Wednesday 30th of June 2021

We said our goodbyes and heartfelt thanks to Katie and Richard before leaving Barnstaple and then drove to Ilfracombe, parking in the long-stay car park by the harbour. We set off up the coast path out of Ilfracombe. As we climbed up from the harbour we had a view back to the Damien Hirst sculpture, “Verity”. Unfortunately the Verity Viewing Point kindly provided by the town is so overgrown that one cannot get a clear view from it and so picture is very much a telephoto shot from much further on. Whatever one may think of the sculpture it is certainly a topic of conversation and something about which everyone seems to have an opinion. As a work of art it must, therefore, be a success.

We were soon gaining a little bit of height and had wonderful views into the little bays between Ilfracombe and Combe Martin.

It was already warm when we left the car and, as the time slipped by, the day got hotter and hotter.  We arrived at Combe Martin around 11:30 and I found a nice little café in the main street which was almost unoccupied but it had very good coffee and cakes and so we had a relaxing half hour there trying to cool down and get ready for the next stage of the walk.

The next part of the walk  climbs from Combe Martin up to the highest point on the SWCP at Great Hangman; it’s a height of 318m just over 1000 feet. The climb is nicely graded and the path is good. First it visits Little Hangman which is a rocky point overlooking Hangman Point with excellent views back to Combe Martin.

As we climbed we could hear a distinctive call from a pair of birds but we were far from sure what they were as they swooped and soared and were mobbed by other birds. Fortunately Jill managed to get some reasonable identification photos and we are pretty sure they were peregrine falcons, one probably a juvenile possibly being seen off by an adult that may have been nesting on the steep cliff. Colours were difficult to ascertain against the bright light at such a distance.

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Great Hangman is a bit disappointing because, though it is higher, it is further inland and is very rounded thus denying walkers of any good views. There is a very large disorganised pile of stones which cannot be dignified with the term “cairn” even though it says as much on the map. So we did not pause at Great Hangman except to photograph the pile of stones.

From there on, the path was easy going, up and down the various inclines with paths that were either grass or small stones. First we dropped into Sherrycombe and climbing out again we contoured around Holdstone Down.

I did notice “The Glass Box” on Trentishoe Down but disappointingly it looks just like a 1930’s bungalow with slightly too many windows. It was apparently the HQ of the Aetherius Society – a cult with an interest in UFOs amongst other things. We did not notice the village of Trentishoe just off the path; we carried on straight past. The path then moved closer to the edge of the cliffs at East Cleave with excellent views.

We then turned inland at Heddon’s Mouth Cleave and descending the combe towards Hunter’s Inn. (The map also shows a path from Peter’s Rock straight down the side of the combe but even if we had been able to spot it, it would have been very steep and overgrown.) The path we took seems to descend and descend for so long then reached the shady, cool base of the valley among the trees before crossing the River Heddon and then commenced a long but graded climb up the other side.

As we climbed up the side of the coombe, we got a phone signal again and so I called for a taxi to meet us at Woody Bay two miles further on.

The path then regained the edge of the cliff providing really dramatic views. Before reaching Woody Bay there is a small coombe to negotiate but here there is a delightful waterfall on the Hollow Brook which flows down from Martinhoe; if we had not got a taxi to meet I might have stopped for a shower under it.

After that we soon turned into Woody Bay which is, as its name suggests, very wooded and so it is not possible to see down to the sea. We trudged up the tarmac track to the lower of the two carparks there to meet the taxi.

Tuesday 29th June 2021

We drove back to Sandy Road car park on Broughton Burrows and set off once again. The first couple of miles continued up through the Burrows and the golf course near Saunton.

We turned on to a main road for a short distance and then descended to the beach at Saunton. This was only a fleeting visit but convenient because there are loos there. The path turns straight back up and went along above and parallel with the road.

The path turn down to cross the road at the location that looked vaguely familiar from the Grand Designs program.

There is an impressive, large, white building under construction.  This was the project that someone started on several years ago which effectively bankrupted him and ruined his marriage in the process. At the moment the building is being worked upon and, having messaged the photograph to Joe and Emily, I was soon rewarded with the details of the current position which I think suggested that he had to complete the project in order to sell the property to try and deal with his £7.1 million debt.

