Cornwall

Cubert Common walk

Explore an easy 1-mile trail at Cubert Common and discover a wealth of nature and wildlife across open grassland. From early spring you'll find the large expanse of open grassland (an agricultural common and Site of Special Scientific Interest) peppered with flowers. Varieties include primrose, cowslips and squill, with other damper areas of marsh habitat full of yellow flag iris. Chattering skylarks can be heard overhead, whilst the roar of the Atlantic swell in the background reminds you how close you are to the ocean.

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Total steps: 3

Start point

Porth Joke car park, grid ref: SW776599

Step 1

Exit the car park and turn right up the path, passing an old quarry.

Commons and legends

Cubert Commons 135 acres (55ha) has two claims to fame: it's one of the very few enclosed commons in England, and it produces the sweetest mutton from the sheep that feed on its sandy grassland. The folk tale of Langarrow or Langona refers to this area, saying that once there was a prosperous city here with seven churches. Then some convicts were brought to work in the mines and shift sand from the River Gannel, but their intermarriage with local women led to a falling in standards and a storm of Old Testament proportions overwhelmed the city with sand.

Step 2

Follow the path until you reach a crossroads junction and turn left. This should take you up over the gentle high point of this part of the common.

Blown sand

Cubert Common forms part of a huge system of blown sand extending about 5 miles (8km) northwards, from Perranporth to Crantock. The Cubert Common part of the system now lies in the lee of the nearby Holywell Dunes, which are younger in origin and still constantly moved and reshaped by the wind. In contrast, the protection they provide has enabled the sand covering Cubert Common to become stabilised by the colonisation of grasses and other plants that bind the soil, to form an undulating complex of 'fixed' or 'grey' dune that's no longer actively moving.

Step 3

At the other side, turn left and follow the track and stream back to the car park.

Calcareous grassland

The blown sand covering Cubert Common is calcareous which means it forms base-rich soils that support the rich diversity of plant species. Calcareous grassland communities, like those which grow here, are unusual in Cornwall because most soils in the county are more acidic. Cubert Common is therefore one of the best places to see plants like the cowslip, pyramidal orchid, salad burnet and ladys bedstraw that only grow in places with base-rich soils.

Close-up of the bright yellow flowers of a cowslip plant, taken at Rievaulx Terrace, North Yorkshire — Cowslips in bloom at Cubert Common | © National Trust Images / Andrew Butler

End point

Porth Joke car park, grid ref: SW776599

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01208863046

holywell@nationaltrust.org.uk

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Cubert Common walk

Total steps: 3