It was a hard one, should we make the trip or give it a miss? the tides were all wrong and it would mean launching no later than 8am in order to get out of the creek in Helford..
Lots of humming and aaghin later on the saturday night we decided lets just turn up and see what happens..
5am Start only to find our favourite Cornish Mizzle getting heavier on the way to Helford and becoming actual rain, eventually it stopped just outside Helston and we though everything was going to be fine..
Dawn was just breaking as we pulled through Newtown into Helford and a mist hung over the river and it started to rain again..
we stood by the van under Umbrella’s having a cup of fresh brewed tea waiting and watching the tide slowly dissapearing from the creek.. eventually it stopped.. light broke through the heavy cloud out at sea and we made the decision.. Lets launch while we can and see how it goes.. we can always come back in at the sailing club if the rain gets heavy.. so we loaded up Serendipity (Our inflatable) aptly named as Serene and a little bit Dippy, Leanne being the Serene one and even I admit to being dippy most of the time.. after all here I was 7am on a sunday morning cloudy and damp planning on dragging a few thousand quids worth of camera equipment up the muddy river in search of anything and anyone as dippy as me to be out there.
We certainly missed Aidan on this trip, he was visiting his mother in Hospital (Hoping she’s doing a lot better my friend) and he usually helped (more than I realised) to launch us with all the equipment..

I made the decision to push out from the sailing club and dragged the boat off down the road while Leanne visited the ladies room .. Now those who know the slip at the HRSC will know its not best trying to let the boat take you down the slip on your own at a rate of knots wearing a pair of well worn crocs that decide to slide on anything remotely slippy.. but there I was trying to keep my Backside from touching base and hanging onto the dinghy for dear life as we both slid down the last part of the slip on to the rocks.. well pebbles .. below HOWEVER apart from a slightly oulled muscle in my right chest somewhere we made it intact and in enough time to regain composure and look Cool by the time leanne arrived a few minutes later.
The last few rumpy pumpy rolls over the cobbles and the boat was in the water and we burbled out towards the main river channel..
Looking back to sea was an amazing sight – The Dawn light was dissappearing ina blue haze out at sea and the brighter light coming in showed a little promise that we may not be completely mad for being out here..

It was so peaceful as we burbled slowly up the river, curlew flying rapidly downstream with the tide and Cormorants already out hunting breakfast.. it was only as we reached the entrance to Frenchman’s creek that we realised there wasn’t going to be enough water to get us to Bishops quay, or indeed into any of the creeks today until much later, the tide does that .. a 6am High tide leaves you high and dry most of the day…so we made the decision to see how far we could get up river and slowly drift back down with the tide to spend a little time around the beaches at the mouth of the Helford.. or whatever the weather decided to change in those plans…
There were a tremendous amount of Cormorants around this morning so hopefully the fishing may have improved after the red tide of a few weeks back.. here’s a couple resting on one of the fallen trees just past Frenchman’s.

Many fallen leaves floated on top of the river today showing massive signs that autumn was well and truly with us… The oak forests that line the Helford river were turning Golden through reds and browns and made the most amazing mosaic of colours.. another Cormorant flew past us giving us the amazing green eye as if to say who you taking pics of then?

We decided to settle for an hour at the edge of Polpenwith Creek (I hope I got that right) just before bishops quay as it was getting difficult to get any further, we had a quick look first at the Dory moored at the end of the creek as its something I’ve thought would be a lot easier and better bet for us to use for the river trips if we could find somewhere to moor it on the river, and of course if I manage to sell any photographs along the way to finance that idea lol… It would certainly give us a lot more room than we currently have in the inflatable.. ah well!! maybe in some other dimension somewhere.
We camped by the bench on the path that leads down to tremayne Quay to have a bit of lunch and for me to take a few more stable images of the river and surrounds.. such as the Autumn colours in the forest opposite.. I heard tell this was one of the 14 oldest forests in Europe.. its certainly quite magickal walking through it..the amazing twisting boughs of the oaks.

Meanwhile a watchful Buzzard soared above us checking out the larder below probably wondering what was for his lunch today.. we thought we saw the Osprey again but he was too far over Constantine (Polwheveral) creek to be able to tell for sure..

Things were definately working out for us as we sat having lunch realising that we’d definately made the right decision to come out today.. all around were storm clouds and yet we sat here in a pocket of sunshine drinking in the beauty that most only dream about…
I wandered down and checked the river and realised if we were going to move at all for the next few hours then we’d best move now or we were going to be fast running out of water as we approached low tide.
Curlew watched as we dragged the boat off the mud back to the river before flying off upstream to the mud banks freshly exposed with the low tide.

We trundled off down the river again once again observing the massive amount of Cormorants fishing in the wide part of the river between constantine and frenchmans creek

and the Old guys watching on…

We sailed on down through helford to find a nice quiet beach to sit out the Low tide and enjoy a little afternoon sun..
Meanwhile life on the river was awakening more down here, with sunday morning boat repairs taking advantage of the low tide and Cockle collecting from the beaches..

