Having reached a crossroads in my life I am choosing to step off the treadmill that is my busy life and take time out to travel. On October 5th 2017 I set off with my Springer Poppy in our motorhome (subsequently swapped for a caravan) ‘freedombird’ initially to explore the remote beauty of the UK coastline and then – well let’s see……
A damp start, but as forecast, it soon perked up and developed into a lovely sunny afternoon. The forecast for tomorrow and much of the week is horrible so we have decided to head home for a few days – yes I’m afraid we are becoming fair weather campers!! However we are not losing a day so we head just beyond Morvah and park up at Carn Galver Mine. Now I could quite happily have set up camp and stayed here for the afternoon but Poppydog has other ideas….
We follow the footpath which closely resembles a stream down towards the sea and join up with the coastal path just above Porthmoina Cove. Access to the cove looks to tricky for us and the tide is quite high, so we continue along the footpath heading eastwards (towards St Ives).
I found the going fairly tough, I think partly as it comes at the end of nearly a fortnight of clambering up and down the coastal path. It is one of those stretches were you need to watch your feet as the path scrambles over rocks and slithers into muddy patches. After about a mile we are looking down over Porthmeor Cove, with patches of turquoise water, hinting at lovely white sand beneath.
Unfortunately here again access was too tricky for us to contemplate alone, though we did enjoy a brief rest sat in the sunshine just above the cove – the tide is still too high for the sand to be exposed but the promise is certainly there.
Porthmeor Cove
Now it is time for us to hike back up the hill and over grazing land to the van with a little look through the window when we get there.
Room with a view…
As the afternoon is still lovely, on the way back home we pop down to Perranuthnoe as a treat for a proper beach walk and to enjoy the rest of the sunshine.
There are a few other like minded people around so Poppydog has to stay on her lead, but still she can run, play ball and have a splash about.
As for me, well I can just take it easy and take photos of the sun behind the clouds…
A great day and we’re home and unpacked in time for tea….
Well at least it has stopped raining and in fact we even saw a bit of sunshine. A different sort of day for us today as we are off to St Ives to meet up with friends. It was a bit busier than I expected and the main car park was already full so up to the Rugby Club for us it was – still a bit cheaper up there at £6 for the day (still daylight robbery in my opinion!).
The town itself was way to busy with the main shopping lane thronging with people (why are they not at work / school / college?) so we gave that I wide berth, instead heading along the harbour wall looking across at the town, the tide was still quite high at this stage.
We wandered round to Porthmeor Beach and beyond – surfers paradise with hundreds of little black ants out there bobbing on the waves.
After a very pleasant lunch sat on the Harbour beach in the sunshine we walked along to Porthminster Beach, this was less crowded and Poppydog could at least have a run around and dunk in the sea – though too many footballs on the beach to allow her any serious freedom alas.
Across the water Godrevy Lighthouse always appears to be glittering in the sunshine, starkly white against the black rock on which it is perched.
A final walk back along the harbour front, mainly to pay a visit to the cute old fashioned bakery at the far end for goodies for later, before the long haul back up to our cars.
A lovely day spent with friends and at least 6 miles walked.
A pretty miserable day by anyone’s standards but needs must and all that. To be fair the rain had more or less stopped but visibility was still pretty awful as we drove and parked up in Pendeen. From the village we took the lighthouse road part way before cutting across farmland down to the coastal path. The sea still looks pretty majestic even shrouded with low lying grey cloud.
Very soon we were rewarded with a glimpse of the beautiful sandy Portheras Cove.
Wow, I certainly wasn’t expecting this. Access is the only possible from the coastal path with a reasonable walk from any possible car parking, probably at least a mile. The last bit was a scramble over rocks so doable for most and may I add, well worth the effort.
We almost had the beach to ourselves, just one other couple (enjoying a swim!). So at the far end Poppydog was given her freedom.
She just loves to splash around in rock pools and skitter over the larger rocks in pursuit of something or anything, in this case she had to make do with seaweed as I had left her ball behind.
After a while as a few more folk were arriving, we decided to make our way back up off the beach and follow the coastal path back to take a look at Pendeen Lighthouse.
