England,  Photography,  Transport,  Travel Blog,  Walking

The Camel Trail: Bicycles, Birds And Beeching

April 20, 2021 /
Bridge over Petherick Creek

One of the things we find difficult in Cornwall is turning our backs on the magnificent coastline and heading inland, but because our two breaks here will give us a total of 24 Cornwall days in April and May, we feel we can justify one walk away from the sea along the Camel Trail.

The Camel Trail is a walking/cycling route following the river upstream from Padstow to Wadebridge, then on through Bodmin to its final point at Wenfordbridge, though today we only walk the 12-mile round trip to Wadebridge and back, by far the trail’s most popular section. The route is more of a favourite with cyclists than with walkers, and both ends sport a plethora of cycle hire depots, so consequently we have to keep as much of an eye out for speeding pelotons as we do for wading birds.

Mussel beds
Mussel collecting boat

Like many such trails in England, the Camel Trail follows the route of a former railway line, one which reached its terminus at Padstow and was opened amid much furore in 1899, with the intention of opening to visitors what was then a remote location and also providing easier access to the nation for fish and other goods from the harbour. In the process of opening the line and the quaint station building, the railway company also built the hulking and rather austere looking hotel which still looks across the estuary today.

Despite the furore and expense, the line was only destined to operate for 70-odd years and was shut down in the 1960s when the Beeching Report was implemented. Lord Beeching has a lot to answer for, his report was the instigator for the extensive closure of railways and recommended investment in roads instead, resulting in the loss of nearly 5,000 miles of railway line, much of it picturesque branch lines, cutting off many communities in the process. His name is still a swear word amongst rail enthusiasts some 60 years on.

Oyster beds

In truth, the walk along the Camel Trail is not overly spectacular, being on a flat track bed and with views often interrupted by the banks of the railway cutting. But between these there are great views of the tidal river, glimpses of less common wading birds including curlew and sheldrake (see photos) and a good chance to study the Porthilly mussel and oyster beds. The spring flowers along the route bring colour and finesse to the walk. Woodland birdsong joins the calls of the wading birds, wrens, warblers and finches flit to and fro and at one point a stoat darts across the path ahead of us.

Tidal creek

For the return walk – after a couple of pints of Proper Job and a very decent lunch at The Swan in Wadebridge (check out the inspired tapas style “light bites”) – the tide has receded and the river has shrunk to a narrow channel, extending the feeding areas for the waders and exposing the mechanics of the mussel and oyster beds. 

It’s a very pleasant and interesting walk, but what a wonderful train journey the North Cornwall Line would have been. Beeching remains a swear word in my house.

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