SWCP - Final thoughts

•As always, we found the British people we met to be very friendly and helpful. Every single one seemed to have a connection to Canada and loved to tell us about it. They were impressed that we came all the way from home to walk the coast path and wanted to be sure to give us the local highlights.
•Other than locals, we encountered mostly German visitors at our B&Bs, etc…Many were touring the sights relating to the television series based on Rosamunde Pilcher books and TV series as well as Poldark sights.
•Dogs rule in Cornwall. They were everywhere – at the beach, in pubs, restaurants, inns and shops and they seemed to have it made. We encountered hundreds of dogs and their masters on their daily walks  on the trail and they were in great shape and very happy. It was so much fun watching them at play on the beaches.
•We never realized there were so many beaches in southwest England and that surfing was such a popular sport!
•The tides played a big part in the activities along the path. We were told that they were 7 metres in height in places. Various types of ferries and footbridges become part of the journey.
•Food was excellent. We tried a variety of fresh local products and Cornish specialties – pasties, ice cream, cheeses, fish and seafood (crab, mackerel, turbot, John Dory, megrim)
•Mining was HUGE in Cornwall. Evidence of this was found all along the way. Wheals, crown engines, old mine shafts, etc…
•Due to past experiences, we knew to avoid stinging nettles this time. The only worry was that Britain’s only poisonous snake, the adder, likes to sun itself in the dunes and we saw many cautionary warnings. Peter was on the look-out for sure.
•We were incredibly lucky with the weather. Even if we had a day of rain and some fog and mist, that gave us an opportunity to see the coast as it is typically - mysterious and haunting.
•The cliffs, coves, beaches, and dunes were spectacular.  We saw seals, peregrine falcons, curlews, kittiwakes, choughs, rabbits, butterflies, buntings, many beautiful wildflowers.
•There was an interesting variety of way-markers along the way. Peter was in charge of navigation this time around. His theory was that as long as the ocean was on our right, we were good. It also helped that the gusty winds blew inland instead of the other way around.
•Having done one-sixth of the Coast Path’s 630 miles, we are anxious to be able to complete more sections in the future!

SWCP - Day 9 - Sennen Cove to Porthcurno - 7 miles - July 15th, 2015

What a great night's sleep last night listening to the waves crashing up on the beach below our window. Our boots had dried by this morning and so after a leisurely breakfast, we set off on our last day of walking. What a terrific section of coastline to end with in near perfect weather. We arrived shortly at Land's End, which is the most westerly point in England. Although it is a very touristy site, and many people were around, the scenery was beautiful. We could see the isles of Scilly 28 miles in the distance and also got to spot our first chough (red-billed sea cliff birds).  Onward to more dramatic coastline with caves, arches, and granite columns, past Gwennap Head, ultimately arriving at the Minack theatre in Porthcurno. We were able to see the view of the bay which had been fogged in the night before. From here we took a bus to Penzance and from the harbour we were able to see St Michael's Mount in the distance. We will be able to visit this some day on our next trip here to walk another section of the Coast Path! Tomorrow we are off to London by train and back home on Friday. We will post a summary of thoughts and highlights in the next day or so.

Sennen Cove

Sennen Cove Beach

Official photographer's set-up 

At Land's End

Near Nanjizal Bay

Porthgwarra 

Cornish pasty

Minack theatre on a clear day

Shop in Penzance 

St Michael's Mount

SWCP - Day 8 - Pendeen to Sennen Cove - 9 miles - July 14th, 2015

Pendeen is historically linked with its mining heritage.Remnants of the tin and copper mining industry can be found in the area, including the Levant and Geever mines. Over breakfast our B & B hostess Pauline told us about recent local film shoots for the upcoming second season of Poldark – a hugely popular UK television series. We will definitely want to see if we can locate season 1 when we get home. The fog and mist was heavy as we set off and this soon turned to rain, which lasted most of the day, making for limited views and slippery conditions over rocks.
We have met so many nice and friendly people over the course of the last 8 days, whether other Coast path walkers, people out on day walks and locals walking their dogs. We met one such gentleman this morning – Harry and his trusty old dog, who told us how much he had loved Canada when he was stationed in Medicine Hat for a time. He too, told us about Poldark and wanted to be sure that we didn’t miss any of the highlight on the days’ path. He even waited to make sure that we got through a particularly tough “rocky scramble” before waving goodbye. Upon reaching Cape Cornwall, we were able to get a glimpse of it for about a minute before the fog and mist hid it from view. Prior to arriving at Sennen Cove, Peter thought it would be best if we walked along the beach and while admiring the surfers, we got surprised by a rogue wave which came to our knees, soaking our already wet hiking boots. Thank goodness our hotel, The Old Success Inn provided us with old newspapers and towels to dry out. After an early dinner downstairs, we took a taxi to the renowned Minack theatre in  Porthcurno to see the Opera Carmen. This is an outdoor venue with a backdrop of the bay. Unfortunately the fog persisted and although we weren’t able to enjoy the view, we did appreciate the production.

