Wild Flowers of the Cornish Valleys and Lizard Peninsula

Dates & Prix

2021
Wed 19th May - Sat 22nd May - 587 €

2022
Wed 18th May - Sat 21st May - 623 €

What's Included?

-Accommodation: Accommodation will be in a comfortable hotel. All rooms have private facilities. Evening meals will be in an adjacent inn. Single occupancy rooms available at a supplementary cost.

-Food: Breakfast and evening meals are included in the tour price but lunches are not included.

* These tours are operated by Naturetrek (ABTA Y6206) for which Nature et Terroir acts as agent.
“Many of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays in this brochure are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed in this brochure. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected. Please see our booking conditions for information, or for more information about financial protection and the ATOL Certificate go to: www.atol.org.uk/ATOLcertificate”

-“It is a condition of joining one of our holidays that you must be insured against medical and personal liability risks, including our 24-hour medical emergency assistance cover. We strongly recommend that you ensure the cancellation cover under your policy insures the full value of your holiday.”

-Le prix de ces séjours est sous l'influence directe du taux de change de l'US Dollar et de la Livre Sterling... NATURE & TERROIR se réserve le droit, selon ses conditions générales de vente, de revoir son prix en cas de fluctuation importante des devises ou des tarifs de transport.
-Le prix affiché est majoré de 10 euros pour frais bancaires.
-En cas d’inscription à moins de 70 jours de la date de départ, la totalité du montant du bon de commande est dû dès inscription. A plus de 70 jours, un acompte de 30% est dû, le solde étant à verser dans les 70 jours précédents le départ.

Pip O'Brien

Journalier

Itinerary

NB. Please note that the itinerary below offers our planned programme of excursions. However, adverse weather & other local considerations can necessitate some re-ordering of the programme during the course of the tour, though this will always be done to maximise best use of the time and weather conditions available.

Day 1
Arrival and The Lizard

The group will meet up at the Premier Inn at Helston in the early afternoon. Check-in is available from 2pm. Once we have settled in we will set off on a short afternoon excursion to the Lizard Peninsula. Our likely destination will be the charming beach and sand dunes at Gunwalloe Church Cove in the northwest of the peninsula. Here we will search for tideline species such as the pretty pink-flowered Sea Rocket, Sea Sandwort, Sea Holly, Sea Kale and possibly Ray’s or Sea Knotgrass, although the latter two are usually late-season flowerers.
We will return to the hotel in good time for dinner and later that evening, your tour leader will outline the programme for the next couple of days.

Day 2 
The Lizard
This morning, after breakfast, we will head back to the Lizard and will drive down to Lizard Village before continuing on foot to the point itself where we will look for the Choughs, if they are in residence, before walking along the coastal path to the east searching for interesting plants such as the Lizard specialty, the Long-headed Clover, Tree Mallow, Western Fumitory and Hairy Bird’s-foot Trefoil. We will keep half an eye on the sea for any passing cetaceans or Basking Sharks!
We will then move on to the National Trust car park at Kynance Cove and will walk down the paved track towards the beach but will no doubt be making a number of diversions up the grassy valley sides to examine the wealth of interesting plants. We should find Bloody Crane’s-bill, Spring Squill, Thyme Broomrape, Hairy Greenweed, Burnet Rose, Spring Sandwort and possibly Spotted Cat’s-ear.
When we arrive at the beach we will make a slow climb up to the spectacular cliff-top where we can look across to Asparagus Island (accessible at low-tide) named for its colony of this special plant, the Wild or Prostrate Asparagus. With luck we may find a few plants on the Kynance cliffs, hereabouts. We will then follow the coastal path northwards, botanising along the way until we reach the entrance to Gew Graze Valley. This grassy valley is a fascinating spot and has several serpentine outcrops. Special plants that occur here are Prostrate Broom, Juniper, Rosy Garlic, Pale Flax, Rough, Knotted, Subterranean and Twin-headed Clovers, Wild Chives, Dwarf Rush and Knotted Hedge-parsley.
On our way back we will take a more direct route across the heath, examining the damp rutted tracks for any late specimens of the tiny rare fern, Land Quillwort and Pygmy Rush, as well as any small pools for the Three-lobed Water Crowfoot.

Day 3 
Porthgwarra, St Just and Marazion

Today we will head west to visit the secluded valley and cove of Porthgwarra just 3 miles east of Land’s End. Rumoured to be an ancient smugglers route, this cove used to support a thriving fishing community but today is only used by the occasional crab fishermen. At the bottom of the valley we will follow the cliff path west a short way towards Land’s End to look for rare plants in the cliff-top heathland. Spring Squill is often abundant and the cries of Choughs resonate from the steep cliffs. We will also watch out for birds which often use this sheltered valley on migration.
We will then drive on to St Just where we will explore the valley at Nanquidno. Low-intensive farming practices in the fields around the valley support colonies of Purple Viper’s Bugloss, a common and often invasive plant on the continent but restricted in Britain to this small agricultural area at the tip of Cornwall. We may also visit one of the other valleys nearby such as Cot or Kenidjack.
Later, as we head back east, we will visit the beach and dunes at Marazion, where we may find several maritime species including the rare Small or Cretan Tree Mallow and the naturalised, autumn-flowering Sea Daffodil.

Day 4 
The Lizard

This morning we will return to The Lizard and visit the valley leading from the Lizard village green to Caerthillian Cove. Here we will look for more Lizard specialities such as Upright and Western Clover and the minute, succulent-leaved Fringed Rupturewort amongst others.
If time allows we will also visit the nearby Windmill Farm Nature reserve which is home to the scarce Marsh Fritillary butterfly and a flora more associated with damp habitats such as Heath Spotted Orchid, Pygmy Rush, Pale Butterwort and Sea Stork’s-bill.
The tour will conclude in the early afternoon.

Liste des Observations

Photos

Infos pratiques