St Nectan’s Glen is a magical Cornwall waterfall which is unmissable on a trip to the south west of England.
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If it wasn’t for lockdown, and the grounding of any flights out of England, I probably wouldn’t have seen even half the beauty that I’ve managed to explore in this little country of ours. (Even so, I’ve still not explored much of it; it’s a slow process,pals.) St Nectan’s Glen is a beautiful waterfall in Cornwall, and I visited in June as part of a four day trip. The waterfall’s icy cold water cascades down through a mossy, fern covered forest, and its rugged beauty makes it easy to forget you’re even in England.
How to get to St Nectan’s Glen
St Nectan’s Glen is kind of tricky to reach if you don’t have a car, and we drove there on a baking hot, blue-skied day. It’s no secret that Cornwall is an idyllic part of England; foxgloves grew tall in the hedgerows and down past the fields and cliffs we could see the bright blue strip of the Atlantic Ocean. We were heading for the tiny village of Trethevy- about halfway between Boscastle and Tintagel- and we knew when we’d arrived because of the backlog of a couple of cars sitting in the road waiting for a parking space.
That’s the frustrating thing about going somewhere that everyone else wants to go too, I suppose. Parking the car can be a very slow process indeed. From an old farmhouse across the road, an old woman sat in a deck chair looking mildly amused at the three or four cars looping slowly around in circles in the heat. The car park for St Nectan’s Glen is very small, but truly shouldn’t be made any bigger because the place would be easily overrun with tourists- this size is manageable.
After about half an hour a space became free and we drove straight on in before realising that we didn’t actually have enough change to pay for the spot. And this definitely isn’t a card or parking app kind of a car park, so after a walk to the honesty box chained to a fence, (under the watchful eye of the farm lady), I crammed in all the coins I had and returned discreetly to the car trying to look innocent.
Lesson number one for visiting Cornwall- always carry enough change with you. This is not a cashless kind of a place.
The walk to the waterfall
The walk from Trethevy to St Nectan’s Glen takes just over an hour altogether, and it’s signposted pretty clearly the whole way.
We followed the lane past the crumbly old barns and farm houses, past a well and a tiny 15th century chapel. A granite pillar inscribed with the names of Roman emperors from the 3rd Century let us know that this was once Roman territory, don’t you know. That’s the intriguing thing about England- it’s so bloomin’ old, isn’t it!? Although back in those days, Cornwall was still a completely separate country which was yet to be annexed into England.
The walk took us further along the little lane, where the only vehicles we met were a tractor and a quad bike driven by a man in denim cutoffs and wellingtons. There’s no denying the prettiness of this place, and every now and again we peeked through lower spots in the hedgerows or little brick walls to look out across the brilliant green fields towards the cliffs of Tintagel in the distance. What a place this is!
Eventually the road slopes downwards into the forest, leading walkers on to a footpath through the trees. It’s a nice cool relief from the sun on a hot day, and the path follows a stream all the way up to the steeper climb to the top of the waterfall. A fallen tree had become a wish tree, indented with hundreds of coins pressed into its bark, and every now and again tree trunks spanned the stream- which I had a go at balancing across, although I’m not gonna lie- I was a little on the nervous side there.
Even on a warm summer day the ground can be very muddy in parts, so think about your footwear before you visit this Cornwall waterfall. Grippy soles, and absolutely no flip flops.
Entry to St Nectan’s Glen
Although St Nectan’s Glen is a 100% natural wonder, in the style of many natural wonders it has been commandeered by humans, who slapped a ticket booth and cafe on to the entrance. (This is at the highest part of the woodland walk.) In the case of St Nectan’s Glen- as it’s been declared a site of great spiritual meaning- there’s also a gift shop selling crystals, incense and fairy bookmarks.
Except ‘fairy’ is often spelled ‘faerie’ to prove that they’re authentic.
Entry to St Nectan’s Glen is by cash or card. Adult tickets cost £6.45, child tickets are £4.70, and students and concessions are £4.95.
The waterfall
Legend has it that St Nectan lived as a hermit above the 60 foot waterfall, where he could see to the coast and would ring a bell to warn ships away from the rocky Cornish coastline. The tagline of ‘one of the UK’s most spiritual sites’ is a fairly new invention, but visitors come from all over to visit the meditation room and tie prayer ribbons to tree branches near the water.
But whatever you believe about the spirituality aspect, there’s no denying that St Nectan’s Glen is a beautiful place.
The River Trevillet gushes over the slate, through a natural circular window and into a shallow pool. The dark walls of the waterfall are speckled with bursts of green ferns like fireworks, and patches of moss and ivy. It’s all rather pretty, and the sound of the falling water and the twitter of birds is a lovely backdrop to the whole spectacle. From that shallow pool the water cascades further down the little valley, slowing down into the stream which we’d followed on our way there.
We took our shoes off to wade through the icy water towards the waterfall; and when I say ‘icy’ I truly mean it. The water was so freezing cold that for the first fifteen minutes the experience was painful to say the least. I’d describe the sensation as ‘like walking on frozen daggers.’ But you get used to it. One of my pals was even brave enough to stick his whole entire self under the water, which he said was lovely and refreshing but also probably quite entertaining for everyone else who was visiting St Nectan’s Glen at that moment.
Cold water therapy complete, we headed back up the steep steps and back onto the path through the woods. It’s so easy to forget that places as beautiful as St Nectan’s Glen even exist in England- even if you live right by them. England can be such a land of motorway service stations and copycat industrial estates sometimes, isn’t it? I appreciate discovering pockets of beauty that look almost untouched. It’s a shame that the wild beauty of this stunning waterfall has been ever-so-slightly homogenised by the presence of a gift shop and a ticket barrier, but it’s still a place that is so very worth visiting. What a stunner.
Head to the St Nectans Glen website.
More from North Cornwall
Exploring Boscastle, the Cornish Village in a Valley
Kensington-by-the-Sea: What to do in Rock Beach
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