Day: 95 3/6/93 Malpas to Ruan Lanihorne

Weather: Fine

Distance: 15 km (9.3 miles)    Total Distance:  1250 miles

This was a fascinating day's walking.  From Malpas to St Clement was over a hill, along a well marked footpath.  The path then went up he bank of the Tresillian River which was empty. There were some herons and shelduck to watch. The first sign of human life was close to Pencalenick when I passed a woman but she wasn't in the mood to to say good morning.  There was then a fairly short road section up as far as Tresillian. 

I was disappointed to find that there was no access into Lord Falmouth's estate because I am sure that the track marked on the map as following the river would have offered great views. Instead, I had to go along quiet country roads and paths.  All the farms along this section belonged to the estate.  I met one farmer whist walking through his farm. He was well into his 80's and looked well on it.  He told me the correct way to negotiate the footpath through his farm - a few more signposts would have helped.

The minor road from Merther to Ruin Lanihorne was beautiful, through ancient woodland allowed to grow as it wanted, wild flowers in amongst the trees. I met up with Margaret and drove Margaret back that way on the way home to show her the beauty of the place.

I finished the walk earlier than planned so waited outside the pub having a beer.  It was as idyllic as the countryside I had just walked through!  Only two cars passed by on the road outside in the hour I was waiting outside in the sun.   

Ruan River at Ruan Lanihorne
Photo: Rod Allday, Geograph)

Margaret had taken Sean on his first visit to the beach.  He had had a good time playing with his first bucket and spade.  On the way back home we stopped off in the supermarket in Truro for some provisions.

Day: 94 2/6/93 Trelissick to Malpas

Weather: Fine

Distance: 15 km (9.3 miles)    Total Distance:  1240 miles

This was a much shorter days walk than yesterday’s miscalculation!  There was not a great deal in the way of views of the sea or estuary but it was never the less pleasant.  From being dropped off at the entrance to Trelissick I strolled down a muddy track to Cowlands and then down Coombe, a hamlet over-looking over a minor creek.  After turning north the walk took to minor roads and then along past a sewage works and into an industrial estate road into Truro.

There was not much to see from my route through Truro, passing a supermarket, past the local radio station offices and then along a much more pleasant road on the banks of the Truro River.  I thought how convenient this radio station would have been if I had been doing a sponsored walk around Britain and was dropping off doing interviews at radio stations.  No doubt I would have tried to sell them a Cornish clock I'd made too.  Margaret passed by in the car and we agreed to keep to our original plan of meeting in the pub at Malpas where we had lunch. 

Margaret had spent the morning in Truro visiting the shops and the Cathedral. 

After lunch we returned to the village of Coombe which I had walked through in the morning.  Whilst Sean had his sleep, Margaret and I sat in the car and watched the comings and going on the beach.

View over the Fal
 (Photo: Trevor on Flickr)

Day: 93 1/6/93 Falmouth to Trelissick

Weather: Fine

Distance: 30 km (18.6 miles)    Total Distance:  1231 miles

This day can be described as nothing else but a miscalculation.  I was not using my distance wheel to calculate my walks.  The section appeared fairly reasonable on the map but was in practise a long day.

The first section was through Falmouth.  It as early and the town was just waking up.  I do like towns at this time of day, the odd delivery van arriving at shops, the street cleaners busy and the only shops open are newsagents.

By the time I reached Penryn it was a lot busier with cars making their way to work.  Penryn was also a ship building and maintenance town and none too attractive.

Once past Penryn it was a day of walking the creeks, along paths and village lanes.  The villages I passed mostly had small harbours and packed with yachts.  The path down to Flushing was somewhat tricky in parts as it made its way through fields.  The headland around Flushing was dominated by the sight of a drilling rig parked in the water just off the headland.  In fact it was dominant from Falmouth and much of the rest of the estuary slightly spoiling the overall atmosphere of the place.

