Helford River
The Helford River is a large estuary that sits between the western edge of Falmouth Bay and eastern side of The Lizard Peninsula – and it is renowned for its scenic beauty and marine ecology – and there is no better place to be ‘messing around in boats’.
The river is an excellent base for water sports including kayaking, sailing and snorkelling as it is generally sheltered from most winds, except those in an easterly direction.
You can take boats out from various locations along the river and there is a ferry journey from Helford Passage to Helford village – also around the river there are plenty of opportunities for walking and birdwatching – as well as the beaches, pubs and gardens that are dotted around the shoreline of the estuary.
On the Falmouth side of the river are two beautiful gardens, Trebah and Glendurgan – Glendurgan is National Trust – Both gardens are home to a number of exotic plants – including many sub-tropical ones in Trebah. The gardens wend their way down to the water’s edge on the shores of the Helford so it is possible to visit the gardens and picnic on the beach.
The Ferryboat Inn at Helford Passage and The Shipwrights Arms at Helford Village linked by the ferry – provide excellent food, drink and stunning scenery as a rest from a coastal footpath walk or from boating.
There are many other dining pubs in the Helford River area – The Trengilly Wartha near Constantine The Ship Inn and Old Courthouse Restaurant at Mawgan plus The Black Swan at Gweek.
The Helford River is a Sites of Special Scientific Interest and an extremely important area of conservation and wildlife – it provides sheltered and varied habitats that make it an important breeding ground for many species.
The rocky shores at Nare Point and Prisk Cove provide the habitats for a number of creatures, including porcelain crabs, sea-squirts and sponges, as well as a variety of anemones, worm populations and starfish – and the eelgrass beds around the Bar Beach, Treath and Gillan areas that disappeared in the 1980s are now recovering and these are being monitored by marine conservation groups – Port Navas oyster fishery developed by The Duchy of Cornwall also provides an important industry for the Helford River area.
The Helford River shoreline is around in length – offering quiet beaches and villages and creeks to explore – many people choose to explore the river by boat as this is the best way to discover the many creeks.
Many of these are tree-fringed and muddy-shored and boast a wealth of marine wildlife – secluded from the main estuary, the creeks are extremely peaceful and beautiful – with steep sides rising up sharply from the water – the short banks are of mud and rock and provide habitats for a wide range of bird species, including little egrets, grey herons, cormorants and various divers, grebes and ducks.
Daphne Du Maurier immortalised one of the Helford River’s creeks in her novel “Frenchman’s Creek” – though in its quiet tranquillity it is easy to imagine discovering a French pirate lurking there, as there was in the novel.