Autumn is a great time to explore the area around Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park – particularly the coast and beaches within easy walking distance.

But if you want to venture further afield, here are five great walks within half an hour by car from Mother Ivey’s Bay which all have something different to offer.

Spectacular views…

Local Cornish legend describes a giant called Bedruthan crossing the bay on rocks used as stepping stones, giving this stunning part of the coast the name Bedruthan Steps. It’s a fanciful notion and probably dreamt up to amuse the Victorians who visited here. But no storytelling is necessary with breath-taking and heart-stopping views such as these. This is nature writ large and is dramatic and unspoilt. Much of the area is in the care of the National Trust, although the environment is taking its toll on the exposed cliffs, pounded by the sea and the wind.

The cliff path here does get occasionally close to the edge, so try not to get too distracted by the view on a four-mile up and down walk to beautiful Watergate Bay with its wide expanse of sand.

On the level…             

The beautiful thing about the 18-mile long Camel Trail is that it follows the route of a disused railway so is virtually level as it crosses some of the most spectacular countryside in Cornwall, through a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation.

The Camel Trail runs from Wenfordbridge via Bodmin and Wadebridge to Padstow. If you begin your walk at Wadebridge you can choose to go in either direction for less than six miles to reach your destination. Towards Padstow, the route follows the Camel Estuary and offers spectacular views and the chance to see lots of wildlife. In the opposite direction it goes towards Dunmere and Bodmin. Most of the trail is alongside farmland, again rich in wildlife, and some of it is through woodland.

From church to coast…

St Endellion Church lies in a hamlet about four miles from Wadebridge. The church was a favourite of poet John Betjeman and there is an engraved plaque on the wall in memory of him. The granite building dates mostly from the 15th century and is the only church dedicated to St Endelienta, rumoured to have been King Arthur’s god-daughter. The church is at the heart of the popular St Endellion music festivals.

There is a two-mile walk from behind the church down towards the harbour town of Port Isaac emerging from Church Hill on to the harbourside. If the town seems very familiar, it is where they film Doc Martin.

Lundy lookout…

Park at the National Trust’s Lundy Bay car park, about a mile from the popular beach at Polzeath. An easy walk of around a mile will take you down through a sheltered valley to the sea, most of it through light woodland. There is plenty of flora and fauna, whatever the season, and the beach and rock pools to explore at low tide.

The views are extensive and unspoilt. On a clear day, you may see Lundy Island itself, some 80 miles distant. What is clearly visible from the beach at Lundy Bay is Pentire Headland, The Rumps and, just offshore, The Mouls – an island on which puffins breed.

One for remembrance…

Padstow, like every town and village in the country, proudly remembers the sons, brothers and fathers lost in the Great War with a memorial bearing the names of the fallen. Park in Padstow (worth an exploration too) and walk around the harbour towards North Quay (follow signs to the Tourist Information Office). From here you can pick up the South West Coast Path which runs along the Camel Estuary towards Hawker’s Cove.

You reach the War Memorial at St Saviour’s Point in less than ten minutes with its stunning view out over the river. It’s the perfect spot for quiet contemplation – the granite memorial with its Celtic Cross bears the names of 56 dead in the First World War and 35 from the Second World War. If you want to continue along the Coast Path, Hawker’s Cove is about two miles away with a quiet beach and the building which once housed Padstow Lifeboat.