I stopped for a drink in Restronguet Passageone and sat outside in the sun.  These villages along side the estuaries make a real contrast to the harbour towns on the coast and this should not be missed by any coastal path walker.

Perranarworth on the main road was where the fun stopped.  This was a busy road and a miserable section.  By the time I cut off the main road again I realised a I was way behind time and had to step on the gas.  The remainder of the walk was thus a rush more than an enjoyable amble through the villages.

I got to the finish of the days walk and then turned off to go down to the National Trust gardens at Trellisk.  I rested on the ground for a while once I got there waiting for Margaret and Sean to find me.  I was even too whacked to enjoy the gardens much but the tea room was well worth a visit.

Day: 92 31/5/93 Helford Passage to Falmouth

 Weather: Fine

Distance: 15 km (9.3 miles)    Total Distance:   1212 miles

Margaret dropped me at the road junction by Trebah Farm and I strolled down to Helford River.  It was good to get back to the coast again and the weather was a lot better today.  The view out to the river was of oyster beds and small craft whilst inland the path passed at the foot of private and National Trust gardens.

I stopped at a cafe at Maenporth.  The beach was starting to get busy. It was not long then until I entered the outskirts of Falmouth.  The front was starting to get crowded with tourists.  I walked around the outskirts of Pendennis Castle but not into it.  We had visited the castle itself a number of years previously. 

The town side of this route was a little more tricky to find and went through a railway siding inland from the docks.  There was a couple of sizeable craft being worked on in the boatyards.

Day: 91 30/5/93 Mawgan to Helford Passage

Weather: Drizzle

Distance: 12.5 km (7.8 miles)    Total Distance:  1203 miles

We travelled down from Coventry on the Saturday but unfortunately had a poor journey.  We got badly held up all the way down, especially near Bristol where a group of travellers were protesting about freedom of movement and had blocked the road.  We took a number of detours off the motorway, the first of which involved going through the outskirts of Bristol and.  During the the second detour we had tea at Glastonbury.  By this stage we knew we were going to be badly delayed so found a phone box and contacted our accommodation in Falmouth to tell then we would be late.

The flat we were staying in turned to be part of a fairly new three story block, constructed in the garden of a hotel on the seafront.  We were relatively pleased with it, the drawback being that it was on the first floor and thus carting a toddler in his pushchair up and down was a bit of a problem.

Margaret dropped me off at Mawgan near the Post Office.  It was a day of light rain and drizzle though I never got too badly wet.  It cleared up later. She took Sean to the Seal Sanctuary but had to wait some time for him to wake up.  It was rather expensive and hilly, but he enjoyed it.

Much of the day’s walk was along minor roads. The first part was a lane and this led to a road in woods down the village of Gweek and a couple of bridges over the rivers.

I stopped at a pub for a drink at lunchtime, the Trengilly Wartha. The Good Beer Guide says it is famous for its food and beers - how about its unusual name - beats the Red Lion any day.  It was a fairly well to do pub, judging by both the decor and the clientele, some of who were assembling to go off to a cricket match and trying to decide if it would be called off or not.

The bit of road after that offered the challenge of the day - a series of ups and downs.  Once across Porthnavis Creek I attempted to cut off down to the coast but the road turned out to be well private and there was no access to anywhere at the end.  I backtracked and as I was still early I called in on an art exhibition that was being held at the turn off for Helford Passage.

I had arranged to meet Margaret at the entrance to Glendurgan gardens but unfortunately it was closed.  When she arrived we thus went back to Falmouth calling in for a cup of tea at a church hall in Mawnan Smith. Sean crawled around on the floor for a while and I signed the visitor’s book.

Day: 90 14/9/92 Coverack to Mawgan

Weather: Overcast - occasional light showers

Distance: 25 km ( 15.5 miles)    Total Distance:    1195.1 miles

This was a long days walk!  From Coverack I walked up a lane and then got lost getting over some fields. It was a gentle walk up until I reached a quarry. The path through was well marked though I had to rush through it because it was close to blasting time. A second quarry was not so accessible and I was forced cut inland.  This actually made a pleasant change to coastal path walking.

