Well, Saturday dawned bright and sunny and, fortunately, the wind had died down a bit too. Thanks to the wonder of modern anti-inflammatory medication Matt's knees and hips were recovered and we were able to crack on after a great breakfast here:
We were joined by Will's aunt Mary, who had walked the first leg last year and now wanted to complete the whole thing a year later:
We set off at a goodly pace to Penzance, Newlyn and Mousehole (almost entirely flat for a pleasant change) with a minor pause to put on waterproofs when the heavens' opened. The poor old Jubilee Pool in Penzance is looking very battered after the recent dreadful storms. Here is their page giving information about how you can help save this iconic lido:
but it's always nice to be able to look back and see how far you've come:
The fishing boats in Newlyn harbour were looking wonderfully colourful:
and the sun came out so we could enjoy a pasty lunch in Mousehole:
The first strenuous part of the day was up Raginnis Hill out of Mousehole:
and thence on to the path to Lamorna Cove:
We made it to Lamorna in an hour, which we were pretty chuffed with:
and, again, the poor harbour wall has been badly storm damaged (although the controversial owners are receiving little sympathy in their bid for funding to repair it):
From there it was on to St Loy:
through beautiful grazed daffodil fields:
past Tater Du Lighthouse:
After St Loy we saw possibly the craziest allotment in the world - why? - how?:
and then the path became very up and down and we were walking right into the setting sun, which didn't help. Down to Penberth, across this lovely little bridge:
and then right back up the other side! From there to Porthcurno:
where we made the (sensible) decision to abandon the coast path and head inland on the road. It was getting dark and we were
which depressed us no end. a) because we'd taken all day and walked about 16 miles and, in fact, Penzance is just 9 miles away and b) because, it transpired, that the sign lied - Land's End was way, way more than 2.5 miles away - in fact we passed at least 2 more signs which also declared they were 2.5 miles from Land's End!
En route we passed this amazing post box in Polgigga:
which the observant amongst you will see says "VR" - Victoria Regina - which makes it pretty rare and well over 100 years old.
From there we flogged along for another 2 miles (at least) until we saw this very welcome sign:
As you can see, it was dark. What you can't see is that it was also a bit damp and very cold! Far, far away to our left we could see Lizard lighthouse flashing every now and then - quite incredible to think that we'd walked from there.
About 3 hours later (after we'd enjoyed a hot meal and a few drinkies):
the incredible, intrepid Truro College students arrived, supported by Cornwall Search and Rescue Team:
They were given a tiny lift from the coast path to near Land's End - not because they wouldn't have walked the whole way (they would) but just because they would have arrived at about 1am and their team leader (rightly) assumed we'd all want to be in bed by then!!
Their achievement was extraordinary and they should be justifiably proud of themselves - Ten Tors will be a doddle after this!
Next year we're thinking of doing it over three days (or leaving really, really early in the morning!).
RIP Will.
Didn't you do well! Thankyou for all the lovely photos of places-that-I-love.
ReplyDeleteThat allotment - it would be a quillet - there are lots of them on the cliff slopes - between Mousehole and Lamorna, and on the slopes above Gwenver - and they were made to be sheltered little patches where flowers, and early potatoes could be grown for the spring markets. The stone walls made them little suntraps with their own microclimate.
Thank you for that, Jean - I didn't know all that! The thing that got us was that it was in the middle of nowhere with no obvious habitation around - that's quite a commitment for your early potatoes!!!
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