Sunday, 30 September 2012

Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Land's End → Mousehole

armed-knight.png Distance: 13.1 miles
Ascent: 1081 metres
Duration: 5 hours 46 minutes

The set-up
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And so to Cornwall for the final gap of the week! When I started to plan completing the South West Coast Path, the big question was which walk to do last. The answer was obvious once I'd found it: we had to finish at Land's End at the very tip of the peninsula. Today's walk sets up the grand finalé; for a couple of days' time.

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The first half of the walk was one of the best walks we've ever done. The path was easy (and very popular); the views were stunning. Just before reaching the wonderful cove called Nanjizal we looked down to see seals swimming around the wreck of the City of Cardiff which has laid on the seabed here for a hundred years.

Before too long we reached the car park of the Minack Theatre, an open-air theatre set on the clifftop above Porthcurno. We'd visited it on our honeymoon and I was looking forward to seeing it from a different perspective - the path. Unfortunately, the carefully-landscaped grounds reserved the views for paying visitors, not passing walkers.

Porthcurno village itself is set a short distance back from the beach, so we didn't see any of its delights. This is a shame since I'd really enjoyed visiting the village six years ago, seeing the theatre and the unique Telegraph Museum cut into the cliffs above the beach where the transatlantic cables were once landed.

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East of Porthcurno the path seemed to be much less popular - presumably due to the distance from Land's End. It became harder work too, with ascents and descents increasing in frequency although the effort was rewarded with stunning hamlets such as Penberth and a curiously isolated house at Boskenna Cliff.

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Either side of Lamorna Cove the going got even tougher as the path surface was interrupted by one bolder after another. It was tiring going, so I was delighted when we finally reached the houses on the outskirts of Mousehole.

It has been a tiring day. This doesn't bode well for tomorrow's walk which I expect to be harder still.

Posted by pab at 18:53 | Comments will be back one day. Please email me instead!