Ethy Woods are beautiful deciduous woodlands now owned and managed by the National Trust.
They are famous for two significant reasons:
- It is alleged that the author Kenneth Grahame, who holidayed many times near here and was married in Fowey in 1899, based his famous story – “The Wind in the Willows” - on the woods, river and nearby Ethy House (Toad Hall).
- The Ethy Hoard – a cache of over 1000 Roman Coins dating from the 3rd Century discovered in 2000 and now in the Royal Cornwall Museum.
Either way, the woods are well worth a visit and the caches are on a well defined footpath.
The Lerryn River was once a busy route for boats bringing in goods including contraband. There are various quays, most of which are overgrown, and hard to identify. The walk will take you past one of them.
The Ethy Ramble Series of 5 caches is a walk of about 2 miles and should take about an hour and a half.
It is a reasonable footpath all the way but it can be muddy in places – good walking shoes or boots are recommended. Unfortunately it is not suitable for strollers all the way round but children will be able to walk the series without problems.
The caches were put out in the winter but, in the summer, tree coverage may disrupt your GPS but the hints should help.
There are some lovely trees and river views all along the route – all directions are based on the assumption that you are doing the caches in numerical order.
Car parking is available in Lerryn Car Park where there are public toilets, a village shop and a nearby pub.
Please note that on the high spring tides, the car park can flood.
Tide times are available here
All the caches are placed within 2 metres of the footpath and there is no need to remove stones from walls or structures.
Many thanks to the National Trust for giving permission to set these caches in Ethy Woods.
The Cache:
From Cache Number 1 walk westwards along the lane past a number of houses – many of which are second homes. The cache is placed near the entrance to the National Trust Boundary of Ethy Woods and is only 1 metre from the footpath. Please rehide the cache carefully.
The cache is a camo'd plastic tube about 10 cms long by 3 cms in diameter. Bring Your Own Pen. The nearby house is one of the many old buildings that used to be mills and storage barns when boats plied their trade up the river from Fowey.