Urban to Rural - Keeping Pace with the Path

Day Thirty Three - Plymouth (Barbican) to Noss Mayo 21.3km (13.2 miles).
Time on route 6:55hrs, walking time 5:45hrs.

Thursday 08 September 2016

Another two day trip beckoned.  The logistics were awkward for this leg as although the bus map looked plentiful for the South Hams area of Devon, it hid the fact that the buses I needed only ran weekly.  Yup - just once a week.  I considered taxis but I couldn't find an available one.  So I resorted to driving  and parking at my end point for the Friday (Bigbury-on-Sea) then walking 5km up to a more regular bus route near Aveton Gifford.  It was a bracing start to the day as I parked further from the bus stop than expected and had to leg it 5km over a hill in 1:15.  I did it with 5 minutes to spare.

As I sat on the bus trundling to Plymouth I realised that I had to maintain this reasonable pace for the day as I had a 1600 deadline for the River Yealm ferry.  No rest for the weary and all that.

I picked up the path at the Mayflower Steps,

and headed towards the aquarium crossing Sutton Harbour.  It was a beautiful day although the wind was strong and steady.

The first few kilometres were through the industrial estates of Cattedown.  I then crossed the Plym at Laira Bridge.

A backwater of the Plym contains several has-beens.

Today I discovered a wide variety of coast path sign.  For a short while in Plymouth silver fish adorned my route.

And whilst I was used to this marker by now I only realised on closer inspection that two of the arrows are painted white to indicate the direction to be taken.  I hadn't spotted that on my last leg.

Through suburbia many of the lampposts have acorns pasted on them which helps enormously.  These steel ones were easier to spot.

"Where's the path," I muttered to myself jabbing at my map as I checked my route.  "There don't appear to be any acorns to guide me".  I lifted my head and realised that this was about as clear a sign as I was ever going to get.

Once out of the industrial sector the path crosses Hooe and Radford Lakes.  I just love Britain.  One minute you're walking past a new hypermarket and the next you dip under a castle archway to cross a lake.

Beautiful pub at Clovelly.


1.5 hours in and I was pretty much facing my start point of Sutton Harbour across Cattewater.  Poof.  Mount Batten Point has been much developed from its defensive and military requirements and now contains a variety of bar, cafe and chip shops.

I liked this art.  Initially I thought it was random blocks that no-one had bothered to move.  But then I noticed that each one had a different set of initials in it.

And on their back they have morse phrases such as "I am on fire".

As I trudged on the views back across Plymouth Sound grew more awesome.

I climbed up Jennycliff and encountered another sign.

I forgot to wipe my feet as I left.

The path stays high as you walk past Fort Bovisand.

Slow worm?

I keep forgetting how curved the Plymouth Breakwater is.  I'm use to seeing it from the Hoe where it simply stretches across Plymouth Sound, and the fort looks to be part of the breakwater too from that angle.  Nice to see it from a different perspective.

As I came into Wembury I spotted a horse with a whacky blanket.  Horse in zebra clothing.

I was grateful to discover that I had 15 mins spare in Wembury.  So I fell into the wonderful Old Mill Cafe whereupon I glugged two cans of coke straight off.  I needed that.

I caught the ferry from Wembury Point with 5 minutes to spare.  This is Bill the ferryman and passengers.

As I was no longer time pressured I headed into Noss Mayo for a drink.  The tide was low so I walked across this tributary of Newton Creek to the Swan Inn.

Lovely view in the sun :-)

After my wine I headed back and picked up the path, passing a old ferry sign.

This bit of the path follows Revelstoke Drive, a 9 mile circular drive built by, you've guessed it, Lord Revelstoke in the 19th Century.  Another drive built to show off one's estate - but they make for pleasant walking.

Just as I neared my B&B I encountered my key challenge of the day.  I must be growing up - they scare me a little less than they used to.

Farewell Cornwall, Old Friend

Day Thirty Two - Portwrinkle to Plymouth (Barbican) 26.9km (16.7 miles).
Time on route 7:25hrs, walking time 6:55hrs.

Saturday 27 August 2016

It was my last day in Cornwall today.  I arrived back in September 2014 and have taken just under 2 years to complete this county.  It's been wonderful: the remote cliffs of north Cornwall, the quaint (oh so quaint!) fishing villages, the tourist honey pots of Padstow, St Ives, Penzance etc, the river crossings (Falmouth - you were complicated) and the amazing places I've found to stay.  It's all been immensely memorable and rewarding.  So, one last day...

Pretty soon after leaving Portwrinkle you reach the firing ranges at Tregantle. They weren't firing so I was able to walk through them.

All very neat and tidy, tidy and neat.  And quiet.  Which is just how I like my firing ranges when I'm ambling through the middle of them.

Next up were the Freathy Cliffs.  The guide book described the area around Freathy as full of huts, shacks and chalets. I'm not sure when a hut becomes a shack and graduates to becoming a chalet, but the ribbon development beneath the road wasn't beautiful. Just a load of seemingly unplanned buildings plopped on the cliff edge.

Mind you, this chap looked as if he'd sorted himself with his memorabilia.

To add a little irritation the path was diverted due to a landslip but not terribly well signed.  So I walked down from the road, through gorse for circa 10 minutes before finding a no entry sign and a weathered SWCP note to say the path ahead was blocked.  Yes, I'd passed the sign up the trail saying "path closed" but as the paths criss cross every which way down these cliffs it was hard to tell that it was the SWCP that was diverted.  The trudge back up the spiky gorse path was not my best SWCP moment.