Before getting there, out of curiosity we followed a footpath down Boat Cove (not labelled on the map but the coastal path waymarker indicated it as such). What a little gem – another beautiful cove – very small but as long as you don’t have to share it ideal!
Boat Cove
We meandered back onto the coastal path and soon arrived at the Lighthouse.
From here we headed inland taking a look along the coast towards Cape Cornwall – this is Tin Mining country (or was) with both Geevor and Levant Mines in the distance.
The weather is closing in again on us fast, so we step up our pace along the Lighthouse road which after a mile or so takes us back to the car. A shortish 4 mile walk today and just in time as the heavens opened as we reached the van.
A very wild night and through most of the day but a bit of sun around and dry.
Note to self don’t try to put the pop top roof down in high winds with the side door open! You need two pairs of hands and as per, Poppydog is no help – as fast as I was pulling the sides in whilst holding the roof down (actually swinging off it at times) the wind was blowing the sides back out! I did eventually manage to do it and then about 5 minutes later realised what an idiot!! Still we live and learn.
Initially we drove and parked up in Treen, planning a fairly long walk along the coastal path to Lamorna Cove, but on looking again at the map with no real circular route back, I realised this was possibly a tad ambitious. Instead we wandered down across farmland to Penberth Cove.
A completely stony or should I say rocky, as not even suitable for Poppydog to run around on, cove at the bottom of a sleepy hollow valley. The footpath disappearing up the steep cliff to our left did not endear me to the idea of progressing any further along the coastal path.
Instead we wandered up the valley. Nicely sheltered from the wind with a vibrant stream running through and a few houses (for once they looked to be homes as opposed to holiday lets) nestling in rather exotic gardens, it was a very pleasant walk. We passed this rather impressively decorated tree adorned with a multitude of different shaped, size and colour of fisherman’s buoy.
So after barely a couple of miles we are back at the van, next stop the Merry Maidens….
Yup a pretty impressive standing circle. From here a string of footpaths across farmland eventually leads us down into Lamorna – another leafy valley. We had to deal with a couple of path closures which prevented us from going via Tater-du Lighthouse (another day maybe?) but eventually made our way down the steep incline into Lamorna.
The sea was pretty rough but a nice bit of sand was still exposed inside the harbour wall, though no longer in the weak sunshine.
We enjoyed the solitude with the crashing waves our only soundtrack, as there was hardly a soul about.
Soon enough, with a last look back, it was time for us to begin the gentler but quite long route back up to where we had left the van, under the watchful eye of the Merry Maidens.
I’m glad we did this in two hits as we still managed to cover 7 miles and we are ready for food and putting our feet up!
A mostly grey day today and becoming increasingly windy though importantly, remaining dry.
Provisions are required, so a quick trip into Penzance first and then we followed the road around Newlyn to find a convenient spot to park up in a lay-by on the coastal road. After an initial attempt to use the concrete path just above the rocks failed as it has been washed away in parts and is no longer passable we rejoined the footpath which runs along the road above the shoreline, affording glimpses across Mounts Bay.
Shortly we passed the former Penlee Lifeboat Station and it’s memorial garden, standing proud as a memorial to the Lifeboat Solomon Browne and all its crew who were lost in outrageous seas on 19th Dec 1981 attempting to rescue the crew and passengers of the Union Star. The lifeboat crew had successfully rescued 4 people before both boats, the lifeboat crew (8) and remaining 8 crew and passengers of the Union Star were lost. The current Penlee Lifeboat is located in the safety of Newlyn Harbour.
Rooftop of Penlee Lifeboat Station
About half a mile later we arrive in Mousehole a pretty cluster of cottages running down a valley and around the infamous harbour (the Christmas Lights display draws people from all over).
Mousehole Harbour
Wandering through the narrow cluttered streets of white washed cottages the coastal path steeply works its way back up onto the cliff tops giving the occasional glimpse back down onto the harbour.
At the top of the hill the path narrows and is enclosed either side by hedgerow which though providing welcome relief from the increasing breeze, unfortunately makes for a bit of a dull walk.
Unsurprisingly we didn’t meet many other walkers and after a mile or so we chose Penzer Point and it’s gap in the hedgerow to be our half way marker and set off back the way we came.
Freedom Bird 