Porthoustock was a strange village - almost deserted. After this I fought my way though another disused overgrown quarry and past a strange MOD radar establishment. I met a couple who were also finding it difficult to find the path into Porthallow. They stopped there, I felt fine at this stage.

Past Nare Point the path changed character becoming much more sheltered. There were some lovely parts of the path through Gillian - lots of hidden away cottages. It was low tide so I was able to cross the river on stepping stones. I had a rest at St Anthony-in-Meneage looking at a boat repair/surf shop etc.

It was difficult to find the path through the Bosahan Estate at first, but then on the Northern side a sheltered woodland path led most of the way to Helford, a picturesque village.  Through the back-roads of Helford led to a path over and into Frenchmans Creek. I had trouble crossing and finding a path on the other side of the creek but eventually did.

After this I kept to the minor roads and was feeling pretty tired by this stage and did not appreciate some steep climbs. Eventually I got to Mawgan which was not far at all from the airfield at Culrose where the camping site I had stayed at was.

I found it hard to get a lift back to Coverack - I only got one short one and ended up walking most of it. I rested near the car for a long time when I eventually got back.

I stayed in the B&B again that I had stayed in the previous night, overlooking the harbour at Porthleven. I had the very small room but I did not mind much. The next day I started to walk at Mawgan but it was wet and miserable worth heavy drizzle. Instead I went to Falmouth library to find out information about Cornish societies for my clock-making hobby.

I headed back home to Coventry after lunch.Along the way I picked up three hitchhikers. Two I dropped off at Strencham services on the M5 and the third, a roofer, I dropped at Birmingham International train station. It all made for an entertaining drive home.

Day: 89 13/9/92 Lizard to Coverack

Date: 13/9/92    Weather: Fine

Distance: 15 km ( 9.3 miles)    Total Distance:    1179.6 miles

A lovely autumnal day. I parked the car in the lower car park at Lizard and started my walk along the cliff path soon leaving the hustle and bustle of the sightseers behind.  Part of this section had some narrow parts to it and the path clung to the cliff face. Today wasn't the time to contemplate landslides and alike 

The path went behind the lifeboat station at Church Grove where some men were busy working on the boat. The church bells were being rung announcing it was harvest festival Sunday.  In Cadgwith, a lovely Cornish village, I stopped for a cream tea even though it was only morning. I was all set to savour it when the peace was disturbed by a very noisy, local posh family, seemingly from a local manor, who all talked at the top of their voices.

The next section was easier walking. Past Kennack Sands, I came to a deep valley of Downas Cove, quiet and at first sight unspoilt. On crossing the stream however I noticed it was a deep brown colour - too deep to explain by peat - not that there was any around these parts anyway. I did not have a suitable container to take a sample and anyway I did not feel like carrying a dirty sample of water around with me!  The next day I passed a post office at the end of the walk and saw a number for the National Rivers Authority help-line.  My conscious got the better of me so I gave them a call to inform them what I'd seen the previous day. I got a letter a couple of weeks later to say that they had been out to investigate but not found anything.

The weather started to look threatening so I finished my walk in Coverack. This village was quite busy with visitors walking along the front.  I had to walk quite a way before I got a lift back up onto the common and then another lift back to my car in the Lizard. The second lift was from a middle-aged couple down on holiday - it is more unusual to get a lift from holidaymakers.

I stopped the night in a good B&B overlooking the harbour in Portleven. I was a nice place but the smallest single room I had ever seen built into the apex of a roof.  I ate in a fish and chip shop in Helston that evening.

