Cape Cornwall to Land's End 6

Our last day and a visit from a 'friendly' seagull! Good job the window wasn't wide open.

Last view of St Ives Harbour

 We caught the bus to St Just and walked the extra mile back to the coast path. It was another sunny day but quite breezy again. At least we hadn't suffered from too much heat on this trip.

Cape Cornwall

Journey's end in the distance

Sennon Cove

 We had a late lunch at Sennon Cove before pushing on to Land's End with just enough time for photographs before catching the open top bus back to St Ives.

First and Last house

Land's End

Another successful trip. We have now walked over 250 miles of the SWCP and I've lost count of the amount of climbing we have done. I picked up my luggage from the B&B and made my way to Fowey by train which was so full I had to stand for most of the way. Margaret stayed on in St Ives for an extra day hoping to get a swim but the weather was against her unfortunately.
Hopefully we'll be back next year to walk from Land's End to Plymouth

Zennor to Cape Cornwall 11

Well it was Independence Day as we woke to the news of Brexit. I don't think anyone thought that would really happen. We will certainly remember where we were on this momentous occasion. Chaos as shares and the pound fell, London and Scotland very angry as they had voted remain. Another lovely day for a walk!

As we walked to the bus station Margaret had a go at stone balancing. We caught the bus to Zennor and spent a short time in the church looking for the carving of the Mermaid of Zennor. This is a Cornish folk tale that you can read about here.

St Senara Church

Mermaid of Zennor

We were a bit uncertain how far we were going to walk today as we wanted to get as much done as possible before catching the bus at either Botallack or Cape Cornwall. The first part of the walk to Pendeen Watch was quite rocky and tricky to walk on. I managed to get one foot in a bog that didn't help.

Gurnard Head

Pendeen Lighthouse

Once past Pendeen we were well into tin mining country around Botallack. We had made good time so decided to press on as far as Cape Cornwall where we had to walk a mile inland to St Just to catch the bus back to St Ives.

Cape Cornwall

We made it in good time for the bus and then had to wait half an hour as the bus was late! Sod's law.
We went straight to Wetherspoons in St Ives as we got off the bus and had a celebratory glass of wine with the meal as this was our last chance to celebrate together, only six miles of the coastal path left to do tomorrow.

Hayle to Zennor 12

This is the view of the harbour from our large top floor bedroom

We had a lovely breakfast cooked by Anita who looked after the B&B on behalf of the owner. Then off to the bus station to catch the bus to Hayle. It was a lovely sunny day today which was lucky for me as I was only walking half way as far as St Ives having done the more difficult part to Zennor before.

Looking back to Hayle

I walked with Margaret for the first two miles then set her free to walk the rest to Zennor while I had a very leisurely day. First I had a coffee on the beach at Carbis Bay and then I had a lovely walk taking in all the beautiful beaches of St Ives before spending some time on Porthgwidden beach and having a paddle.

Carbis Bay

Porthminster Beach

There was a man here balancing stones on top of each other.

Porthmeor

Tate St Ives

The Tate Gallery is closed at the moment for refurbishment but will re-open next spring. It was about time for a cup of tea and I found a lovely little cafe, Olive's Cafe, round the back of the harbour for a cream tea. I also saw the group of Americans nearby celebrating with a bottle of champagne as they had just finished their walk. They had thoroughly enjoyed it even though they found it hard work and thought St Ives was the most beautiful place in the world!
Later I had a pasty on Smeaton's Quay and saw a seal swimming in the harbour. Margaret met up with me there when she arrived back on the bus from Zennor. Although my toes still hurt a bit and I would later lose both my big toe nails I managed to have a paddle today so it felt a bit more like a holiday.
Today was voting in the EU referendum day so of course we both had a postal vote before we came away. What would the result be? Will it be Independence Day?

Portreath to Hayle 12

It started off rather misty this morning with low cloud but still quite warm.

Portreath

Leaving Portreath

Porthcadjack Cove

 The path was fairly level today and as we reached Hell's Mouth we saw a baby seal swimming in the sea. There was a convenient cafe here so we took the opportunity to escape the mist and have some refreshments.

Godrevy Point

This is the lighthouse that was the inspiration for Virginia Woolf's novel 'To the Lighthouse' written in 1927.
This is a good place for seal spotting and Margaret managed to get a photo of one.

Most of the rest of the walk from Gwithian to Hayle is through sand dunes or on the beach.

Looking across to Gwithian

Lunch

 The path through the sand dunes was more challenging than along the beach but there were a number of helpful slate markers to guide us.

Hayle

When we arrived at Hayle we walked along a new section of the path that was very smart and turned out to be part of the regeneration of Hayle South Quay.
From here we caught a bus into St Ives and found our final B&B, The Grey Mullet, in the heart of the old town near the harbour.

We had fish and chips on the harbour side for our meal and I almost got attacked by a seagull but had my fish and chips well protected fortunately.

Perranporth to Portreath 12.5

We were moving on from staying in Newquay so had to pack our luggage today. The B&B owner was friendly but we weren't too upset to be moving on!
The weather was pleasant with a light breeze, no rain and sunny periods. This was a slightly shorter day for me as Margaret got off the bus in Perranporth and I went on to St Agnes to start my walk at Trevaunance Cove having walked the first part before.

Trevaunance Cove

This was the first time we encountered the remains of Cornwall's mining industry passing several capped mine shafts and abandoned engine houses. This is Poldark country!

Mine shafts

Engine houses

The first descent was down to Chapel Porth where there is a National Trust car park and cafe.

 Of course once you have dropped down the next job is to climb back up again but nothing like as steep as last week.

Porthtowan

 I had a lunch stop at Porthtowan and half expected Margaret to catch me up here but I must have left just before she got there. As I climbed back up the cliff I met a group of five Americans who were walking part of the SWCP and finding it a bit steep. They later turned up in the same B&B.

 

For most of the last three miles to Portreath the walking is alongside M.O.D. land which is bordered by high fencing with numerous warnings of penalties for trespassing.

It was also very steep in parts!

As I finished the last climb I spotted Margaret on the steep descent behind me so I was able to wait for her with a beautiful view of the turquoise sea.

At last the ups and downs where behind us as we made our way down to Portreath and our B&B for the night which was conveniently situated on the coast path in the village.
I hadn't ever been to Portreath before and it is a lovely little place with a small harbour and beach, a few food shops and a couple of pubs. The Basset Arms was a good choice where we enjoyed a lovely fish pie.