We continued along the path towards Croyde where we walked along the beach to the far end – though that was not actually very far. At the north end of Croyde beach there is a little National Trust car park and garden with a café and so we stopped there on Emily‘s recommendation and had coffee and cake for elevenses. 

We then moved on to walk around Baggy Point. On the way there were hoards of school children on a a coasteering trip.

Rounding Baggy Point brought us to Puttsborough Sands which is continuous with Woolacombe Sands about two miles in all.  Richard had checked the tide times for us and had told us we should be able to walk the entire length on the wet sand and so it was and so we did. We came off the beach at the far end up a little rocky path.

The SWCP then follows the road a little way before we turned off to go round Morte Point. Before doing so we spotted a suitable bench overlooking Woolacombe Bay for our lunch and evicted a sheep that was sitting in the shade under the bench.

Below Morte Point were some seals basking in the sunshine.

After Morte Point we came to Bull Point which has a lighthouse that looks recently built.

In fact the original lighthouse was built in 1879 but in 1972 the Principal Keeper reported movement in the engine room.  Six days later 15 metres of cliff crashed into the sea and a further 15 metres subsided. Cracks appeared within the boundary wall and the fog signal was disabled. Construction work on the new lighthouse began in 1974 and it was automated a year later (Courtesy Trinity House).

It had now become very hot and we turned westward once more as we headed towards Lee Bay. The path was varied in gradient and surface which made for quite pleasant walking. At Lee Bay we were disappointed to discover that the hotel marked on the map has obviously died sometime ago and we decided that we didn’t have the energy to walk 400m up to the village pub in hope of a drink of some sort. 

Out of Lee Bay we walked up a “No through road” for the best part of a mile which was very hard work in the direct heat of the sun. When we reach the top of the hill the path opened out into grassy clifftop with lovely views forwards and backwards.

We continued on the undulating way until we started to drop into Ilfracombe. The way into Ilfracombe seem to take forever. Once we thought we were in the town we realised there was still a little headland called Capstone Point to walk around to reach our agreed pick-up point at the harbour. It had been a really hot, tiring day.

Richard was already at the harbour and we really appreciated being able to get straight into the car and sit in comfort as he drove us back at the Sandy Lane car park to retrieve our car.

Monday 28th June 2021

We drove back to Bideford and parked in the long-stay car park before setting off down the last few hundred yards to Bideford Long Bridge which crosses the River Torridge.  This old bridge dating from 1474 has multiple arches of different sizes and replaced a wooden bridge that was built in 1286.  It does look quite impressive so I wonder why this was called the Long Bridge; was there a short bridge that wasn’t long enough once  upon a time? 

Across the other side we followed along the South West Coast Path which is combined with The Tarka Trail.  Between Bideford and Braunton most of it is just tarmac.

When we arrived at Instow we took to the beach and walk down the nice, damp sand left by the receding tide for as far as possible beyond the cricket ground.

I have vague childhood memories of holidays here at Instow. I was very young but I think we had two or three camping holidays and on one occasion the three older children were allowed to get the train from Instow to Barnstaple unaccompanied by an adult. Those were the days! (- when there actually was a railway and children could travel alone).

After that we got back onto the official path which runs along the top of a bank through bits of agricultural land until we turned up the River Taw towards Barnstaple, still following the old railway line. The tarmac surface is ideal for cycling but tedious for walkers. The one highlight was the coffee shop at Fremington Bridge which was doing a roaring trade.  The path is popular with cyclists and we saw a number of family groups with an assortment of  bike trailers with either dogs or children on board. We continued along the bank of the River Taw, passed under the new road bridge and came to Barnstaple Long Bridge another splendid medieval bridge and like its sibling the Bideford Long Bridge is indeed long.

After Barnstaple, the South West Coast Path continues with the Tarka Trail and follows the line of the old railway line again surfaced with tarmac all the way to Braunton.