Day: 88 12/9/92 Porthleven to Lizard

 Weather: Good, one heavy shower

Distance: 20 km ( 12.4 miles)    Total Distance:    1170.2 miles

Taking advantage of the early hour and the fact it was getting out of season, I parked the car in a side street just up the hill rather than the car park. The east side of Portleven harbour has small craft shops and a pub. Around the corner I was surprised to find the town stretched out for a fair while with small housed and B&Bs of all shapes and sizes.

I kept off Porthleven Sands but was forced to use sand by The Loe that is a bank that separates the beach from a large freshwater lake busy with bird life.  Up onto the cliffs again, the next interesting part was Church Cove that as its name suggests has a small isolated church that I popped into see.

At Poldu Point the cove is dominated by a large old hotel. This section was quite busy with walkers.  The next section included Mullion Cove, a picturesque small harbour which we had visited with friends some years previously.  The next section to Kynance Cove was relatively gentle without too many ups and downs though the ascent up out of Kynance Cove itself is steep and I was impressed with a man carrying a baby and doing the climb so well.

The Lizard was also fairly busy. Tourists were busy looking in the shop selling items made out of the local serpentine rock. As this was the end of the walk for the day I started to hitch. I had no luck until I got into Lizard itself where I bought a drink and got to a good hitching position on the other side. I got a lift in the end from two girls down on a sightseeing holiday. They were not originally intending to go to Portleven but I told them it was worth a look so they took me all the way there - I hope they enjoyed it. I went back to the tearooms I had found the previous day and caught them just before they closed.

I camped again in the campsite just outside Helots and walked into the town for another curry that evening but from a different place than I had one the evening before.

Day: 87 11/9/92 Penzance to Porthleven

Weather:  Sunny and breezy

Distance: 20.5 km ( 12.7 miles)    Total Distance:  1157.8 miles

I travelled down to Penzance on the previous afternoon / evening and risked not having booked a B&B. I soon found a road with lots of B&Bs seemingly having a price war and chose one at random. It was OK but not great - I had a large attic room. The proprietors sat smoking and drinking with friends in the dining room late into the evening. I went off to the town to eat and to walk the first part of the next days walk which was from where we stayed on the previous holiday, up to and around the harbour and past the railway station to the new supermarket which looked a good place to stop.

After settling up at the B&B I drove to the car park and started the walking holiday proper. I passed onto the shoreline and past a series of derelict railway carriages. I could see St Michael’s Mount in the distance. This was not part of my route according to my rules since it was an island only connected to the mainland at low tide. I kept to the beach, though this was tricky once past the causeway when the sand disappeared.

At Portleven, I called into a small teashop before making my way back. I had no luck in hitching up to the main road. On the way up I called in a farmhouse advertising B&B but failed to get an answer - it looked expensive so I did not call back. I eventually got a lift once on the main road.

That evening I camped in Helston. I went into Helston in the evening and was disappointed with it. The pubs had been open all day and it had a raucous atmosphere to it.

Day: 86 22/5/92 Mousehole to Penzance

Distance:  5 km ( 3.1 miles)    Total Distance:  1145.1 miles

A short days walk because I had been suffering from what I think was probably heat stroke or it may have been a virus.  I walked from the house we had been renting to Mousehole and then back again.  Most of it was along roads.  I watched the trawler-men at Newlyn unloading their boats and putting it onto the big lorries.  Just on the other side of Newlyn there was a large quarry. 

This was in a way a disappointing walking week because I suffered from exhaustion at the end and did not feel too good on the journey back at all.  We stopped of at my parents for the night.

Day: 85 21/5/92 Porthcurno to Mousehole

Distance:  11.5 km ( 7.1 miles)    Total Distance:  1142.0 miles

A day of good views from along the cliff tops most of the time.  Margaret dropped me at Porthcurno.  Not too long after the start I came across a party of National Trust workers working on the footpath.  I did not feel guilty because we were members now.

Lamorna valley is well known for its beauty and I stopped there at the café for a drink.  It was back up onto the cliffs then and on to Mousehole where I met Margaret and Sean on the beach.  

