Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Porthcothan → Newquay

Distance: 11.4 miles
Ascent: 340 metres
Duration: 4 hours 16 minutes

The Steps
« Harlyn | Perranporth »

"The Bedruthan Steps are spectacular at low tide," our B&B host told us over breakfast this morning. Sadly yesterday's sunshine has been replaced by a thick covering of cloud, and the tide was in when we reached these huge sea stacks just a few miles south of Porthcothan.

It was easy to see what the effect would be though: the tide withdraws beyond each of them, leaving glistening white sand towered over by tall columns of rock. Instead the islands were left paddling in dazzlingly clear emerald green water.

South of the Steps the tide began to recede, uncovering beautiful sandy beaches: at Mawgan Porth, Watergate and Porth, all matching the miles of sand that was on show last night at Porthcothan, but covered when we left this morning.

It's been a warm day, but thanks to the cloud not insanely hot. That's not deterred the holidaymakers though, who are out on the beaches and headlands in force to enjoy what they can of the late start to the summer.

We smelt Newquay before we got there. The air was thick with evaporating alcohol. This didn't bode well – I was hoping to find a peaceful seafront café where we could while away the hour before the train arrived. We continued walking through the town in search of such a place and were soon above the harbour on the far side having failed in this mission.

Suffice it to say that although Newquay has its charms (such as the house built atop a sea stack that looks like a misplaced Bedruthan Step), it isn't somewhere I can ever see us returning to once we've continued the coast walk out of it.

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Harlyn → Porthcothan

Distance: 7.21 miles
Ascent: 517 metres
Duration: 2 hours 39 minutes

Summer begins
« Padstow | Newquay »

It's a luxury to be able to do this: to decide on the spur of the moment to race down to Cornwall for two days' walking. Fortunately we picked a good weekend for it, with wall-to-wall sunshine today.

This walk was relatively short, chiefly driven by availability of accommodation between Harlyn - where we left off in 2008 - and Newquay, the departure station for our train home tomorrow.

It's also been a very windy day, but that's not deterred the typical Brit, who's descended on the glorious sandy beaches in large numbers. On days like this we feel very much the odd ones out, marching along in hiking boots and rucksacks, rather than just lazing on a towel with a book, waiting for the barbecue to be ready.

Along the cliff-tops the wild flowers have been particularly noticeable today, with thrift and campion blooming in neat clusters and red valerian growing thickly in the hedgerows near Trevose Lighthouse.

By this evening, the wind had got the better of the sun, making it sadly too chilly to eat outside. Inside the pub we bumped into another couple staying at the same Bed and Breakfast as us. They too were walking the South West Coast Path, but had ambitions to go further so pushed us for stories, recommendations and tips.

Album , Solas

Admiral Fallow: Boots Met My Face

It may seem strange to review an album on the day that the follow-up record is released, but we've only recently got hold of Admiral Fallow's debut and aren't really ready to move on to the sophomore.

Boots Met My Face has been on near constant rotation in our house since we picked it up a month or so ago. I first came across the band after seeing front-man Louis Abbot duet with Rachel Sermanni in a video shot at Cambridge Folk Festival (or better, a reprise on Brighton Pier). Half the band formed the back line of Rachel's band when we saw her at the Union Chapel in January.

But still I'd not actually listened to their material. Not until Solas booked them for next month's festival.

Boots Met My Face is full of luscious melodies and charming instrumentation (flute and clarinet on a pop record?), it's the album I would have wanted to record as a student were I so talented (and Scottish).

The world of the songs reminds me of those days too, with tales of leaving home and wondering about the future of friendships. It's a place where time is measured by counting discarded light-bulbs, where every street contributed to your character.

Stand-out tracks are the first three: Dead Against Smoking, Squealing Pigs and Subbuteo, as well as Four Bulbs and Taste the Coast towards the end of the album. Any record with five stand-out tracks has to be a good thing.

I hear this album's been slow-burning for two years now. I can't wait to see some of it live at Solas, and really look forward to getting into the follow-up.

Comment

You Can't Eat the View

It's not often that work and life collide in the way that I experienced this week.

Cornwall is very beautiful; we've been exploring it and gradually getting to know it over the last six years. But it's also one of the poorest parts of the country - the fact that it still receives EU funding is significant.

Poverty looks very different in a rural environment, especially one reliant on tourism. It's hard to spot the low wages, job insecurity, and isolation that locals face. Scratch below the surface of the idyllic fishing village, rugged mining community or chic surfing town and you'll find depression, drug and alcohol problems, unemployment, debt and despair. Proper, real poverty - as in, going without food, heating and clothing. The dispersed nature of many communities, lack of affordable public transport, high fuel costs and often short-term availability of well-paid work combine to strangle many people's chances of a better future and yet, all of this happens in the context of growing high-end domestic tourism.

I felt uncomfortable during my two-day visit; hearing some of the humbling stories of the way local people are helping others in need was deeply inspiring, but left me with a tinge of guilt that our enjoyment of this wild, resilient place is facilitated by our comfortable income. But I was also excited by the energy of the people I met whose passion for their communities has already brought change. One thing's for sure: Cornwall is forever changed for me, but is now more real, more human.

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Hartland Quay → Morwenstow

Distance: 9.16 miles
Ascent: 923 metres
Duration: 4 hours 23 minutes

Distracted
« Clovelly | Bude »

Yesterday we rested. No, that's not right. Yesterday we paid respect. Gran's husband Arthur died last week at the age of 103 and with the funeral just the other side of Devon in Teignmouth we were pleased to be able to join those giving thanks for his life.