It was very dull; the surface was unforgiving on the feet. The views were rather limited because on the seaward side there was a dense, narrow band of trees. There was also a shortage of benches or anywhere to sit for our lunch. The path leaves the shore to pass behind Chivenor.  The former RAF base is now home to the Marines but as we passed they were busy repeating a particular manoeuvre with a helicopter(s); we could not be sure if it was one helicopter repeating the manoeuvre or several of them at it.

We were quite glad that we got to the end of the tarmac. At Braunton, the coast path turns south-south-west to go to Braunton Burrows and the path here has recently been refurbished and ran along the top of the seawall and consisted of crushed stone.

This was a lot more comfortable for the feet and being slightly elevated gave us good views over the marshland.  The old route of South West Coast Path has been diverted because the sea incursed into an area of farmland called Horsey Island and it was decided, apparently, that it could not be saved but I suspect the diversion has slightly improved the South West Coast Path.

Once down at Crow Point, we were barely a kilometre from Appledore across the estuary but we had taken a full day and more than twenty miles to get there.  The path turns northwards along what is called the American Road. This track was made by the Americans when they were here preparing for the D Day landings. Most of the Braunton Burrows sands is an MOD training ground though there was no evidence of activity today and there were lots of pedestrians and cyclists around.

We walked as far as Sandy Lane car park from where Richard had kindly offered to pick us up and take us back to Bideford to collect our car.

Sunday 27th June 2021

What a pleasure it is to stay in a home with friends! Home cooking, good company and wonderful support – especially for getting back from the end of each day’s walk. We will be staying here for four nights which is going to make a huge difference.

We drove to Clovelly and parked in the car park by the visitor centre.  They charge so much to visit the village that they can offer free parking. We started off along Hobby Drive.  I assumed it was named after the bird but in fact it was considered that building the drive was the hobby or obsession of Sir James Hamlyn Williams who had it constructed between 1811 and 1829.  It was extended by Frederick and Christine Hamlyn in 1901 as noted on a stone bench. 

It was essentially a carriage drive so he could show off his estate.  I suspect that when it was constructed the trees on the seaward side were quite small or had been felled to enable the view to the sea to be enjoyed. Now the drive passes between dense woodland on both sides and so is a bit gloomy and though the three mile walk is easy it offers little of interest – except trees.

At the end of the drive the path continues through dense woodland.  We dropped down to Bucks Mill where we could just see the sea before climbing back up into dense woodland.  Unfortunately there was nowhere to get a coffee. Further on we dropped down to the bay at Peppercombe where once again nowhere was open for coffee.

After Peppercombe the cliffs are lower and the cliff top opens up so we could see into the little beaches and the shelf-like, rocky coast. Then at Westercott Cliff the path descends right down to the beach made up of very large pebbles and lots of driftwood and, after just a few yards, climbs all the way back up again.

We came into Westward Ho! and made a bee line for the Hockings ice-cream van. We had been recommended to this particular ice cream by Whats App messages from both our daughter and her in-laws. We each decided to try the ice-cream cone topped with clotted cream. They may not be healthy but they tasted wonderful.

We took to the beach to walk on the damp sand as soon as possible and walked up the western side of the a sandy peninsula called Northam Burrows where there is a country park and a golf course. There was a short section of tidal path to follow into Appledore and since the tide was well out that was not a problem.

Appledore is a pretty little village with a seafaring and ship-building heritage and Harland and Wolff still have a yard here. There is a ferry that operates from Appledore to Instow but it is a community project that only operates at the height of the summer.  This year it is not starting operations until 19th July (perhaps because that is when Covid restrictions will be lifted) so it was not an option for us. I had not expected that we would be able to make use of it and it only saves four or five miles.

Set back behind two other cottages is the “Doll’s House” which I suspect is rather wider than the visible six foot of frontage.

We walked up the River Torridge on a mixture of paths and tarmac to Bideford Long Bridge where Richard picked us up and returned us to Clovelly to collect our car.

Saturday 26th June 2021

We drove back to Morwenstow after packing up at St Teath. The flat there had served us very well indeed. The café at Morwenstow had not quite opened and so there was no excuse not to get our waterproofs on and head off into the rain. Though, as it turned out, within a few minutes the rained stopped; isn’t that often the way of things As the clouds cleared we could see Lundy quite clearly.

