowfoot and many frogs. The path eventually passed back into
serpentine and we reached a disused quarry.
Again we found autumn lady’s-tresses, along with yellow rattle and
fringed rupturewort.
We
continued down to Landewednack Church Cove which, towards high tide, had no
beach, merely a steep slipway for boats.
There we ate a Cornish cream tea.
Before getting a taxi back we called at the church which has
serpentine pillars framing the entrance.
Lizard Hotel, our accommodation for the next several nights, has great
views towards Kynance Cove and almost to
Water
purslane
|
Autumn
lady’s tresses
Dung-beetle
Onthophagus nuchicornis
Hornblende-schist
at Cadgwith Cove
|
PLANTS
OF THE LIZARD
These
plants were seen on more than one day but only on the Lizard.
Hairy greenweed
Long-headed clover
|
Cornish heath
Fringed Rupturewort
Western clover (with rough clover)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment