4 Lake/ River/ Ponds to Explore in Cornwall

The Bude Canal was built in 1823 to enable the transportation of unusually mineral-rich sand from beaches in and around Bude to the hilly interior of Devon and Cornwall's border country. It became the first canal in the UK and second in the world to use water-powered tub-boat inclines, and it had the most inclined planes of any waterway.

Bude Sea Pool is a semi-natural amenity that has provided a haven for free and safe bathing and other water-based activities since the 1930s. It is one of the very few tidal swimming pools which still remains open to the general public today and is open throughout the year, free for all to enjoy. The Pool is topped up by the sea at high tide each day.

The River Lyd rises at Lyd Head by Corn Ridge to the north of Woodcock Hill. It's a flat, boggy landmass that's relatively difficult to walk across. There are the remains of extensive peat works to the southeast of Lyd Head including the evocatively named Bleak House.

Loe Beach is a half-mile shingle bank that separates the Loe, the largest natural freshwater lake in Cornwall, from the sea. The fishhook-shaped Loe lies at the heart of Penrose Estate, a bucolic, National Trust–managed park perched atop Lizard Peninsula, mainland Britain’s most southerly point. It is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is considered a classic Geological Conservation Review Site.