Our day started with a steep climb down and a longer steep climb back up for which effort we had moved on only a few hundred metres.  We were glad we hadn’t tried to push on last night when we would have been very hard pressed to get to the taxi in time.

There were four more very steep descents and ascents into bays (one more than we had counted on the map last night) so it seemed like it would be another roller-coaster day. We dipped down to Yeol Mouth then Litter Mouth followed by Marsland Mouth and Welcombe Mouth. I was wearing shorts so there should be a pun along the lines of “all mouths and not much trousers”.  At Marsland Mouth we crossed the Old Mill Leat and more significantly we crossed from Cornwall into Devon.

By now the rain had failed to materialise into anything more than the shower when we set off and the day was becoming progressively brighter and warmer so waterproofs were off again.

From there until Hartland Quay we followed along undulating cliff tops with no deep coombes or bays to descend into but one or two high points such as Knapp Head and Embury Beacon.  The views of the dramatic, shattered cliffs faces were magnificent. 

At Speke’s Mill Mouth, the path drops down to a spectacular, low volume waterfall which drops over a cleft in the rock in three stages; a total of 48 metres. There is a smooth rock face alongside which is a magnet for rock climbers

Hartland Quay is quite nice and the hotel/café was busy.  We made use of the facilities (public not hotel) and then pressed on. 

There were two or three more deep dips before we reached  Hartland Point.  We had aimed to get there for a 2pm lunch but took a few minutes longer than expected.  We had noticed a couple walking with a dog a few hundred yards ahead of us and we hauled them in very slowly indeed eventually catching up with them at Hartland Point.  We did not stop for lunch there because there were already two other pairs of walkers occupying the available space.  We carelessly followed the couple with the dog along  the wrong route from the Point and all four of us had to make a rather thorny traverse of some scrub land to get back to the proper path. In the short distance between Hartland Quay and Hartland Point the whole character of the coast changes. From the grassy clifftops overlooking shattered cliffs, the cliffs had become more solid, rounded affairs and the path squeezed along the top between abundant vegetation which threatened to trip us up. There was no grass to sit on and we had to wait until West Tichberry Cliffs where we found a bench and had our lunch just before 3pm.  One of the two other couples stopped to chat as they passed us as we were finishing lunch – they were also keen, long-distance walkers; he had completed a Land’s End to John o’ Groats avoiding roads a few years back and we compared notes.

For a while after lunch the path was a little easier following field margins that were less overgrown. However the abundant vegetation and hedgerows meant we were largely denied views of the cliffs.

There were two more major descents  in the latter part of the day, firstly at Windbury Mouth where we zigzagged down and then zig-zagged back up again. It provided good views of Blackchurch Rock (which reminded me of the Bowfiddle Rock at Portknockie on the Moray Firth). Again at  Mouthmill where there is a steep zig -zag path but a more gentle ascent. 

The path was now predominantly through quite dense undercliff woodland and was becoming  wider and more robust.  We then passed through an elegant estate gate and we were in classic English parkland and we knew we had arrived at the Clovelly Estate. 

We passed the Angel Wings bench which is described as a folly but was a bench from which Sir James Hamlyn Williams, a former owner of Clovelly, could look across Bideford Bay allegedly to Youlston where his daughter lived; I think that has to be apocryphal. We arrived at the visitor centre at 17:40 and phoned for a taxi. We were warned it would cost a lot because they would have to come out from Bideford but in fact it seemed much in line with all the other taxi fares we have paid. We were not inclined to look at Clovelly.  At £8.25 each for the privilege of going down a steep hill and then climbing back up again it did not seem like good value at the end of a hard day.  I think Clovelly is somewhere between a Disney Theme Park and a living Museum.  I am sure the residents would disagree; there is no shortage of people ready to rent property there. Also, judging by the visitor centre and large carpark, there is no shortage of visitors to come and pay to gawp at the quaint locals and their pretty cottages.

Our taxi took us back to Morwenstow and we then drove to Barnstaple. We are spending the next four nights staying with our daughter’s mother-in-law, Katie, and her husband Richard in Barnstaple.

