And Wear Something Red

Day Sixteen - Newquay to St Agnes 22.1km (13.7 miles).
Time on route 5:45hrs, walking time 5:20hrs.

Saturday 02 May 2015

I really needed a walk today.   A very dear long standing colleague and friend died suddenly last Friday and I wanted some time on the path to reflect.  The weather was a bit shabby but I figured that wind and rain would suit my mood.

I parked up in Newquay and picked up the path by Fistral Beach.  It was a wet and windy morning and the dog walkers were lone figures out on the sand.

Crossing the Gannel requires planning as the tidal state affects one's route.  Fortunately the tide was low and I was able to use the official route across the tidal bridge.


Yup - low tide.

You cross the Gannel and head up Penpol Creek for another bridge.

Walking the coast path in the Spring is a botanists delight.  There are simply carpets of primula, bluebells and other flowers whose names I really should learn (should have paid more attention to my Mum when I was younger).

The daisies weren't particularly keen to come out in the drizzle. I know how they feel.

I was most impressed by the garden opposite - that's some mighty terracing.

Unlike my last walk when I had the sun loving creatures as accompany, today I had the rain fan club out in force.  This means I basically saw lots of slugs and snails.


After a couple hours of being blasted by the wind and drizzled on by the rain, I stopped at St Pirans Inn, Holywell.  I sat on their lovely sofa with a warming coffee and decided to take a selfie.

It was only after checking the photo that I realised I was sitting in front of one of my heros - Shackleton.  This is a shot of Adams, Wild and Shackleton 178km from the South Pole.  And there I was complaining about feeling a bit nippy...

When you climb out of Holywell you pass a MOD firing range.  These antenna were arranged in a cross: quite beautiful actually.  Perhaps they could enter for the Turner prize?

There are plenty of warnings about unexploded ammunition, dangerous cliff edges and mine shafts.

And not to mention an old friend of mine.  So it really was an adder I saw last time.

More amazing geology.

I walked behind the dunes down Penhale Sands.  I know you can walk on the beach but the official route is up on the cliff and I am a bit of a stickler for following my rules.

What a mess some people leave behind: who on earth do they think is going to tidy their rubbish up?

I stopped for a late lunch at Perranporth eating my sandwiches on a bench overlooking the sea (the best way to dine) then climbed back out of the village passing a lovely sundial. Now where did I put that sun?

Passing the Youth Hotel I saw a familiar sight for a Cornish washing line.

The stretch between Perranporth and St Agnes has much evidence of mining activity.  The old shafts have mesh covers to allow the bats who now inhabit them access (whilst keeping others from falling in them).

At times it was pretty barren. I loved the colour of the stone here.

You can see the chimneys of the mines up the valley in Cross Combe.  The arty monochrome is totally unintentional and is a consequence of me knocking the dial as I extracted the camera from my pocket.

Cross Combe is the home of the Motorcycle Club.

The rain, which had eased for a few hours, came back and the southerly wind was a bit of a bore as I pushed on to Trevanance Cove.  But at least I turned my world back to colour.

I left the path here and headed to St Agnes for the bus home.  A beautiful blue bell wood accompanied me on my haul up to the bus stop.

And why the blog title?  I thought about my friend Ken a lot today, as I knew I would.  I met his wife earlier this week and we were reminiscing, swapping wonderful memories.  I asked about the funeral and the dress code.  "Oh, smart," she said "but wear something red.  Ken loved red."  And as I dressed this morning in my usual walking gear I noticed that my base layer, mid layer and waterproof were all in Ken's favourite colour.  What a special thought for the day.

My First Adder?

Day Fifteen - Porthcothan to Newquay 19.8km (12.3 miles).
Time on route 5:20hrs, walking time 5:00hrs.

Saturday 18 April 2015

I parked in Porthcothan and headed off around the headland.  It was a glorious day but with a fierce easterly wind.  It was nice to have it behind me rather than in my face.

My first excitement of the day was an Environment Agency benchmark, a few minutes climb out of the bay.

The waters around Cornwall are stunningly clear. The photo of Trescore Islands doesn't do it justice.

I was quite taken by Porth Mear. The geology and slope of the beach reminded me of a whaling flensing pan. Not something I believe Cornwall has even been renowned for. And it's a bit over the top for pilchard flensing.

I stopped for a pot of tea in Trenance. Sun, sea, tea - what more do you need?

Costas? ;-)

The rocks of this section are the oldest on the path between Padstow and Falmouth (notwithstanding the Lizard).

I enjoy spotting wildlife whilst I'm walking even though I'm no zoologist.  It mainly consists of gulls, sparrows, sheep, scary cows, slugs, the odd robin and the rarer red kite.  I stopped absolutely dead in my tracks, though, when a snake slithered across in front of me.  It was about 50cm long, silver with strong black markings and quite thin.  It moved too fast for me to snap a photo.  I've researched and think it was an adder.  It certainly wasn't a grass snake or slow worm.  I did wonder if it was a smooth snake but these are very rare and mainly in the SE of England excepting a project to reintroduce them in Devon.

Just north of Porth is Trevelgue Head, site of an Iron Age Fort.  I missed the turning of the path just before the bridge and walked over to the island before realising my mistake.  A nice detour though.

The presence of the fort indicates that Porth would once have been a key port.  It has since silted up and is now just a pretty surfing beach.  Its maritime importance is reflected by some of the bling the Mermaid Inn has bagged.

Including a 12 pounder naval gun.

