This walk is thanks to the Westland Countryside Stewards of Kilkhampton who not only brought Kilkhampton Common to our attention, but actually bought the land, created the permissive paths and manage the habitat. Even on a characteristically showery April day, it was a delightfully pretty walk along the stream. The walk is around 6 miles and has two moderately steep sections, making it a moderately strenuous walk overall.
The route for this walk starts at the church and follows West Street out of Kilkhampton to Kilkhampton Common. It then follows the stream along the bottom of Kilkhampton Common before climbing the valley through the Common to reach a footpath running along the Coombe Valley towards the coast.
The route continues along lanes and tracks into the valley to reach Stowe Woods. If you are walking between March and May, there is a big patch of wild garlic beside the route through the woods. Rhododendrons have gone feral within the woods and produce some stunning displays of purple flowers in the spring. Rhododendrons thrive in the UK climate and used to be native to Britain until they were wiped out by the last Ice Age. The flora that recolonised Britain after the Ice Age did not evolve to compete with the Rhododendron which is why they have spread so rapidly since they were introduced as ornamental plants, during the late 1700s. They are now classed as invasive and work is being carried out to remove them from many woodlands before the whole of Britain becomes one large Rhododendron forest.
After passing through the woods, the route loops back along small lanes and the footpath around Penstowe Castle - the remains of a Norman castle perched on the hill. A stone tower once stood on the top but this and stone from any other structures has long since been “reused”. It’s likely there would have also been wooden buildings and palisades surrounding the ramparts, which have now been replaced by some huge oak trees. In a number of cultures, Oak trees were associated with gods of thunder. Since oak trees are often the tallest tree in a field, you can guess why this might have been.
A footpath connects to the lane passing the Common, to return to Kilkhampton churchyard. The church has a number of features surviving from Mediaeval times and carved benches from the Tudor period. It also has some very attractive stained glass.
The walk is available as a guided walk app for Android and also available in the iWalk app for iPhone.
There are also around a dozen other Bude walks on the iwalknorthcornwall website.