Surrounding Helford are beautiful little villages like Durgan, the owned majority by the Nation Trust, difficult to reach by car, or the better known Helford Passage with its famous Ferryboat Inn. Another notable mention is the old church of St Anthony-in-Meneage situated on the bank of Gillian Creek, near the mouth of River Helford. It was said to have been built by shipwrecked Normans, driven to land here by a horrible storm, first mentioned way back in the 1170s, as a possession of the Priory of Tywardreath, near St Austell.
Gweek located at the end of the Helford became the main port of the Helston area soon after the Loe Bar was formed at the mouth of the River Cober. This was the main route for shipping tin which was mined locally, being that the area thrived with life and many grand houses were built around the Helford river but when the Cornish mining industry fell to its knees due to cheaper deposits being available elsewhere, the Cornish emigrated in their masses the healthy mining areas like Australia and elsewhere, many set off from the Helford and never returned.
Gweek is now better known for its efforts on protecting seals with its Seal Sanctuary, where injured seals are nursed back to health before being released back to their natural environment. The Seal Sanctuary also has permanent residents from where seals can’t recover from their sustained injuries, they have a variety of residents stopping with them full time like Grey Seals, Common Seals, Californian, and Patagonian Sea Lions, Goats, Ponies and Otters.
Today Helford is a place for the rich and all big houses are usually owned by celebrities, one of the most popular big houses is Trelowarren, recorded in the Doomsday book. The first owner is believed to be Earl Harold who died in the Battle of Hastings and we know for definite it was owned by Robert Mortain, half-brother of William the Conqueror, in 1086. Since 1426, the manor house has been occupied by the Vyvyan family.
Helford is located on the top east section of the Lizard, which of course has some beaches in the surrounding area. Helford Passage Beach is a pleasant sand and shingle beach of Helford Passage. The backdrop is the 300-year-old Ferry Boat Inn, a huddle of cottages and dinghies and boats of all shapes and sizes pulled up on the beachside. Just further up towards the mouth of the estuary is Polgwidden Cove, Durgan Beach, Bosahan Cove, and Grebe Beach all having the stunning backdrop of the Helford River. As these beaches are secluded from the rest of Cornwall and aren’t really known as well as the famous beaches like Fistral Beach, Porthcurno Beach and Bude Beach because of this they tend to be a bit quieter keeping the tourists away.