Penleath Point and Fowey Harbour - geograph

Pont Pill ( kw, Pyll Por' Reun, meaning ''creek of seal cove''), joins the

River Fowey The River Fowey ( ; kw, Fowi) is a river in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It rises at Fowey Well (originally kw, Fenten Fowi, meaning ''spring of the river Fowey'') about north-west of Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor, not far from one of i ...

at Penleath Point just below the memorial to

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a British writer who published using the pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication '' The Oxford Book of English Verse 1 ...

at the north-east corner of Fowey harbour. Pont Pill is a tidal river and is only navigable at

high water Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

. Unspoiled by development, Pont Pill is popular with

bird watchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, walkers,

sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and

sport fishermen Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...

. The best way to see Pont Pill is by small boat at high water when it is possible to reach the bridge a mile-and-a-half upriver at Pont (Old kw, Pont Pyll, meaning ''bridge of the creek'') the end of the navigable water. Walkers can see Pont Pill from hills that surround the river by following a section of the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...

between

Bodinnick Bodinnick ( kw, Bosdinek, meaning ''fortified dwelling'') is a riverside village in south-east Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. According to the Post Office the population of the 2011 Census was included in the civil parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey ...

and

Fowey Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...

Literary associations

Pont Pill is thought by many local people to be part of the inspiration for Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger's adventures in ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...

'' because author

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as ''The Reluctant Dragon (short story), T ...

holidayed in nearby

Lerryn Lerryn ( kw, Leryon, archaically Lerrin) is a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the River Lerryn (a tributary of the River Fowey) approximately three miles (5 km) southeast of Lostwithiel. Lerryn straddles two pa ...

. Grahame's time spent near the river may have inspired the bedtime stories he told to his son, and later developed into the famous children's book.

Leo Walmsley Leo Walmsley (29 September 1892–8 June 1966) was an English writer. Walmsley was born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire, but brought up in Robin Hood's Bay in the North Riding. Noted for his fictional ''Bramblewick'' series, based on Robi ...

wrote several novels while living in a hut by the creek. It is the setting for his

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. ...

''Love in the Sun''.

References

Rivers of Cornwall {{England-river-stub