Friday 25th June 2021

Today was another roller-coaster day.

We drove to Crackington Haven and parked in the main carpark and were walking just before 9:00. The path inevitably went up from the start and then went down and up several more times. The ascents and descents didn’t seem quite as bad as yesterday’s were but this may have been because there was no fog hiding the view.

The path eventually drops to the beach at Widemouth Bay and we walked along the beach. We had been promising ourselves a proper coffee stop and so having crossed the sandy beach we went into the Beach Café and had coffee and cream scones. Oddly this was the first time we have had cream scones on our way round Devon and Cornwall.

Thus fortified we set off on the path again. The section into Bude was quite easy, the path following low cliff tops and very little climbing. 

We crossed the lock gate and the other little bridge and came on to the sand.

From a distance, when I looked at the beach at Bude I thought that the tide was well in and that there was every possibility of walking for several miles along the sands. When we got closer, I realised that the tide was actually fully out and when it does come in, it covers the rows of low rocky bands that stretched out from the base of the cliffs. The serrated rocks were covered in seaweed and would have been impossible to walk across so, with the area of sand between them and the water’s edge fast diminishing, we had little choice but to walk the path along the low cliff top.

We did manage to cut across to  the beach to the edge of the swimming pool  and then followed the SWCP. As we walked I cold see the incoming tide reach the bases of the various rocky outcrops along the beach and so I was happy we had opted for the safety of the cliff route.

We stopped for our sandwich lunch looking over Northcott Mouth and planned where we should finish the day’s walk and decided on Morwenstow which we thought would be a relatively easy walk. I started calling taxis and was lucky to find a cab that could meet us at Morwenstow at 17:30.

The walk then reverted to form again and we had a rollercoaster afternoon.

I had allowed nearly 3 hours for the six miles to Morwenstow but as we approached we realised we needed to take the first of the three possible routes up into the village from Vicarage Cliff.  We had thought of crossing the coomb at Morwenna’s Well and walking into the village from Henna Cliff on the far side but this involved a substantial climb and we knew we couldn’t do it in the time available. We arrived at the car park with just 20 mins to spare but the taxi arrived early so we had definitely taken the right decision.

Thursday 24th June 2021

Today’s walk was a tough one and the distance and ascent would support that. I wondered if we really did 6500′ of ascent but two independent devices recorded the ascent to within 100 ft of each other and so I am inclined to think that it must be true but I will maintain a healthy scepticism.

We had planned on getting a bus to Port Isaac but it turned out that the bus listed on the website was a schools only service.  So we drove to Port Isaac and got there somewhat earlier than if we had gone by bus. We were going to walk to Boscastle and, if we had time, extend on to Crackington Haven – a further 6.9 miles. We knew this was a tall order because that would make it a 20 mile day over one of the more difficult sections of the SWCP.

It had rained overnight and the coast was shrouded in mist. Indeed that was the order of the day. As soon as we left Port Isaac we were into a roller-coaster of ups and downs along the path and there were some very significant ascents and descents. Unlike the tough section between Land’s End and St Ives where the path was bouldery, today’s walk was mainly on compressed mud and so the path was well defined and, to reduce erosion and generally make it manageable, there were steps cut into the the cliff to make it easier for walkers. Generally we were too high to see through the fog to the sea and the same was true on the landward side and so we walked with a very limited view of our surroundings.

We stopped for coffee at a little café at Trebarwith Sands.  The coffee was good but served in such small paper cups that we felt they were taking liberties.  But it was coffee sitting at a table plus a traybake at about 11.00.

Leaving Trebarwith, we turned back to climb up to the cliff tops again.

We had a couple more stiff climbs before the path levelled off and, as we approached Tintagel, the cloud cleared away.

Tintagel is a National Trust property and so though we are members we did not want to waste time looking at it and we had not booked a visit anyway. It looks a bit like a theme park which is pretty well what it is. We were instructed when we could pass the queue waiting to gain admission because it crossed the SWCP – bloody cheek.

We passed Bossiney Bay, the path to which is now so unsafe it has been fenced off with Heras fencing and a notice warning vandals not to tamper with it.  Then we came to Rocky Valley. It is indeed impressive especially because it is unlike most of the other coombes and valleys we have crossed.  

