Jamaica Inn & Dozmary Pool Loop

Start at Jamaica Inn (Bolventor). Follow quiet lanes and tracks towards Dozmary Pool. Loop around the pool edge (conditions permitting). Pick up moorland track heading back towards the inn. Return for food, drink, or a browse inside.

Jamaica Inn has been serving travellers since the eighteenth century, sitting astride what was once the main route across Bodmin Moor. It was a coaching stop — a practical place for horses, riders and goods moving between coasts.

Smuggling was certainly real in Cornwall. The county's coastline, with its coves, caves and remote landing spots, made it ideal for landing brandy, silk and tea away from excise men. But the romanticised version — wrecker gangs, inn-based conspiracies, moonlit chases — owes far more to Daphne du Maurier's 1936 novel than to recorded history. Du Maurier stayed at the inn and was captivated by its atmosphere. The story she wrote transformed a working coaching house into a literary landmark.

Dozmary Pool, the destination of this walk, carries its own legends. Local tradition holds it as the lake into which Sir Bedivere cast Excalibur after Arthur fell at Camlann. Whether or not you believe it, the pool has a genuine quality of stillness — brooding, treeless, open to the sky — that makes the story feel plausible.

Photography: Late afternoon into blue hour works well. Mist and low light create strong mood shots. Reflections at Dozmary Pool are worth waiting for.