Good thing we have clear waymarkers on rainy, foggy days!

Francine figuring out how to get through this set of rocks

Surfers at Sennen Cove

Minack Theatre

Carmen

SWCP - Day 7 - St Ives to Pendeen Watch = 15 miles - July 13th, 2015

The guidebook wasn’t lying. Today’s walk was severe. This was due to the very rocky terrain and over 1000 metres of ascent combined with wet boggy sections. We had to scramble over rocks and boulders and tried to attack the route all day long. We set off at 9am, after the best Cornish  breakfast yet – and hiked non-stop until 6pm. This was a very remote and rugged stretch of coastline with no facilities or services so we were prepared by having purchased sandwiches the night before. We encountered bits of mist and drizzle but overall the the day was overcast with very gusty winds. Having said all that, the scenery was spectacular with vistas only seen by walking the path. We are in the Trewellard Arms pub, having dinner and lots of wine to try to  numb the pain of our aching feet!

Near St Ives harbour

St Nicholas Chapel, St Ives

The Granite Fingers, Wicca Pool

Francine and todays's terrain

Boulder field we had tro traverse 

SWCP - Day 6 - Gwithian to St Ives - 10 miles - July 12th, 2015

It had to happen. After five days of brilliant sunshine, we woke to rain. We lingered over breakfast at our B&B and started off about 10:30 when the rain had changed to drizzle. Our walk today was a shorter one to St Ives. The sand dunes were covered with interesting snails and rabbits running around. We walked a section of beach before it became necessary to veer inland around the town of Hayle and its estuary. This particular section was not the greatest as it involved walking on roads however we did learn that Hayle was a town at the centre of the British Industrial Revolution. We next hiked through a wooded section, stopping to visit the church of Uny St Lelant, where the Pilgrimage route called St Michael’s way begins. We arrived in St Ives about 3pm and checked in at Cornerways guest house near the harbour. (Daphne Dumaurier used to stay here regularly in the 1949s). St Ives is a lovely, artsy town, very busy with tourists at this time of year. We visited the Tate Museum and then wandered the cute main shopping area - Fore Street, where there were many shops selling locally made jewelery, glass, products etc... An early dinner tonight included loacal fish and seafood. We will be off to bed early as tomorrow’s route is to be the most challenging – the guide book calls it “ a severe and remote 14 mile length”.

Upton Towans section

Slate waymarkers in this area

Hayle harbour at low tide 

Lelant Church 

Wild poppies

Hayle River & Estuary

Trail coming into St Ives 

Fore St., St Ives 

Our home for tonight

St Ives Harbour

SWCP - Day 5 - St Agnes to Gwithian - 16+ miles - July 11th, 2015

Another beautiful sunny day! We can hardly believe our luck. We were sure that the clouds in the distance would bring showers at some point but the winds kept blowing these inland.
This was our toughest day yet. We covered 16 miles and these included many ups and downs. We can’t remember how many sets of stairs we ended up descending and climbing. We walked a full eight hours and travelled from Trevaunance Cove to St Agnes Head and by the beautiful wheal coath. This structure is part of the tin mining past of this area. Then we walked down to the very nice beach at Chapel Porth. Another climb and then on to Porthtowan, with its nice beach. Then on to Portreath, which was at one time the biggest port in Cornwall during the tin mining days. Here we picked up ready-made sandwiches at the local bakery for a picnic lunch later on. In the Western Hills area, we saw wild Shetland ponies and many bird species including kittiwakes. At Hell’s Mouth, there was a very nice café but we didn’t have the time to rest. On we went to Navox point, spotting about a dozen seals on the shore. Past the lighthouse at Godrevy Point, we could see the village of Gwithian in the distance. After traversing the towans (sand dunes) behind Gwithian  Beach we managed to find our rest point for the night – Sandbank House B&B. We are tired and have aching feet but only casualties so far are Francine’s sunburned lips and Peter’s 2 developing blisters. We are over the half-way mark and are amazed every day by the gorgeous cliffs and Cornish coastlands.

Butcher shop in St Agnes

Our lodging last night

Trevaunance Cove

Paradliders

Wheal Coath

Moorland

 

We look out for these way markers

These stairs are tougher than they look - very uneven

One of many hidden coves seen today

Shetland ponies