After a few more ups and downs we came to Boscastle which is quite pretty. On our original schedule we would have been stopping here but we had decided to head on to Crackington Haven.

The girl at the ice-cream kiosk very obligingly refilled Jill’s water bottle for her. Though the day was foggy and indeed we were straight back into dense fog after leaving Boscastle, it was quite warm and very humid and so we were streaming with sweat all day.       

Initially after leaving Boscastle we had some relatively level cliff top walking but then at Beeny it started roller-coastering again.  When we came to Rusey cliff the path takes a dramatic turn down into the under cliff and does a huge switchback such that, for the first time, it seemed the camber was the other way round. There were lots and lots of steps down followed by lots and lots of steps going up. The cliffs here are some 200 metres high and so we could neither see the sea nor the top of the cliffs. It felt very dramatic walking this bit.

Just before Crackington Haven there was a flock of goats on the cliffside.

We knew we had to walk at an average speed of at least 2mph to reach Crackington Haven in time for the bus and though our overall speed was 2.3mph I was beginning to be concerned that with all the ups and downs we might not make it in time. Yet again Jill found me trying to encourage her to walk faster. How does she put up with me?

I am not sure that either of us actually realised quite how far we had already walked today nor just how much we had climbed but Jill said that she was now “running on empty” and persuaded me to go on ahead – with strict instruction to take care given what had happened when I went on ahead after Lands End. She thought that should ensure at least I would catch the bus and perhaps manage to stall the driver long enough for her to get on it too. However, in the end, we both reached Crackington Haven with fifteen minutes to spare before the bus was due.  Unfortunately the café was no longer serving ice creams; why? But we managed to buy a couple of chilled cans to assuage our thirst.

It is remarkably good fortune that the only bus through Crackington Haven also happens to be the only bus through St Teath where we are staying. The bus winds around the little lanes and eventually at St Teath we alighted and had a half mile walk back the farm where  we are staying. That of course meant the car was still at Port Isaac. Fortunately the local cab driver from Delabole was able to drive us to Port Isaac, sharing his minibus with a group of diners who were conveniently going from St Teath to Port Isaac.                                                                                          

Wednesday 23rd June 2021

We awoke to another warm day.  Last night I had finally managed to find a taxi not doing a school run after calling thirteen numbers.  We did not want to leave the car at Harlyn Bay because we would be crossing the River Camel at Padstow which would make it a very long taxi ride to retrieve the car.  The taxi took us back to Harlyn Bay which was very quiet and the car park deserted.

We walked through the little village of Trevone and then up on the cliff ahead we had a very clear view of another Round Hole. There was an amusing vox pop after someone had to be rescued from a round hole. One interviewee, who was against it being fenced off, said that it a very obvious big hole and you can’t miss it, which was precisely the problem I suppose.

The path seemed quite busy with a number of walkers and runners and for an hour or so a number of earnest walkers with big rucksacks. We guessed that they had all spent the night in Padstow and had packed up and left an hour or so before they came toward us. The path itself was fairly easy going.

At Gunver Head there were some impressive rock forms.

At Stepper Point there is a day mark tower for guiding boats into the Camel estuary. It is stone built and was originally white-washed but never lit.

From here the path descended to the low cliffs above the Camel. The tide was well out, though on the turn, and so there was a vast expanse of sand. 

We got on to the sand as soon as we reasonably could and enjoyed walking along the damp sand to St Saviour’s Point. This is about 1/4 mile short of Padstow itself but is from where the ferry goes at low tide.  As a result we didn’t actually go into Padstow. From my point of view it was no loss. I have been there on a couple of cycling trips. It is good for tourists but not much else. There were a lot of jelly fish all with four lilac-coloured loops which we subsequently identified as Moon Jelly Fish.

The ferry took us across to the beach opposite St Saviour’s Point which is well outside Rock – and so we didn’t visit Rock either.  Having disembarked from the ferry on to the sandy shore we just walked along the sand to Polzeath. There we returned to the proper path and continued round to the Rumps in the company of lots of other walkers. The Rumps is a small peninsula which divides into two with roughly equal hills in each part. Anywhere else they would be called the Paps but in Cornwall (with its inferiority complex and being at the bottom of the UK) they chose to call them Rumps.

