Lizard Point

Lizard Point reaches 49 degrees 57 minutes north, the southernmost land in mainland Britain, and it is made of serpentinite, a green and red mottled rock formed from ocean floor mantle material thrust up during a continental collision, which occurs in Britain almost only here; the Victorians turned it on lathes into ornaments and a couple of workshops still do. The peninsula's mild frost-free climate supports plants found nowhere else in Britain, including Cornish heath, which grows on the serpentine heath in quantity. The lighthouse of 1751 guards a coast that wrecked ships constantly, and the Lizard lifeboat station at Kilcobben Cove is reached by a long flight of steps. Choughs, the red-billed crow of the Cornish coat of arms, returned to nest here in 2001 after fifty years absent from England.

What you actually see

• The serpentine rock - mottled green and red mantle material, turned into ornaments locally.
• The 1751 lighthouse - a working light over a notorious wrecking coast.
• The choughs - red-billed crows that returned to England here in 2001.
• The Cornish heath - a plant growing wild in Britain almost only on this peninsula.

When to go

April to October, with heath in flower from July to September; spring brings the chough breeding season. The point is exposed and windy year-round, and winter storms are dramatic from a safe distance.

Honest expectations

The point itself is a small site with a cafe and two serpentine shops, and the interest is the geology and the walking rather than anything built. Cliff paths are unfenced. Choughs are present but not guaranteed on any given visit.

Nearby

Kynance Cove is a walk north along the coast; Helston and the Helford River lie inland.