I could see Rame Head before me and was keen to get there in 3 hours but with the couple of U turns I'd made I was fed up so plonked myself in the The View cafe for a pep-me-up coke.

Anyway, onwards.  More gorse walking amongst the cliffs.  I came across evidence of the MOD's presence here circa 150 years ago - a boundary stone at the delightfully named Wiggle.

Eventually I reached Rame Head.  Poof.

I then turned east and rounded Penlee Point before descending northwards into Cawsand and Kingsand.  These used to be in separate counties with the northerly Kingsand being in Devon and Cawsand in Cornwall.  The boundary moved eastwards to the River Tamar in 1844.

There is a summer ferry that runs from Cawsand to Plymouth circumventing some of the path.  I wasn't even remotely tempted.

Nice street art made from bottle tops and other recycled finds.

Leaving Kingsand you enter Mount Edgcumbe Country Park and the Plymouth estuary comes into view.

Once again there were path diversions (these ones again not terribly well marked) and I wandered a little unsurely at times.  You climb quite high toward Mount Edgcumbe House and, as you do, Drakes Island comes into focus.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and the formal lawns of the Country Park were busy with visitors and some sort of medieval enactment.  I pushed on to see if I could catch the ferry which was due in 10 minutes.   And I did.


The Cremyll Ferry takes one across to the west side of Stonehouse.  As you alight you find a marker for the SWCP.

And accompanying you through Plymouth are pavement markers.

Stonehouse takes a while to clear as you sort of circumnavigate it.  You head south toward Royal William Yard.

Then southwest, south, east passing a tidal pool.

The path then heads directly north coming within about 100m of your earlier route and there is a considerable inland section as you pass Stonehouse Barracks and Millbay Docks.  It didn't take long before I was on home ground having lived in this area back in 1990.  I pretty much walked within 50m of our first house in West Hoe.

The Hoe is most iconic and has wonderful buildings such as this set of steps.

And the lido which was being refurbish back in 1990.

"Welcome Plymouth" announce the lawns of the Citadel. I suspect this is a new fangled modern idea - you can hardly imagine this being an invitation to the Spanish Armada back in the 16th Century.

I was looking forward to my daily trig treat.  This one being the most unusual trig I know.

I finished my walk in the Barbican before catching the train home.  The next leg promises more urban plodding and then a stroll out towards the beautiful South Hams area.  It's good to be back in Devon although I'm going to miss you Cornwall.

More Ps - Polperro to Portwrinkle

Day Thirty One - Polperro to Portwrinkle 20.2km (12.6 miles).
Time on route 6:35hrs, walking time 5:50hrs.

Friday 26 August 2016

I travelled down to Polperro on the Thursday: an hour train journey from Exeter then 1:45 on the bus from Plymouth to Polperro. I stayed in the wonderful House on the Props. A view to kill for.

And my view in the morning. Tide's in.

The harbour was well and truly full as I left this beautiful jigsaw puzzle picture place.

What a gorgeous harbour.

It was a pleasant stroll up shady paths past Porthallow and dropping down into Talland.

Annoyingly I missed the measured nautical mile markers that are in the fields here. I saw one from afar but passed it without realising as it was a few 100m back in the field.  Anyway, I was probably distracted by the super clear waters.   I love the colours of the rock both above and below sea level.

Soon I turned a corner and saw the packed beach of East Looe.

The path takes you through West Looe and past Nelson the one-eyed Seal. This sculpture is a memorial to Looe's frequent visitor.

Such a gorgeous stained glass window in a small chapel in West Looe.

You have to walk about 0.5km into Looe to cross the bridge from West to East Looe.

I didn't linger for long here.  It was touristy and I felt out of place.  I prefer the solitude and space of an open path.  Ice-cream vans, fish and chip shops and trinket shops don't do it for me on a day like this.

I marched through Looe and soon climbed out of it through Plaidy.  Another pretty window.

I got a bit lost east of Looe.  I was following the text and maps from my guide book but they didn't seem to correlate.  I was kicking myself that I hadn't checked the route on the SWCP site as they always list local deviations.  Anyway, there was nothing for it but to follow the acorn signs even if they did take me away from the coast (this agreed with the words in the book but not the map - it's as if they are on different edition cycles).  Anyway, imagine my excitement when I realised the diverted SWCP went past TP6235, Struddick trig pillar.  It was a short scramble up, and a few bramble scratches, but, ah, a trig hug :-)

I dropped down into Seaton and enjoyed a drink at the local bar with glorious views across the sea.  The route then follows a road through Downderry before a final push over the cliffs to Port Wrinkle.

As I passed the beach car park I was amused by the parking charges in the winter. The cost is 10p per hour but on closer inspection of the machine (for some reason I thought this to be necessary) I noted the sign that said "this machine does not take 10 pence pieces". Nice one.

I actually walked a few 100m past Port Wrinkle before coming off the path.  Looking back you can see the imposing Whitsand Bay Hotel.

I walked across the golf course up into Crafthole to the Finnygook Inn.  What a lovely pub with such a glorious view over dinner.

Looking towards Plymouth.  It looked terribly close but I knew I was hardly going to be walking in a straight line the next day...