Carole's retirement adventures

County: Cornwall

Name of High Point: Brown Willy 420m (1378ft)

Date completed: 11th September 2025

A trip down to my old stomping ground in Devon for a few days with my youngest son Mike and staying with my brother and sister in law gave a possible opportunity to do a couple of county high points if the weather was going to behave itself. The forecast wasn’t great for the duration of our stay so we decided that Cornwall would be a better one to go for as it’s lower than Devon’s and the route I had in mind was also shorter. Less time to get soaking wet!!

Mike kindly drove us down to the start point of the walk at the National Trust Car Park at Rough Tor (pronounced Row – as in argument). The walk began down a path through two wooden gates and over a bridge. It was dry as we headed up to Showery Tor – very aptly named, on a wide grassy path but the rain clouds soon appeared and it was a mad dash to get some shelter and put our waterproofs on. The rain soon passed and we headed towards the col between Little Rough Tor and Showery Tor and took a path which took us to the top of Showery Tor. This is a natural rocky outcrop on a ridge on Bodmin Moor made from weathered granite. The cairn is man made and was thought to have been a religious focal point.

Looking back from the path up to Showery tor to Stannon Lake

The cairn at the top of Showery Tor

From the summit a grassy path was easy to follow passing a rocky outcrop on the left with Brown Willy clearly visible in the distance. We followed the route down through the valley. A faint path with the De Lank River (a tributary of the River Camel) on the left brought us to a wide track with a bridge, gate and stile.

This area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and it is important to stay on the obvious permissive path which took us to the summit of Brown Willy. We had to shelter behind a wall from another heavy downpour on our way up.

Looking back at where we had come from on Bodmin Moor

The cairn and the trig point at the summit of Brown Willy

I made it to the summit although I’m looking a bit bedraggled after a soaking.

Mike, myself, Sue and Pat at the summit with the obligatory selfie!

We had our lunch, kindly made by Sue in a sheltered spot at the top of Brown Willy after a little wander around. I managed to slip on some wet rocks and went down like a sack of potatoes. Thankfully, only my pride was hurt!

We then had to retrace our steps back to the bridge and the gate. There was another downpour which unfortunately, we didn’t manage to shelter as well from and we were all a bit soaked. On reaching the bridge, we took the track going towards the wall on the left hand side. We then followed the grassy path towards the summit of Rough Tor. Rough Tor was the setting for Daphne du Maurier’s novel, ‘Jamaica Inn’ based on the real Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor.

The view looking back at Showery Tor and Rough Tor

The ponies on Bodmin Moor on the way to the top of Rough Tor. These are a mixture of Dartmoor and Exmoor pony stock with other bits in the mix too.

We had to find the easiest way to the summit due to the wet conditions as the rocks were extremely slippery. When we reached the summit, we found the memorial plaque to the 43rd Wessex Division. Apparently, there is the Logan Rock at the top which we didn’t see but can be moved allegedly if pushed in the right direction!!

The view from the top of Rough Tor with Stannon Lake in the background.

It was a bit of a scramble down the other side to pick up the grassy path that would take us back to the car park.

This was a very enjoyable walk despite the often ‘stormy’ conditions with the heavy downpours and strong winds, especially at the summits. The views made it worthwhile with Bronze Age landscapes, neolithic sites, granite peaks, wildlife and coastal views along the way.

The trig point at the summit of Brown Willy