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 this cache is a new addition to the existing series of the Ethy Woods Ramble to create a total of six caches 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 Ethy Woods Ramble walk will take you past one of them.
The Ethy Ramble Series of 6 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 5 go over the stile into Ethy Park. Walk across the park with good views of Ethy House (Toad Hall?) on your left. There are some fabulous Oaks and Holm Oaks in this park.
The cache is near a gateway at the headline coordinates - it is in plain sight and no stones or vegetation need to be moved.
Tweezers may be required - BYOP. !! BEWARE OF THE ELECTRIC FENCE !!
Pass through the nearby five bar gate. Follow the hedge/wall on your left for about 150 metres and then strike across the parkland to head for the exit gate onto the road Lerryn View at N 50 23.076 W 004 37.263. Go through the gate and walk along Lerryn View Road - admire the white Bentley car if it parked in the road!! At the junction take the lane down to your right and this will walk you back to Cache 1 and the stepping stones.