The path onwards rose and fell with easy gradients. We stopped for lunch on a bench overlooking Downhedge Cove. We came to Lundy bay where there is a natural arch into a round hole called Lundy Hole. From here to Port Quin the path became a little more challenging with steeper gradients and bigger rises and falls. 

Port Quin is a tiny inlet with a slipway and not much else. There are a couple of dwellings.

From Port Quin to Port Isaac is a matter of about three miles but it was the most challenging three miles of the day. The path followed a rollercoaster line going right up, usually by means of steps, and then right down again. 

The views were good and the steps made life easier but it was just a bit slow going and so we only arrived at Port Isaac at about 16:30 when the tea rooms were all closing.  Port Isaac is apparently famous for being the setting for a TV series about a Doctor Martin ( I thought he made boots). I have never seen it. However, it is a pretty village. The walking we have been doing seems to have be having an unusual effect on my legs.

It was too late in the day to press on because the next place we could reasonably get a pick-up would be about 6 miles further on which would easily take 2-3 hours. So we called our local taxi driver in Delabole to come and collect us. Port Isaac is only six or seven miles from Trevilley Farm and so we were back at base in good time.

Tuesday 22nd June 2021

We are staying at The Owl Loft on Trevilley Farm and it suits us very well. It is a flat over a workshop or storage and is a very recent conversion. It is well-equipped and very nice. I only wish the beams were a little higher.

We drove to Newquay and parked in a car park adjacent to the bus station and resumed our walk. Initially we were just following  through the town and cliff top promenade. At Porth Beach we used a set of private steps (though available for public use at one’s own risk) to access the beach and cut across it since it was low tide.

We stepping-stoned across the stream that issues here and then scrambled up the low cliff on the east side of the beach just where there is a small bridge connecting Porth Island to the mainland. Then there was a short path diversion before we were on the cliff tops again. As our pictures show ; it was a bright sunny day with clear skies and a gentle breeze and there were lots of people out walking.

Newquay airport is just behind Tregurrian Bay and the airport seemed to be very busy with Easyjet aeroplanes taking off or landing every few minutes; clearly plenty of people in the South West are jetting away on holiday despite the risk of changes to countries’ Covid-19 quarantine rules.

Tregurrian beach might have been good to walk along but like so many North Cornish beaches there seemed to be only one access point half way along and so we continued along the cliff top enjoying the views and weather.

At Mawgan Porth we had another  short beach crossing saving us a short walk around the beach. However any saving in distance was immediately eaten up by a diversion where they are restoring the ascent from the beach.

The walk along the cliff top is pretty undemanding; the surface of compacted mud and the gentle gradients meant we could walk quite fast. There are lots of little coves many of which are only accessible by sea. Each is different but to photograph them all would be like train spotting.

The wind had got up considerably, so at lunch time we settled on to a ledge just below the cliff top overlooking Porth Mear where could rely on being out of the wind. We had harboured the thought that if we walked very fast we might make it to Padstow. However, Padstow is six miles beyond Harlyn Bay and the bus leaves there ten minutes earlier. The sensible thing to do was to take things a bit more gently and finish at Harlyn Bay.

After walking the length of Constantine Bay we headed on toward Trevose Head passing “Round Hole” which is just as its name suggests a round hole caused by the collapse of the roof of a sea cave. There is water at the bottom but I could not see where it came in from the seaward side.

We passed the lighthouse at Trevose Head and then came to the delightfully named Mother Ivey’s Bay where the Padstow Lifeboat station is located; it is the same design as the Lizard Lifeboat Station. Sadly Mother Ivey’s Bay is just a caravan holiday park.

Coming into Harlin Bay we could see people swimming out to some rocks, clambering up to the high point and then jumping into the sea. Since it was high tide I am sure it was safe but just not “my thing”.

