We caught the train from Plymouth to Par - a pleasant journey as the train (the 9.24 to Penzance) was very quiet, having started in Plymouth. From Par station we walked down to Par Beach a distance of about .75 miles. We walked along the back of the beach on the dunes to the far end. Par is a lovely large sandy beach, it is a pity about the industrial site at the side of it.
As we walked through the car park we missed any southwest coast path sign and so walked to the road and a long way around until we came to the southwest coast path from the Saints Way. Once we were on the path it was easy to follow it to Fowey. As usual the path went up and down, but the views were spectacular all the way.
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| A view back to Par Beach |
After a while we came to Polkerris and we thought this was a lovely beach and harbour. The sand was fine and there was lots to watch as people were canoeing and windsurfing . There was also a lovely art gallery there to browse around.
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| Polkerris |
The next stop on our journey was Gribben Head. It seemed to be a long time before we saw the tower on the top of this headland and there was lots a climbing so we were glad to be able to rest when we got there. Up to this point we had been having views of St Austell Bay, but once we were over the top we could see the River Fowey estuary and coast down towards Polperro.
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| View from Gribben Head |
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| Looking back to Gribbin Head |
The walk continued undulating, with some steeper parts, but it helped to see the finishing line. On the outskirts of Fowey the path signage was confusing as there appeared to be 2 different ways you could take and still stay on the coast path! Initially we stayed on the top path and started to walk through woods, but that took us away from the coast and so we turned around and headed down to Readymoney Cove. This was another pretty beach and the walk into Fowey from here was lovely with views of the river and boats between houses.
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| A view from Fowey |
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| View across to Polruan |
Once in Fowey we spent an hour wandering among the shops and admiring the views before heading up the hill to catch the bus back to Par Station. This had been one of the prettiest sections of the coast path we have done and well worth the effort expended.
Just found your blog. We are two Americans who are planning to walk a bit of the Coast Path for a week or so towards the end of September. Lovely pictures! We have connections in Plymouth (Downderry) and Cargreen. Any suggestions on a segment do-able in a week?
ReplyDeleteThe south west coast path website (www.southwestcoastpath.com) is excellent with suggestions of lots of different length walks. They give some idea of the difficulty of the different sections as some of it is very tough going. I live in Plymouth and love the stretch from Plymouth eastwards. I see on the website that they reckon you can do from Plymouth to Exmouth in 8 days. (Details in Short Breaks ssection under multi day trips)
DeleteDifferent parts of the coast path have different views. The north coast is wilder and the sea often rougher which can be spectacular. If you have transport you might like to do different sections to get to see the difference between the two coasts. There are lots of circular walks on the swcoastpath website. Wherever you chose to walk I am sure you will enjoy it.