Mr Hamhead

At the east end of Holywell Bay and below Kelsey Head can be found the Holywell that gives the area its name. Only reachable at low tide, the well or wells are found inside a large cave that can not be seen from the main part of the beach.

Many pools have been formed by natural build up of minerals more in common with the mendip cave systems.

How and when they got the name holy well I am not sure but as with many of the other wells in Cornwall there origins are pre Christian.

I great place to escape from the excesses of Newquay or Perranporth.

Oct 2nd 2004

Windy but sunny, I sit on the northern edge of Berry Castle and have a snack. Great views of most of Bodmin Moor.
This site is hard to interpret, very overgrown, square? in shape with loads of rocks lying around all over the place inside it. At one point I think I found a hut circle but....

I don’t seem to be able to find any literature that agrees on a date for the place...anything from neolithic to iron age.

Hidden from the road by trees and the fact that the menhir its self is covered in moss.
It’s a big one!
You will need an OS map to find it, take the road that leads up towards the China Clay workings north of St Neot. When you get to the right hand turning to Northwood Farm stop and go over the gate opposit. The menhir is built into the hedge on your right.
Why is it here?
Only other sites in the area are a cairn on Mutton Down and Berry castle. There seems to be an argument as to how old Berry castle is, Iron age or earlier?
Off the usual route but I am glad I visited.

To be honest I wasn’t looking for a stone row...I was just out for a walk after visiting the remains of the nearby clay works.
And I was lost....well not exactly, but I had given up on finding the footpath and was just heading west into the sun hoping to find a wall somewhere....
Next thing I know there is this hugh great stone leaning at some precarious angle in front of me. Could this be the stone row that should be further to the north?
Well, yes it was and although the gorse bushes prevent you from seeing no more than three stones at a time I managed to find the northern stone quite easily.
Compared with the other rows I have visited on Bodmin Moor this one is made up of giant stones. The southern one I would reckon to have been about 6ft high when upright. Compare it with Craddock Moor where they struggle to be seen above the grass.
Also this one is built where it would be seen, on a ridge with views to the east and west. The view this evening to the west was of the shining waters off of Padstow, fantastic.
After deciding I had found both ends of the row I march off towards St Bellarmins Tor. On the way I came across another standing stone, it is not marked on maps and I could not work out if it was in line with the row but....as my picture shows it has lovely views of Brown Willy, Roughtor and in the middle Hawks Tor with the Stipple Stones on its southern edge.

This whole area to the east of Colvannick Stone Row is littered with small barrows. It is also a Danger Area due to the firing range to the south. Because of this it is not well visited and even though there are several footpaths crossing the area none are signposted and navigation is not easy.
On the east facing side of Great Care Hill can be found a couple of hut circles hidden amongst the gorse.

The shortest of the Bodmin Moor stone rows at just under 60M in length. It can be found by taking a footpath from Dryworks on the road from Bolventor to Golitha Falls. Descend down into the Fowey valley and cross a bridge at a lovely spot. Climbing up the other side, once in the second field wait until the northern end on the Fir plantation comes into line. Then head upwards and you should find the north end of the row.
None of the stones are very high.

I can find no record of these two stones, either as prehistoric or later. At first i though they could be a entrance to something but they are only just inside an old field wall and although there are stones littered between them there are known either side.

Not on a well use footpath, I don’t suppose anyone else will be heading this way...but you never know.

From the northern circle I lined up my map and walked off in a southeasterly direction. On the map a small pond is shown near the row and noticing the bumps in the ground I reckoned on where I might find it.

I must admit I took the cairn for a waste tip from the early mining in the area. I am still not sure if the three larger stones lying on the ground are part of the row or if it starts with the first upright.

I will let you decide.

I must admit I did not walk the whole length of the row, only as far as the workings.

My fieldnotes from 2 years ago said “try again when weather is better”
Could not have asked for a better day! the sun shone down, there was a nice breeze..and I had the place to myself.
The circle is easily seen from Leskernick Hill on a good day and not far from the footpath just south of it.

I actually found this by walking up from the farmhouse and studying the map very hard.....needless to say i found several other “circles” on my way.

It does not look like a circle and it was only on using the TMA and the Bodmin Moor survey book that I recognised it.

7 August 2004

Whilst hordes of holiday makers pour into Cornwall and spread themselves all over the beaches I head for the hills. This is my second visit to Leskernick...and this time I know what i’m looking for.

I approach from Bolventor by taking the road to Codda and then following the footpath out onto the moor. As you go through the gate and out onto the hillside it is best to carry on straight ahead contouring around to Leskernick Farmhouse.
From there head up into the settlement, I wonder how many people lived up here?. The “quoit” is on the western side of the hill and after visiting that head back over the top and look down upon the settlement.
From here it is possible on a good day to spot both the stone circles and a path down through the huts leads to the northern one.
Once you have found this the stone row lies diagonally to the left towards the humps and bumps of early mining work.
The other stone circle lies just upslope to the right of the western end of the row.
The low squareish humps you will come across all over the hillside are peat stack bases known as steeds or ricks. I have never seen so many in a small area anywhere else on the moor.

Is it or isn’t it?

On a hillside littered with stones we have to take the experts view and say it is.

The “quoit” is to be found on the upper west part of Leskernick Hill, slightly away from the main settlement remains.

Although Leskernick is a bit of a hike to get to it is worth it, space, peace and just so much history.

The OS map claims there to be a fort here, all that I could see was a low ridge and shallow ditch. Kathy, my partner thought the stone looked like a camels head.
On the low hill behind is a cairn which has been hollowed out.

July 2004
The maize in Ocifants photo has now grown to about 3 ft high compleatly obscuring the cairn. It will be a couple of months before it can be accessed i would think.

Aug 2006

Two years later I try again to reach the cairn. A thick mist has covered West Penwith and it is only my memory of my last trip that leads me to the cairn. Luckily the field is only planted with grass so it is an easy walk through the dew soaked grass to the cairn.

As can be seen from my photos it was a big dissapointment..I wonder what firm evidence there is that this was once a cairn?