Day: 84 19/5/92 Pendeen to Porthcurno

Distance:  21.5 km ( 13.4 miles)    Total Distance:  1134.8 miles

Margaret and Sean drove me up to the north coast and dropped me off.  It was good weather on the south coast but just a few miles away on the north coast it was dense fog.  Margaret thus decided to go straight back to the south coast. 

I passed a travellers camp near to Cape Cornwall which looked untidy – although they were trying to get close to nature they seemed not to be taking too much care of it at the same time.  I climbed the hill at Cape Cornwall thinking that I ought. Pass Cape Cornwall the path was a little hard to follow as it went through a patch of lush vegetation and streams flowed down to the beaches. 

Whitesand Bay wasn;t quite my cup of tea.  I got to the village of Sennen Cove and walked up the road out of the village and back onto the cliff tops again.

Land’s End has been bought up by a commercial organisation and was crowded with tourists paying a lot of money to say they had been there.  Fortunately there was free public access for those on the footpath.  I took a photo of the signpost saying miles to anywhere and made a fast get away. 

The next section was full of wide paths, cliffs with rock climbers and good views – this is a section I would like to visit again some time.

Near the end of the walk I passed the Minack Theatre where we had visited with friends some years previously I recall seeing ap lay there and feeling frozen cold, not because it was necessarily that cold but because I has got sunburnt in the day.

At Porthcurno it was time to call it a day.  I was not yet in the habit of looking up bus timetables so still relied on thumbing a lift.  This was a pretty remote spot and I did not fancy walking too much further.  Fortunately the Cable and Wireless Training College was in the village and I ended up getting a lift from someone who worked there all the way to Penzance.  I would not have been able to do this a few years later because the college packed up and moved to Coventry

Day: 83 17/5/92 Hayle to Pendeen

Distance:  30.0 km ( 18.6 miles)    Total Distance:  1121.5 miles

This was our first holiday with a child – Sean!  We stayed in an old cottage/house in Penzance that was OK but we were the first people in for the season and it was damp in the downstairs room.  My plan was to walk hard on alternative days, which proved to be an error. 

Margaret dropped me off at Hayle.  The first part of the walk was easy – up and down the River Hayle and on the sand dunes at Porth Kidney Sands.   St Ives was relatively quiet because the wind was keeping many off the beaches.  My abiding memory of the walk between St Ives and Zennor was that it was difficult and rocky in places. 

At Zennor onwards a dog started to follow me.  Try as I might I could not shake him/her off and it followed me all the way to the end of the walk at Pendeen.  Margaret and Sean picked me up and we had little choice but to put the dog in the car and take it back to Zennor.  We asked at a house in Zennor who it belonged to and they said it was a local dog and to leave it at a nearby house and it would be OK!

Today’s walk was long and difficult and actually in hindsight an error.  I got too hot and did not drink enough and would pay for it by not being able to walk far for the rest of the week.  

Day: 82 2/8/91 Portreath to Hayle

Date: 2/8/91    Weather:  sunny-am, showers-pm

Distance:  19km (11.8 miles)    Total Distance:   1105 miles

We settled up the bill in Cliff House (£14/person/night) and agreed with the proriators to leave the car there for the day. Two German girls in day-glo gear were also staying and were walking the path in full walking gear. We followed in their footsteps for the first half of the walk.

The weather in the morning was good – sunny with enough of a breeze to cool it down. The morning was cliff-top walking, only falling to sea level once and a couple of other dips made it an easy walk with good views. We saw the wreck of the “Cecil Japan” off Hudder Cove. We were looking forward to coffee and cake at Hell’s Mouth but the café there was only just opening at 11.45am and it would have involved a 15 minute wait.  They won’t do much business that way.

