A walk from Carn Galver Mine to Porthmeor Cove, oh and a little detour…..

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….

Home for tea

A stormy day down on Sennen…..

Well after a beautifully clear night, several shooting stars (yep we made a wish) and a clear sight of Mars (only knew this coz I saw it on FB) – this morning we couldn’t see a thing – we were completely shrouded in wet mizzly sea mist.

The mist lifted about lunchtime and even though there were some pretty heavy showers and a strong wind swirling around, we took the chance and headed off along the coastal path to Sennen.

The footpath took us through the Escalls Green Valley a lovely wild valley covered in marram grass and criss crossed with footpaths (a dog walkers paradise) and home to these pretty little cottages (fab place to stay though sadly all holiday cottages now)…

At the bottom of the valley we joined Whitesand Bay aka Sennen Cove beach – an absolute beauty even on a stormy day with the tide almost high…

Though there were quite a few people wandering along the main part of the beach, nearer Sennen Cove, this far end was pretty much deserted and so Poppydog could enjoy her freedom.

As for me – well just happy to throw a ball and enjoy the wind, crashing waves and the view….

As I had dried out from our earlier soaking, I decided that we would back up the valley and back to site before the next shower came along.

We shall return another day when the tide is further out and maybe the sun shining?

Beyond the marshlands at Thornham….

Another lovely sunny day, still a nip in the air but the wind has dropped some. We have decided to make today our last day exploring the Norfolk Coastline.

Continuing our journey along the northern tip of Norfolk, today we park up in Thornham, a pretty sleepy Norfolk village.

From the village we walk the mile or so along lanes to reach the coastal path. There was in fact some parking at the end of the lane, but we enjoyed the peaceful walk. Here the coastal path sits on top of the sea wall above the surrounding marshland.

We crossed an area of dunes and this fab beach lay in wait….

Well social distancing certainly won’t be a problem…

As Poppydog waits patiently for a bit of freedom….

We walked back along the beach to where we left off at Holme Dunes Nature Reserve.

Before taking a last look at this wonderful coastline – until next time.

I have been living, maybe naively, pottering along as we do, with very little human contact, that firstly, we are not endangering anyone and secondly, that we are keeping safe. However, I also appreciate that each county has its own health facilities based on it’s permanent residents and so we are heading home to Cornwall.

A blast along the beach at Holme-next-the-sea…..

A lovely bright sunshiny day, but wow a seriously cold blast of wind running along the beach. Today we headed to Holme-next-the-sea a small village just around the coast from Hunstanton, to pick up from where we left off yesterday. There is a car park, chargeable, but we were lucky enough to squeeze into a bit of roadside parking for free! I don’t know why I have become so obsessed about parking for free but I have! Beyond the dunes this fabulous beach lay waiting….

The sand is soft but with quite a lot of stones in it and quite a few people out, no doubt, like me, enjoying the opportunity to get out whilst we still can! As we head off in a North easterly direction the wind is ferocious, making walking into it, as we are, quite a challenge and just to add to the mix, blasting a fine layer of sand with it!

Fortunately the tide is far enough out for us to walk on the wet sand away from the low flying soft sand and save Poppydog from a sand blasting!

Here the beach resembles a moonscape and dodging the pools distracts me from the biting wind. After a couple of miles or so we reach Gore Point, where the beach inclines towards the east and Holme Dunes Nature Reserve begins.

After a quick foray inland where it is much more sheltered from the wind, we decide to about turn, admit defeat to the wind and save the next bit of beach to another day…

What a fabulous parting shot as we rejoin the beach at Holme Dunes and get blown by the wind all the way back!

Old Hunstanton and it’s fabulous beach….

A bit wet overnight and for our morning walk but brightening up by lunchtime with a mostly sunny afternoon. Today we are off to explore Old Hunstanton, parking up on the roadside above the cliffs in Hunstanton. Taking a quick look at the ruins of St Edmund’s Chapel on St Edmund’s Point with a glimpse of the Lighthouse through the archway (all that remains)….St Edmund, King of East Anglia from 855 was beheaded by the Vikings in 869 for not renouncing his faith, his head was tossed into the forest and later recovered by his men at the feet of a wolf who was keeping it safe! And so we have a wolf….We then took a closer look at the Lighthouse, closed in 1922 and now an holiday home…Before walking down towards this fabulous beach….

A short way along the beach, beyond the dunes and a collection of pretty beach huts, sits the flint stone village of Old Hunstanton…

Continuing along the beach a fairly deep (wellies ok but walking boots not so) divides the beach and we are forced to stay on the inland side (the tide is coming in and I certainly don’t want to get caught out!

Our turning point is Holme-next-the-sea where marshlands stretch in front of us before a stretch of low tide beach and the sea.

On our return we are trying to stay ahead of the rather black looking cloud that seems to be coming our way…

We don’t quite make it but it is fortunately short and sharp and though we get wet, the following sun and ever present breeze soon sorts us out again.

We even linger a while to watch the kite surfers – crikey they must be cold!!

A delightful 5 mile walk and home to find out what Boris has in store for us today.