We settled ourselves down on the beach by the mouth of the river overlooking Mawnan and watched the life travel up and down the river… Boats were starting to move with the tide in and out and we were happy to be sitting in this pocket of Glorious sunshine while all around the storm clouds and rain was visible…
I turned a little green with envy as a super Dory passed us and remember distinctly calling to Leanne.. probably a little too loudly.. I WANT ONE OF THEM!!! if anyone has one for sale or any Dory (preferably Dell Quay) for not too many Mola id be interested to hear

I spent the next hour or so humming dock of the bay by Otis redding and watching little boats medium boats and great big boats moving about on the river while reflecting on my lil’ old serendipity dragged on the beach..

And so it was that the afternoon passed us by as we sat enjoying the sunsine before setting sail back up with the tide to try to get into Frenchmans and hopefully find some more wildlife..
As we wandered upstream we realised all the sailing Dinghies were heading out of the club and heading in our general direction so we moved off to one side to allow them passage.. and of course shot a few as they passed

Well we finally wandered down into Frenchmans creek and sadly the light was changing and the grey that had surrounded the helford all day threatening finally descended making any real wildlife photography virtually impossible in the lowlight.. however we did discover these wonderful fungii growing on one of the tree’s as we walked together through the woods..

Back out into the main river we found another watchful Buzzard sitting atop one of the trees..catching the last glinting rays of the setting sun..

how rapidly the days go on these trips, but here we were fast approcahing the 12th hour since we set off for todays trip and Leanne was looking decidedly weary.. but once again no mishaps or accidents so the day had been another eventful success.. hopefully you’ll enjoy some of the images.

As always don’t forget these are just a selection of the days images and many more reside in our ongoing Galleries… HERE

Out into the main river flow we found the light had moved up river and as the sun dropped behind us it left us once again with some amazing scenery to take home with us…

And finally I moved midstream to line up this wonderful boat Wanda in the setting sun

And on that Note good people of the Helford river I’ll leave you until the next time I’m able to glide upon these wonderful waters in search of inspiration and fulfillment…
Thanks for taking the time to look…

Mel x

Thursday 24th September 2009.
It promised to be a good day so we planned another trip only we pledged to take things a little easier and try a little more shore work as my RA was playing up and leanne was awaiting and MRI scan for a suspected prolapsed disc in her back.
The tide was good so we arrived at Helford village around 9-30am and our good friend Aidan had offered to join us and help with launching the boat and then accompany us in his Kayak to help us get the boat back to the van afterwards…and of course provide the barby for lunch…
Thanks to him we launched without a hitch and headed out of the Helford creek to make our way towards Frenchman’s for a peek at the Kingfishers if they were showing..
I kind of felt the great relief of just being back on the water as we joined the main river, the intense pain of rheumatoid arthritis can be best dealt with by diverting the mind elsewhere and this was definately the best mind diversion I could find by far…
We travelled up the main river towards the entrance to frenchmans creek alongside a small yaucht ‘Ursa major’ and received the usual welcome smile and wave from them and other River users..

Something we often do for amusement as we saunter upstream is to look at the various boats and see what our preferences would be if we were in the position to own anything bigger than our 10ft dinghy .. today we both spotted this lovely old wooden boat that would have suited us right down to the ground, and strangely enough we both said at the same time… now that would suit us.. The Sea Gypsy from Falmouth..

We approached the entrance to Frenchman’s and Ursa spun around and started the journey back down the Helford..

For us we rounded into Frenchman’s Creek and into the sun kissed water out of the wind.. we were happily entertained by the Egrets once again adorning the trees like white candy floss characters wearing yellow marigold gloves… the wonderful contrasts of the black beaks and legs with the bright yellow feet against the white plumage looking so bright in the morning sun. As you cvan probably tell these are one of my favourite waders and I can sit in fascination of the skill of these fishers for hour after hour.

Beneath the mighty Oaks in the edges of the Creek we came across two swans, one lazily cleaning itself while basking in the sunshine, I thought it made the perfect picture…

We ambled slowly down the Creek, Mallards swam away slowly in front of us warning the wildlife of our approach, redshanks and curlew crossing from side to side in front but today alas no sign of a kingfisher.

Upon turning in the far reaches of the creek we realised the swan who had watched us pass had slowly followed us down. I think they are becoming more used to us now and realise we’ll quite often stop for lunch on the bank and there may be the odd treat for them.. this became more confirmed whe we saw the mallards ducking in and out of the shade of the fallen and overhanging trees, also travelling down the creek towards us..

