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!
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