Walk through – Cremyll Ferry to Royal William Yard
17th April 2016
A walk-through Cornwall blog with a twist – a ferry across the River Tamar for a coffee in Devon!
Full to the brim after a hearty lunch from The Canteen at Maker Heights, we embark on one of our favourite and most varied walk-throughs to date – just a ten minute drive from our properties in Whitsand Bay.
Perched on the hill overlooking sea and river and the fishing villages of Kingsand and Cawsand a couple of hundred metres below, the views from Maker near Torpoint are awesome.
We leave our car here and pass through green fields and pathways towards Maker Church before descending into Mount Edgcumbe and Cremmyl. It’s a half an hour walk downhill, but if you don’t fancy the walk back up the hill later you can park in the pay-and-display in Cremmyl.
An enormous part of the 865-acre Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park is free to explore, including the formal gardens, amphitheater, Orangery Restaurant and avenue, while The House and Earl’s Garden charges admission from March until September. There are plenty of spots for picnics along the shoreline with views over the River Tamar towards the military dockland in Plymouth.
At the foot of Mount Edgcumbe is cremyll Ferry, a small foot ferry making trips every half an hour to Admiral’s Hard near Royal William Yard on the outskirts of Plymouth. A couple of city cyclists take their bikes back home after a day on the Cornish hills while children wave at the military boats and sailers floating by.
The ten-minute crossing provides a fish-eye view of Royal William Yard’s impressive architecture, considered to be one of the most important groups of historic military buildings in Britain. Disused for a long period of time, the Grade 1 former Royal Naval victualing buildings once used to store supplies for naval ships are once again alive with cafes, bars, restaurants, museum, art galleries, offices and residential spaces.
We stop for coffee and cake at Royal William Bakery, but there are plenty of places to try including River Cottage Canteen, Wildwood, Wagamamas, Prezzo, Le Bistrot Pierre, Las Iguanas and more.
It’s easy to loose track of time wandering the buildings and shoreline here – just remember to check the time of the last ferry back!
Cremyll Ferry is a ten-minute drive from our self catering properties in Whitsand Bay.
