Thursday, 2 October 2008

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Padstow → Harlyn

hawkers-cove.jpg

Distance: 6.63 miles
Ascent: 169 metres
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Into the wind
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A strong west wind was blowing today, something Emma and I were entirely ignorant of for the first part of this walk as we made our way to the mouth of the Camel estuary. The bright sunshine burnt through the morning mist, lighting up the row of old coastguard cottages that watched over the ominously named Doom Bar sand bank.

The moment we came out of the shelter provided by Stepper Point it was clear the wind would feature strongly for rest of our walk. The old daymark at the top of the headland provided momentary respite and an opportunity to tighten the hoods on our windproofs.

The cliff-top walk down to Trevone and then Harlyn was breathtaking. Sixty metres below waves flung themselves at the rock while level with us birds of prey hung motionlessly, scanning the slumping cliffs for lunch. Further on the stacks by Middle Merope Island and the collapsed cave of the Round Hole provided further evidence of the power of the wind and tide.

herringbone.png

So much for the view out to sea to our right. For much of the route we were accompanied on the left by a defiant man-made structure. Proudly ushering the path was an old herringbone wall, standing strong in the face of the wind that we finally had to give in to by the bridge at Harlyn.

Posted by pab at 16:24 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!