Despite Harlin being quite remote, the Cornwall Coast Cruiser bus comes through it on its way from Padstow and so we got the bus all the way back to Newquay to where we had parked. Sitting on the top of the double decker bus as it wound its way round the narrow Cornish lanes was quite an experience as it jostled with cars for priority and squeezed through narrow gaps.

Monday 21st June 2021

Today it was wet. Indeed it was very wet and quite breezy.  We packed up from the Premier Inn and drove to Porthtowan and parked by the village hall.

We walked down to the sea front and up the path to the cliff top. We passed the old spoil heaps and mine buildings of Wheal Charlotte and after little over a mile we dropped down the little cove of Chapel Porth.

Once this valley was rich with mines. We paused long enough to ascertain that the public loos were locked for no apparent reason. After climbing to the cliff top once more we soon came to St Agnes Head.

The views were all good – for as far as we could see them. We turned through almost 90 degrees at St Agnes Head to walk almost due east. We came down to Trevaunance Cove and hoped to find a café serving coffee inside.

Sadly there was no café and Jill vowed she was not going to stop to drink our flasks of coffee outside in the wind and rain; so we set off with Perranporth in our mental sights. From Trevaunance Bay  the path ascends to the cliff tops, merely to drop again to Cross Combe where the Blue Hills Tin Streams provides visitors with guided tours of tin mining.  Perhaps more interestingly, the Motor Cycle Club hold an annual Land’s End Challenge rally which, in one of its stages, involves climbing the coast path out of Cross Coombe. They have installed a gate there but I note that cycling is not permitted.

Having climbed up the cliffs once more, we walked around the edge of the Perranporth Airfield.  The coast around the edge of the airfield is full of the remains of Cornwall’s mining history and the cliffs are stained with green (from copper) and red (from iron) mineral deposits.

In Perranporth there was a distinct lack of anywhere serving coffee so we mistakenly settled on a couple of coffees from an ice cream parlour. It was appalling coffee. Cornwall really does need to up its game in the catering department.  Conveniently there was a pastie shop next door and so we got a couple for our lunch.  If the tide is out, it should be possible to have a wonderful, long walk along Perran Sands. As it was, the tide was coming in fast meaning there would soon be a cut-off at Cotty’s Point and so we had a short walk across permanently dry, soft sand before climbing into the dunes. The path across the dunes was not always clear to find and as with all dunes there is a multiplicity of paths.

Eventually we came down to the beach again some way beyond Cotty’s Point which, by then, had the sea lapping around its base. At the east end of Perran Sands the path leaves the beach to climb steeply up to Ligger Point.

From Ligger Point the path continues around Penhale Camp which was a gunnery training school. During WWII, serviceman returning from Dunkirk were billeted there.  During a German bombing raid 23 of them were killed; it was not publicised. The rain had virtually stopped and so we sat by the cliff edge above Hoblyn Cove and ate our pasties.

A mile further on we dropped down to Hollywell Beach and saved a few yards walking by crossing the little river by a bridge not marked on the OS maps.

There were just two more headlands to walk round and these were separated by the little cove called Porth Joke – seriously.

Having rounded Pentire Point West we had a view over Crantock Beach and up the River Gannel.  At high tide there is a ferry and at low tide there is a footbridge and failing that one has to walk round the road.  It was just past high tide but Jill convinced herself that the ferry wasn’t running as she could see no evidence of it.  We walked up the west bank of the Gannel and were delighted to discover the ferry, moored on the far side, actually was operating – which Jill pointed out now made for a pleasant surprise rather than a huge disappointment and an extra three or four miles of walking. To be fair, we have had experience of having to alter plans when we found ferries were not running as expected.

We waited on the beach and quite soon the ferryman appeared at the little quay opposite and brought the boat across to collect us. He asked where we were headed and we replied that we were stopping in Newquay. He retorted with, “Why would anyone stop in Newquay; I should just keep going.”

Well, we kept going around Pentire and then Towan Head to bring us into Newquay. On the way I order a cab to meet us at the bus station and bring us back to Porthtowan. From Porthtowan we had a longish drive via Tesco at Wadebridge to Trevilley Farm in the village of St Teath (rhymes with death but not with heath or Neath) where we are staying in a self-contained flat for the next five nights.