The walk out to Goodrevy Point was more popular but we didn’t spy any seals which are meant to breed there. I almost stepped on a baby bird on the path which flew off later. We had lunch in the Sandsifter in Gwithian – it was not very busy as the weather was now cloudy. The Sandsifter was a modern type pub in the dunes.  Margaret stopped in Gwithian and I made a very brisk walk along the beach to St Ives bay. There was little for Margaret to do in the afternoon but she found a typical seaside café to have a cup of tea in. I had just reached the end of the bay when the drizzle turned to heavy rain. I sheltered under the cliff for fifteen minutes. 

The rest of the walk was past a series of run-down chalets and a dilapidated industrial estate of Hayle Dock.  Not the best way to finish off a fine weeks walking.

I walked up to the Copper House (blister burst – ouch!) and hitched a lift.  The first lift took 40 minutes – from a lift repair man to Gwithian and got dropped off just where Margaret was waiting. The second lift we got was from a local surfer (ex-RAF man) plus surfboard in the car. He took us to Portreath where we picked up the car.  We stopped in Redruth for money, got lost on the road and ended up in Truro.  The roads were very busy and we took the A39 which was much quieter, except for a detour to Wadebridge because of an accident.  We stopped in Taunton and had a curry and then drove all the way home arriving at 1.30 am in Coventry. A good week but not again at peak time!   

Day: 81 1/8/91 Perrenporth to Portreath

Date: 1/8/91    Weather:  Sunny

Distance:  18km (11.1 miles)    Total Distance:   1093 miles

Margaret stayed for a while in Perenporth while I started walking.  The bottom car park was already full so we parked on the cliff top and I walked down and back up.  The weather was excellent – sunny with a breeze. The views too were excellent – the sea was a deep turquoise.

This was real tin mining area – lots of disused shafts dating from medieval times to relatively modern. I found a National Trail Guide book so picked it up thinking it had only recently been dropped. It had. It belonged to the two jolly walkers I had met a couple of days previously on the Padstow section. They were very thankful that their book had been found and were still in good spirits – still laughing.  I walked with them a while.  One was a golfer and one was a sailor so they had compromised and come on a walking holiday near the sea!

I left them when they went off to explore a tin mine at Cross Coombe. I stopped in Trevcunance Bay for a drink. It was packed with people and the RNLI were putting on a display.  Margaret was there too but I didn't see her. I must have just missed her!

The afternoon was less interesting – two bays full of sun-seekers. Chapelporth which was OK and Chapel Porth which was grotty. The walk past the airfield was boring.

Margaret was at the B&B shortly after I arrived.  We went over the road for a toasted sandwich and then I had a snooze and shower and then went in search of tea in the Basset Arms, but the restaurant was full so we had a bar meal instead and proceeded to spill the garlic sauce from the chicken all over my trousers.

Day: 80 31/7/91 Newquay to Perenporth

Date: 31/7/91    Weather: Fine

Distance:  16km (9.9 miles)    Total Distance:   1082 miles

We did not feel like parking the car in Newquay so went to Crantock which was much quieter and parked for free using our National Trust membership for the first time and saved £1.  The tide was going out so I walked over the footbridge at the Gunnel just as it opened up and walked up into Newquay – this took about 45 minutes!. Then about turn and through the now very busy streets (yuck) along Fistal beach where the UK surfing championships were being held, and down to the Gunnel again. Meg had walked up to the village of Crantock which was very nice.  She then joined me on the next bit, along the Crantock beach and Porth Jack and over the heath-land to Holywell.  Meg stopped here feeling a little tired and I carried on.

The next bit was full of military establishments and old tin mines – a strange mixture and not very picturesque. Someone overtook me just as I got to Porren beach and headed straight down the cliff on a narrow path to the beach – so I followed him – more slowly! Some military runners passed me running in the opposite direction up the path. 