The path's route through Newquay is mainly down the high street amongst numerous holiday makers.  It was therefore a pleasant break to walk down the route of the old tram line dating from the mid 19th Century.

I liked the look of this des res - although suspect you won't get your on-line shopping delivered to your front door.

Tide's out.

I had a spare hour before my bus so continued to walk on around Towan Head; leaving the coastpath halfway down Fistral Beach and following a footpath east through the golf course back to Newquay. I returned to Porthcothan sitting on the top of the double decker peering down on the route I'd walked that day.

I'll leave you with chiropodist humour Newquay style.

2015 Season Commences - Picking up from Padstow

Day Fourteen - Padstow to Porthcothan 21.6km (13.4 miles).
Time on route 5:20hrs, walking time 5:00hrs.

Friday 10 April 2015

Ah, 'tis good to be back on the Coast Path.

Today I was joined by Rog, my husband, Caitlin (car driver) and Morgan (official cake eater).  It was a cool and breezy day so we started with warming coffee and cake in Padstow.


Rog and I then headed out north, past the War Memorial with moody views to the south.


I loved the beautiful Cornish cottages...

small private slipways...

and a cute weather vane.

Not to mention an incredibly hairy guinea pig - yes, there really is an animal under all that.

We passed signs of war fortifications at Gun Point dating back to the 19th Century.  Although in fact coastal protection from this point must date back to the at least the 17th Century as this was named Gun Point on an 1801 Ordnance Survey map.

The daymark tower at Stepper Point was built in 1832 to help guide ships into the Camel Estuary.

The estuary has shifting sands, and a particular menace aptly named The Doom Bar.  The lifeboat station was based nearby until 1967 when, after the loss of the third of its boats on the Bar, it was moved around the corner.

The going was easy today with only around 400m of ascent/descent.  And good lungfuls of Cornish wind.

A wonderful view toward Trevone.

We stopped for a welcome pot of tea at the Harlyn Inn before heading out across the sands towards Trevose Head.

You get fine views of the new Padstow Lifeboat Station across Mother Ivey's Bay.  It looks like a glorified beach hut with a furnicular behind it (for tourists?).  It must be awesome to watch a boat being launched from this.

You walk in a pretty straight line behind the lifeboat station. Hard to get lost on this.

We rounded the bay and Trevose Head Lighthouse came into view.

Not only a lighthouse, but a trig to boot - TP 0330.

The geology of this stretch of coast is wonderful.  Mainly slate but occasional limestone.  And a few sink holes - not sure if caused by mining or some underground erosion?

You can just about make out a wreck stranded on Constantine Bay.  If you look carefully you can see its mast lying prone in the sand on the seaward side.

We used the facilities at Treyarnon Point and when I came out of the toilet Rog was leaning over the cliff saying "why don't you climb up here?"  He has a penchant for dogs so I presumed he was cajoling a local labrador to chase up the slope towards him.  And then I too peered over the edge.

So that's where they'd got to.

The guidebook suggested stopping at Treyarnon Point but it made sense to push on a few more km to Prothcothan.


It has better bus services from Newquay which will be my next leg.  So I'm already geared up and ready for Day 15.  Can't wait.

A Grand Day Out to Padstow

Day Thirteen - Port Isaac to Padstow 18.9km (11.7 miles).
Time on route 5:00hrs, walking time 4:45hrs.

Saturday 20 December 2014

It was my an ambition to reach Padstow before the end of 2014.  The Ordnance Survey guide book one runs from Minehead to Padstow so it's a neat ending.  It is much harder to walk the coast path at this time of year: the hours of daylight are shorter, the weather more inclement and the public transport curtailed.  I had one last leg to do and I brigaded the family to help me out.

So Rog and Caitlin dropped us (Riona and me) at Port Isaac before driving round to Rock where they left the car.  They then headed up the coast path to meet us.  Riona and I had a 45 min head start on them, leaving Port Isaac at a prompt 0845.

We nearly didn't walk today as the weather forecast was for strong winds.  At the beginning of the week the prediction was for winds up to 28mph which was outside of my comfort zone.  I even had a moan to my Met Office colleagues about their forecast (like there is anything they can do about a low pressure over England).  Anyway, by yesterday the forecast was only 20mph winds which although breezy, was do-able.

The first stretch is quite strenuous with steep descents and climbs.  Nothing unusual for the SWCP but a tad more challenging due to the wind in our faces.

There's not much at Port Quin.  Not even sea.

Just out of Port Quin is Doyden Castle.


We had a quick coffee stop at the delightful Lundy Hole.

We eventually met up with Rog and Caitlin by Pentire Point.

We were a tad concerned when we met them.  We knew they'd started out at 0930, and meeting them at 1145 meant we still had 2 hours 15 mins to walk.  This didn't seem right according to the distance left on the map.  And it wasn't.  Apparently they'd had an enjoyable coffee stop for 30 minutes in Polzeath!

This part of the walk, into Rock, was far flatter (you can't get much flatter than a beach) and our route initially undulated over fields, then increasingly dunes.

Once in Rock we realised we had time to hop across to Padstow.  This means that I can pick up the next leg from the west side of the Camel Estuary in 2015.  To hail the ferry you have to wave a flag.

And this would have worked if we hadn't coincided with their lunch break (timing is everything). However, we waited another 15 mins and were duly transported across to Padstow for tea and chips.


This is a bit sad - a little benchmark peeping out from under a shop sign.

All in, a great day on the path with the family.  Shame they can't all be like that.