I often find that for a long time many clusters of lighthouses I’ve not visited in a particular area remain fairly low on my priority list. It becomes one of those areas where I still have a fair amount to do, and I don’t go to any great lengths to remedy that. But then an opportunity arises and suddenly you see the possibility of actually being able to complete the list in a particular region, which is a very exciting prospect for someone as prone to ticking stuff off a list as I am.

This has certainly been the case with Cornwall on this trip. For many years my progress in the region has been at a standstill. It really doesn’t help when it’s at the opposite end of the country, of course. With life going at 100mph recently I’d not even had the time to look at what I had left to do in the region until I was on my way here. That was when I realised the potential for completion, if only things went to plan for the week…

With a boat trip postponed on Monday, it left a free day to make a start on what was left on my list. Unfortunately I awoke feeling rather unwell and hauling myself out of bed and getting ready for the day was far more of an effort than it should have been. For a while after that task was complete I felt ok, but it wasn’t long into the car journey that I began regretting my decision to leave the hotel.

It felt like an eternity in the car, heading east to get to Fowey, which was home to one of my remaining lights to visit. Prior to doing my proper research I’d been to Fowey and visited the lantern on a platform at St Catherine’s Point, but I’d missed the little Whitehouse Point light, also known as the ‘red rocket’.

Recognising that I wasn’t at my best, Bob did a great job of getting me as close as he could to the light, which was at the top of the short alleyway called Whitehouse, so it was just the shortest of walks to get there. Unfortunately though it just happened to coincide with a rather heavy rain shower. It was all fine though and was good to see this one up close.

At this point I was still longing for sleep, but being over halfway to Polperro I agreed to stick with the original plan or visiting the little lighthouse there. Another ferry beckoned – there seem to be so many of them – and a short while later we arrived in Polperro. With this one involving a bit more walking than at Fowey, Bob kindly offered to drive me as far as he could along the winding little streets of Polperro before I then proceeded on foot.

It was a very warm afternoon when sheltered by the houses so closely positioned on either side of the road, but as I emerged from the bustling streets and made my way up onto the coastal path, the views became much more open with some fantastic rock formations and clear, calm sea. It looks like a great place, when viewed from a distance, but is certainly popular judging by the number of people about.

There are plenty of opportunities for emerging scenic views as you wander up the coastal path. At one point a path looked to be heading off closer to the coast, but I carried on straight ahead as the map showed a loop I could take and views from higher up quite often are very rewarding. This was certainly the case at Polperro.

I spotted the path down towards the coast easily enough and then it didn’t take long before the lighthouse came into view. Zigzagging my way down, I reached the lighthouse.

It’s a funny one as the look of it implies it’s petite and really quite sweet, but it is actually more substantial than that. When you are standing next to it you realise it’s not so small after all. It is a really unique design though and would be very difficult to confuse with any others in the UK once you had been there. It’s also incredibly old, in the nicest possible way, but in a very well maintained kind of way. As you can see from the picture, the structures dates back to 1911.

I took the direct route back which also offered slightly different views of the entrance to Polperro harbour.

Two lighthouses was definitely my limit for the day so it was back to the hotel room for me after that to get some sleep and hopefully recover enough for what was planned the following day 🙂