Neither of us was in a particularly great mood for a walk, with myriad thoughts still swimming around after yesterday's gentle service.

Water has been with us all day today, and not just in the form of the sea and the constant rain.

A short distance from the start we came across the stunning waterfall at Speke's Hill Mouth. "This," said Emma, "has made up for all the rain". We'd barely been going half an hour, and I think by the end of the walk she may have chosen to temper those words.

After a few miles of nearly level cliff-top walking we reached Embury Beacon where a solitary hardy soul was taking refuge in their car while on a break from sifting the earth at an archaeological dig. This is not the weather for kneeling in a trench all day.

And then it was down to sea level again, to the stepping stones at Welcombe Mouth. The rain had swollen the brook so much that one of the stones was completely submerged, and with a torrent of water coming down the valley and a steep drop just downstream we reluctantly decided to detour half a mile upstream to a road where we could cross more safely.

Up again, and down again. The pattern for the day was set. The next valley carries Marsland Water to Marsland Mouth, and with it the border between Devon and Cornwall. We slid most of the way down, somehow staying on our feet.

The end was in sight, but with a few more small valleys to cross. Eventually we summited Henna Cliff, and saw the tower of Morwenstow Church. We also met a group of walkers heading north. They'd started from Bude and were determined to make it to Hartland Quay before the end of the day. I didn't like to tell them how glad I was that we'd chosen to split that long stretch in two, and that we were about to stop.

It had been a long, wet day. Thankfully we had chosen our destination well: after discarding gaiters at the car, the cream teas in Morwenstow vicarage tea-room were a very satisfying reward.

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Morwenstow → Bude

Distance: 7.59 miles
Ascent: 463 metres
Duration: 3 hours 31 minutes

Split
« Hartland Quay | Crackington Haven »

The South West Coast Path Association describe the section from Hartland Quay to Bude as the hardest day in their suggested itinerary. With continued poor weather forecast we were in no mood for that so split the section at Morwenstow, approximately halfway.

The reduced distance gave us time to explore a little more, and we were glad to do so since we would otherwise not have stopped off at Hawker's Hut, a shabby looking wooden shelter just off the path which was used by Rev Hawker as a mini retreat.

We have Rev Hawker to thank for the Harvest Festival, first introduced here in the late 19th century, and now held in pretty much every church in the land. We can also thank him for the most eccentric vicarage I've ever seen: the chimneys of what is now Morwenstow's Old Vicarage are modelled on church towers that featured earlier in his life.

North of Hawker's Hut, half a dozen steep ascents and descents followed, and as we approached the top of each just one thing loomed large on the horizon ahead of us: the myriad of satellite dishes and antennae at the GCHQ site just north of Bude.

The path runs very close to the site fence, and I was so distracted by the huge dishes that we missed the point where the path turns right to descend through the scrub. (For those walking this way in the future, it's just by the corner where you first meet the fence; if you find yourself on the remnant of a concrete road you've gone too far).

It's been a surprisingly hot day today so we were glad to reach Bude without too much exertion. Bude is an interesting town, reminiscent of Southwold in the way that it keeps its bustle away from the sea front. I was expecting it to be heaving with surfers but instead found a genteel charm. I suspect in a month's time when the season is in full swing that will all change.

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Crackington Haven → Tintagel

Distance: 11.6 miles
Ascent: 1034 metres
Duration: 5 hours 35 minutes

From all over the world
« Bude | Port Gaverne »

It's Bank Holiday Monday so I expected to see more people out walking. What I didn't expect is that we didn't pass any other British walkers; today had a very international feel to it.
Ascending out of Crackington Haven, we overtook a German couple who had paused to take in the view.

Descending into another steep coombe, the man coming the way didn't seem to want to engage in conversation. "I am Italian," he said in the hesitant manner of someone who only knows one phrase in a foreign tongue. Through universal sign language I managed to ask about the route ahead, and whether it dropped contoured below the worst of the cliffs "Si," he replied, clearly pleased to have helped.

We reached Boscastle in time for lunch, enduring a rain shower confirming that popping into a tea room would be a good idea. It seemed somehow appropriate to be seeing the village in the rain, but it was still difficult to imagine the wall of water that tore down the valley in August 2004, rising to the roof of the building we were sheltering in.

The rain continued all the way to Tintagel, and seemed to have shepherded everyone else indoors. Then on reaching the island at last we came across one final group of tourists, this time from the USA, a coach load perhaps.

Tintagel in the rain isn't the best of the UK, but sometimes that's what this coast walk is about: seeing our island up close, famous and not so famous sections, in whatever face they choose to present on the day.

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Bude → Crackington Haven

Distance: 10.3 miles
Ascent: 650 metres
Duration: 4 hours 12 minutes

A popular path
« Morwenstow | Tintagel »

The weather forecast for this week doesn't look good: rain every day. At least the visibility is good, unlike in March when thick sea mist all but obscured the path before our feet. Today for example we could actually see the island of Lundy, something we had been hoping to see from north Devon.

Between Bude and Widemouth Bay the walking was easy: the path runs along low cliff tops covered in wide, springy grass. Once we'd passed the popular beach it was a different story altogether. The cliffs were higher, the paths rougher and narrower, and the descents steep and slippery.

None of this deterred holidaymakers from hitting the path. It proved to be a very popular stretch, with numerous groups of people out enjoying the bank holiday weekend.

We felt the first few drops of rain as we stopped for a bite to eat and to enjoy the expansive view from Castle Point. As we reached Crackington Haven the weather was feeling more assertive, so we stumbled into the Cabin Café and called it a day. (We highly recommend their cakes and tea as a companion to drying off.)