Today was a wet day but luckily it was only a drizzle so I decided to proceed, as far as the weather would permit.
The paths were muddy after last night's rain but relatively easy going. Indeed after leaving the beach at Praa Sands, where there were crowds of surfers enjoying the waves created by the stormy sea, the paths were peat and so extremely pleasant to walk on. The scenery continued to be rocky, once again with evidence of past mining activity i.e. chimneys and engine rooms plus mine shafts.
The rain and winds; plus the absence of any other serious walkers made the walk a little lonely. However this matter was redressed when I arrived at the end of today's walk, in Porthleven. The annual charity raft race had been held in the harbour and so the locals were enjoying drinks in The Ship Inn, to celebrate the festivity. I was therefore welcomed, literally with open arms by a tipsy lady named Victoria and her boyfriend, Steve. He was dressed up as a cross between Jimmy Saville and Elvis Presley. Very strange! Must be a Cornish thing.
Looking forward to tomorrow. The weather will be better and I shall arrive at Lizard Point, the most southerly point in the UK.
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Day 22 - Porthleven to Cadgwith - 19 miles cumulative mileage 306 miles
Broken the 300 mile mark, nearly half way!
Today's walk was on grass or peat but sometimes hilly as I walked from cliff top to cliff top.
It was interesting to see the monument to Marconi, to celebrate his first telephonic communication between the UK and Newfoundland, USA.
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| Marconi monument at Poldhu |
Kynance Cove was pretty as the stacks of rock came out from the sea in front of the rugged cliff sides. The area was absolutely packed even though the weather was turning cool and cloudy. Everybody appeared to be waiting for the tide to go out so the beach would appear.
The Lizard Point (where the most southerly bungalow, gift shop and cafe reside) was rugged though it did have a beauty of its own, being the home of a nature reserve supporting birds and flowers only found in this area of Cornwall.
Having enjoyed a Cornish clotted cream and strawberry ice cream at The Most Southerly Cafe I moved on from The Lizard to Cadgwith, to make up some mileage to allow for any disruption that may be forecast by the rain due tomorrow. I am glad I did because they were holding their annual lifeboat challenge which appeared to be a chance for men to show their boating prowess and then get drunk, while the real lifeboats demonstrated their skills.
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Day 23 - Cadgwith to Coverack - 5 miles cumulative mileage 311
As forecast, the downpour did occur overnight. However it eased off after 11:00, so having learned that there were no buses running to allow me to perhaps spend a wet day in Falmouth, I had no alternative to walk on (spending a day in a damp tent was no option). The rain held off but then the skies opened up again and the winds on top of the cliff were a hindrance so having slipped and fallen over several times in the muddy conditions, I had to call it a day and therefore find a room to dry out in.
I suppose this was not altogether a surprise as today is Bank Holiday Monday!
I have therefore stopped at The Paris Hotel, in Coverack, a small fishing village where my room looks out over both the harbour and the sea. The food and beer have been excellent too.
Tomorrow promises to be dry so let's hope I can catch up the 5 miles missed today in addition to the 18 miles to Falmouth - an ambitious target but not an impossible one.
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Day 24 - Coverack to Maenporth 18 miles - cumulative mileage 328
Today was an excellent day for many reasons. The first was that I was no longer having to scale rocky cliff tops but could walk on grass for most of the day, though very boggy in places owing to the usual culprits, rain and cows.
The second was that I achieved today's goal which was to reach Maenporth, just south of Falmouth. This will enable to have an easy walk into Falmouth where I can spend the day should the forecast for more rain prove to be correct.
Thirdly I have passed the half way mark celebrated by my photo being taken in front of the plaque to commemorate the event and by having a ploughmans in The Five Pilchards Inn, at Porthallow.
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| The official half-way mark |
I therefore reached Maenporth having taken 2 ferries, one from Gillan Creek to cross the river and again one from Helford (both permitted on the SWCP trail).
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| Boats anchor in estuary at Helford |
Having found a campsite but nowhere to eat I was amazed at the generosity of other campers wanting to provide me with food. One lady gave me a whole walnut cake and 2 oranges. Campers certainly do look after each other.
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Day 25 - Maenporth to Portscatho - 8 miles - cumulative mileage 336
It felt good to be in a town again so I explored the docks and then the streets in the town of Falmouth before setting off on the ferry for St Mawes, and then another to Place (this was a small boat captained by a very interesting and outgoing young chap whose ambition was to sail the world).
The afternoon walk from Place was pleasant. Tonight's pub meal filling, ready to set me up for the next day.
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| Looking back at Mawes |
Day 26 - Portscatho to Boswinger - 14 miles cumulative mileage 350
Today's walk was in rather remote areas so the chance to meet other members of the human race was rare while walking to Portloe. The terrain while mainly on grass land was certainly more strenuous as the hills were steeper, higher and more regular as there were more cliff heads to visit.
One village was memorable because the only place that sold ice cream was a house where they had a serving hatch instead of a front door. The house was called Journey's End, though regrettably not for me.
Feeling a little tired I continued to a village named Boswinger to retire to a campsite and write this blog.
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Day 27 - Boswinger to Polkerris - 20 miles - cumulative mileage 370
Today was an early start so I had breakfast at Gorran Haven where I met a lively and pleasant group of volunteer ladies running a cafe co-operative. We chatted about many things including San Marten, the Carribean island where one daughter was enjoying her year out.
Then I walked into Mevagissey where there were once again narrow streets and wonderful views over the harbour. It appeared to be a very popular town for property developers.
Charlestown nr St Austell was an attractive though small harbour. Two ancient sailing ships were moored up, possibly waiting for restoration.
The walk continued onto Carylon Bay and then onto an ugly area, the former docks and mining areas at Par. However there was a very long golf course (big enough to possibly accommodate 36 holes!) on the way to Par (could the town be named after the golfing term?).
The day turned out be longer than expected as the campsite selected from the OS map no longer accepted tents. I therefore had to walk a further 2 miles to Polkerris to find another campsite that would. I slept well that night.
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