Although the morning sun glared down into the middle of the creeks giving fantastic light to enable the creation of these images, and making it feel like the middle of an indian summer, there was more movement than usual amongst the trees today, which is distracting to the eye of a naturalist as movement often signifies life and a photo opportunity… but today the movement was different.. slower.. and descending rather than ascending through the trees… it was the falling leaves spiralling their way earthwards telling us Autumn was definately fast approaching.. nothing was more significant than when the sun moved slightly over the treetops and suddenly lit up the naked branches of one of the old trees which brought a startling reminder of a frosty morning back in my birth place of yorkshire…

Out past the Egrets again who were still adorning the trees at the mouth of the Creek and into the main river where the view across to constantine was breathtaking and would have lit the senses of any artist painter or photographer with the lines and curves of the fresh mown grass in the field opposite, the gold of the hay meeting the turquoise and white skies which reflected into the river in her outward flow.. absolutely breathtakingly Magical..

Inspired by this and feeling the pinch of crouching on the side of the Dinghy holding camera’s and lenses, we decided to head across the river to Constantine and find a nice spot for a bit of lunch and a nice cup of tea..
There’s a beautiful section of the helford river just where it joins constantine creek but unfortunately its always a little dark there to get good clear images of the waders that often gather there on the corner, however in that darker area the white of this black headed gull still in summer plumage just shone out reflecting the sunlight as he swam alongside us…

Buzzards soared above us as we went into constantine, sometimes challenging each other for space.. and I wondered if we may have the privelege of seeing the Osprey again that we’d seen on a previous visit.. but if he was around he wasn’t showing us his whereabouts just yet..

We settled on the quay on the left side of the creek just past the fork, and leanne fed us with freshly made ham and cheese sandwiches and piping hot tea.. unable to rest I crept over the shore line and spied this young Greenshank down by the edge of the water hidden behind the bank… needless to say he soon spotted me and was away across the creek…

Well after lunch with a bit of a breeze coming in we decided to head down river and find a nice spot by durgan or the helford passage somewhere as the tide was leaving our access to Bishops Quay a little dicy.
I managed to catch this young Heron just on the point as we left Constantine before heading downstream..
The swan finally gave up on getting a free lunch from us and realised he might as well head off back up towards Bishops Quay before the mud left him High and Dry..

Heading down the river to the estuary meant probably a lot less wildlife would be around as there’s much more activity around the Helford passage etc.. more boats heading in and out of the river and the ferrymen transporting visitors and locals between Helford Village, the Helford passage Durgan and Trevarno gardens.
The river also opens up into a wider area for Yachting sailing Dinghies and general fun, but the scenery is still as breathtaking and the sun warmed our hearts as we rested on the quiet part of the beach beyond Durgan, Here’s a few of the images…

All in all we had a very pleasant afternoon awaiting the return of the tide.. many boats flowed in and out some towing water skiers and donuts with riders having oodles of fun, young and old alike joined us on the beach and Aidan had probably his last swim of the season to quote his words… and he was looking rather pleased with himself for doing so..

As the tide filled the river a little we headed off back up towards constantine for a final look for Ozzie our elusive Osprey.. all the while praying for that one shot of him plucking a fish from the river, but just to see him would be a fine end to fine day….
Aidan found the perfect place to dry his shorts as we headed off up river…

Local Fishermen passed us by feeding fish guts and entrails to a flock of seagulls which afforded me some great shots of the Herring gulls

By the time we reached Constantine again the light was dropping rapidly and with the boat movement it was getting harder and harder to get a decent shot without motion blurr.. Then I thought we’d spotted Ozzie!!! but alas it was yet another Buzzard sat in his tree…

The sun was setting fast behind the trees and even on High Iso settings I knew images would be fairly futile now.. I caught this last Curlew heading out of the creek as the sun caught him…

We turned round in the Creek and headed out towards Helford… and then it happened… the dark elusive shape soared over us and into the creek and we ultimately knew it was ozzie.. our Osprey..
We swung the boat round and I was desperately trying to find some setting any setting that might give me enough light should he descend on his supper… he turned into one of the creek offshoots and we lost sight of him..
Then in a Haze of the final rays of the setting sun he rose up out of the creek above us complete with Fish.. I was gutted.. I’d missed the shot I so longed for… I fired off every frame I could as he soared above us and out of the creek and we followed desperately unable to get close.. But as Aidan retorted…. we saw Him.. we saw him with his supper even if we didn’t see him catch it…. but would anyone believe us… I spent hours later that night with dozens of blurred black shapes trying all my photshop skills to drag something from the embers of those last shots.. and finally…

Even without those two poor but evident shots, we’d had another fantastic day without injury (unlike last time) on the Helford River and we pulled out of the creek in the twilight to head back to Helford and end our adventure for another day… Turning back to look up river magic re-appeared..

And Finally !!!

For those who have taken time to read and look through my images, I thank you and hope sincerely that they have been enjoyable to you.. I’m always pleased to hear from our viewers so please feel free to leave comments.. Don’t forget also that these are but a few select images there are many more in the Site Gallery by clicking the link..

Until next time… thank you and Goodnight!!!