There were not many people on the vast Perran Beach until the town of Perrenporth. Which was very crowded.  Very fortunately I found a bus that went to Crantock which saved me having to walk from New Quay again. I walked down to get the car and then drove back up to pick up Meg in Hollywell – we met in the Treguth pub. We had tea there and then went in search of a B&B. We found a good one in Portraeth down by the harbour. – a quiet but not very attractive fishing village. Had a night in front of the telly!

Day: 79 30/7/91 Porthcothan to Newquay

Date: 30/7/91    Weather: Fine and warm

Distance:  15km (9.3 miles)    Total Distance:   1072 miles

I parked the car in the car park at Porthcolthan. Margaret walked with me all day today.  It was a pleasant if not memorable walk to Bedruthan Steps where we took out National Trust membership – feeling guilty for not having joined before but having walked through much of their land.  We toasted our membership by having tea and cake in the busy tea shop. This is the life. 

The cliff top was busy here today but people weren't being allowed down the steps because of erosion problems.  Mawgan Porth was also not very memorable.  Towards Newquay we got down onto the beach only getting back up on the cliffs at Beach (?). The walk into Newquay was not too bad but Newquay itself was awful. It was very hot by now and we sheltered in the shade and had a milky drink before getting the bus back, which went through all the holiday camps en-route.

Newquay

We went out for a last meal with friends before Margaret broke the news to them that she was pregnant. She could have told me first! Had cheese on chips – the local specialty for tea. 

Day: 78 29/7/91 Padstow to Porthcothan

Date: 29/7/91    Weather:  Fine and sunny, overcast later

Distance:  19km (11.8 miles)    Total Distance:   1063 miles

Margaret and I drove around the estuary to Padstow and parked in a car park above the town.  Margaret walked with me for the first few hundred yards through a war memorial park but for the rest of the day I walked on my own.  The beaches I passed were crowded. It was a very picturesque walk around Stepper Point. I was watching a coaster that appeared to be stuck on a sandbank trying to get off.  Both Trevone Bay and Harlyn Bay were busy. 

I had a break in a café in Trevone Bay – it was very hot!  The owners of the café were evidently new at the job and very concerned that their china mugs were not allowed to be taken outside. It had to be polystyrene for that job! 

Just outside Passing Catadews Point I passed two middle aged men walking the path, and were laughing and seemed to be having a good time – this was the couple who's book I found later on in the week.  Some of the path to Trevose Bay had been diverted to make it safer.  The area south of Trevos Bay is not very pretty – a couple of rock workings.  Catawade Bay was not very spectacular either but easy to walk along. 

Margaret who had spent the day in Padstow then came to pick me up in Porthcothan.  We had tea in Padstow.  Our friends came over in the ferry and we took them back after tea.  We had tea in an Italian restaurant – very nice!

Day: 77 28/7/91 Rock to Padstow

Date: 28/7/91    Weather: Hot – no wind!

Distance:  19.5km (12.1 miles)    Total Distance:   1051 miles

Today was one of those days where I ended up close to where I started from – one of those estuary walks. The first part to Wadebridge did not have any footpath, but I managed to walk most of it along the sand and mud without having to go up on the road which I was glad of as the road was narrow and busy.  There were the occasional camper and boater along this stretch, miles away from any civilisation.  I had to go up on the road at Treworan but then cut back down to the beach at Bodieve through some dense woodland.  The rest of the path was industrial into Wadebridge.

Meg was waiting for me in Wadebridge.  After an ice cream and a drink we set off to Padstow. It was crowded with cyclists and other walkers. The path was an old railway track and very flat.  It was hot and there was no wind which made walking unpleasant, and the path a little repetitive.  Some of the bird-life was interesting with swans in the estuary. 

Once we got to Padstow we wandered around the town for a while before catching the ferry back to Rock. I had left the car in the ‘Park and Ride’ car park having dropped Meg off in Wadebridge in the morning, so we got a bus back from the ferry to the car park and then drove the short distance to the campsite.  We had tea again in the pub in Pitymore.