Skylight – Favourite locations
Cot Valley
Introduction
If this location looks familiar, you may have seen images from Andrew Nadolski’s
excellent “The End of the Land”. And as I visit Cot Valley every time I go down
to Penzance (perhaps four or five times a year), it has also featured prominently
in my monthly competition entries.
With family in Penzance I have been visiting Cornwall all my life, but it was only
comparatively recently that I was introduced to Cot Valley.
To be precise, Cot Valley is the name of the valley that you travel through to reach
Porth Nanven where these pictures were taken, but in order to get there you will
need to go to the town of St Just, and it is sign posted “Cot Valley”.
The most striking aspect of Cot Valley are the wonderful ovoid rocks that vary in
size from smaller than a fist to larger than a Mini. Whilst most of the rocks are
a speckled pale grey they do vary in colour with reds, greens and oranges. About
a mile off shore are the Brisons, looking not unlike Charles de Gaulle floating
on his back!
Photographic equipment
Whenever I visit Cot Valley my most used lens is a 40mm Distagon on a Hasselblad.
(Approximately 24mm equivalent for a 35mm camera.) I must confess to being an enthusiast
for wide angle lenses as they enable the foreground to be both emboldened and put
into context.
Take your usual landscape kit, tripod, grads, polariser etc. Given the proximity
of the sea, and the fact that your tripod may well be standing in wet sand or seawater,
I would recommend a tripod with sealed legs such as Uniloc or Benbo. There is scope,
too, for close ups of rocks.
Apart form the usual safety considerations when photographing on a beach you need
to take particular care walking over the boulders. Whilst most are stable the odd
one rocks, and I can say from personal experience that when you are carrying a tripod
with camera attached, and a heavy LowePro back pack, this can be very unsettling.
Sturdy walking boots are advised.
Depending on the direction of the wind you may also need to take care not to get
salt spray on your equipment.
Getting there
Cot Valley is at the far end of Cornwall just four miles north of Lands End. Take
the A30 to Penzance, bypassing the town and turn right onto the A3071 to St Just
6 miles to the west. Entering St Just from the Land’s End Road, turn left opposite
the Co-op and you will come to a T-junction with a sign directing you right to Cot
Valley. Take the next left (sign posted but difficult to see) and follow this very
narrow road through the back streets of St Just and turn left to Cot Valley. The
road is both narrow and winding, with passing places, and for the last ¾ mile it
is a single track road. At the end there is a parking area for perhaps 10 cars.
There are no facilities here except an emergency telephone and a buoyancy aid!
Staying there
The nearest town is St Just a little over a mile away. You will have no problem
finding something to eat or drink….there are seven pubs!
National Trust has a delightful cottage, the Canyack, available to rent approx ½
mile from the beach. I have stayed there and it’s a wonderful location. Views of
the sea from the garden, badgers to photograph at dusk just three feet from the
back window, and excellently situated for walks along the Coast Path to Land’s End.
Whilst you are visiting take the opportunity to visit some of the other spots in
the near vicinity that have featured in previous issues of “Outdoor Photography”,
Lands End, Treen Cliffs, Penzance harbour. Just a mile to the north is Cape Cornwall
and Carn Gloose, both well worth a visit. And a mile to the south is the village
of Sennen with its long beach and picturesque harbour and roundhouse gallery.
OS map Explorer 102 Land’s End & St Ives
Roger Farley