Perranport to St Agnes,and around Lands End and Bedruthan Steps

These are walks that we did at the begninning of August.  I wrote about it in my Holiday blog, but forgot to put details in this blog.  So although I am adding it in September it is over month out of date.

From Perran Sands Caravan Sit we walked across the dunes into Perranporth and then followed the South West Coast Path along to St Agnes.  There was a lot of remains of mine working and the path was was rough with stones some of the time.  The heather and gorse was out and the colours were vibrant and made the coastline even more attractive.

  The walk was mainly flat until near the end, where there was a steep hill down, then a steep climb up the other side and we had to climb up a hill to get to St Agnes village to catch the bus back.

The next day we caught the train to St Ives then the Open Top Bus to Lands End.  From there
 we set off  to walk along the south of the Coast Path.  Again there was heather and gorse to make the scenery even more spectacular.  We walked until we came to a slope heading down a valley.  We could see a steep climb up the other side so decided it was time to turn around.

On our way home we stopped at Bedruthan Steps and walked from the car park in both directions along the coast path.  There was not any heather on the path towards and around Park Head but in the other direction there was a lovely display.

Weymouth and Portland

A holiday in Weymouth allowed us to do a new part of the South West Coast Path.    This was different to other parts in that it was mainly flat.  The weather was good for 3 days of our holiday but after the second day visibility was not good so unfortunately we could not see far down the coast.

On our first evening we walked around Weymouth itself.  The central beach was lovely and sandy and I was pleased to see sand sculptures which Weymouth is famous for. There was plenty of activity in the harbour, with a ferry off loading cars.

The next day we walked from Weymouth to Portland. On the outward journey we took the inland route of the Rodwell Trail, which followed an old rail track.  This met the South West Coast Path by Sandsfoot Castle.  We walked across Ferrybridge into Portland and then along the coast until we had passed the sailing centre.  We then turned around  and walked all the way back on the south west coast path.

After a wet day when we visited Abbotsbury we did another part of the coast path the following day.  Initially we walked eastwards from the centre of Weymouth along the beach until we came to the Lodmoor RSPB reserve.  We walked around this and then turned back to Weymouth.

After a quick rest we caught the bus to Portland and got out at the end and walked down to the South West Coast Path.  It was unfortunate that the poor visibility meant we could not see down the coast.  We walked around the coast until we came to the lighthouse at Portland Bill.  After lunch we continued walking down the other side of Portland.  This was a different kind of walk as we picked our way along the stony path past quarries of portland stone.  Eventually we came back to Southwell to catch the bus back to Weymouth.

On our way home we stopped at Hive Beach and walked along the coast for while.  We then went on to Charmouth and Lyme Regis.

Hive Beach

Lyme Regis Cobb

Cremyl to Caswand in May

Having just posted the blog of our walk around West Pentire headland I see my last entry was in December.  With a very wet winter, with lots of cliff falls we have not been out on the South West Coast path very much.  However we did do the walk from Cremyll to Caswand in May but I had forgotten to write about it.

The first delight on this walk was seeing the baby goslings at the pond.

There was rhodendrons and bluebells along the way.

As we walked we saw many trees that had been felled by the winter storms.  Some had been cleared, but at one point there was a large tree blocking the path.  People had made an diversion, but this meant a steep up and down and as it was still a bit muddy it was not easy, in fact almost dangerous.

West Pentire to Holywell

I had heard that there was a beautiful wild flower meadow on West Pentire headland so as it was a lovely day and we had all day to walk we drove there and walked around the headland and continued on the south west coast path to the other end of Holywell before returning on an  inland path.

We hoped to find the National Trust car park, but could not see where to go for that so ended up in a car park at West Pentire.  Although we had to pay it was very reasonable (£2 for 4 hours) and the view over Crantock beach towards Newquay was stunning.

As we started to walk around the West Pentire headland we saw the field of wild flowers to our left.  It was a bit disappointing.  Photos we had seen from last year showed many more poppies.  I am not sure if we were too early in the year or it was not such a good display this year.

The walk on the South West Coast path was beautiful.  The sea was a lovely blue and beaches we passed very sandy and enticing.  On the headland there was masses of sea thrift that added to the colour.

We stopped for our lunch overlooking Holywell beach - a magnificent view!

Generally it was an easy section of the coast path with gentle hills and no steep climbs.  However once we had reached Holywell we had to walk through the sand dunes to reach the other side of the beach.  This is never easy, but it was not too bad.  We had some problem finding the inland path to take us back to the car park, but a helpful attendant at the NT car park gave us directions.  We were following the walk we had downloaded from the NT website,http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356405233898/ but it needed more detail at this point.  Further on in the walk we were unsure which path to take, but decided in the end to make our way down to Polly Joke and then take the path across the headland.  This was not the route on the walk and involved a steep climb up from Polly Joke, but by taking it we saw more wild flowers and walked through the wild flower meadow at West Pentire to get another view of it.

Cremyll to Cawsand

It was a bright sunny day so we thought we would do a walk along the South West Coast Path. We have often  done the part of the walk that goes through Mount Edgecumbe Park but not all the way to Cawsand.  Looking back on this blog I see that it was 28 February 2013 when we last did the whole stretch, just a couple of weeks after moving to Plymouth.

We parked the car at Devils Point and took the South West Coast Path through the Royal William Yard to Admirals Hard where we caught the ferry to Cremyll.  Although there has been rain lately the path was not too muddy.  It was not too hard a walk until we got to the steps.  Usually we go up one flight of steps then turn back to Cremyll, but this time we had to continue to the top and it was a hard slog.  However, once we had conquered them it was easy walking all the way.

Twice on the way we saw deer but they ran away before I could photograph them.  There were still some leaves on the trees, but not many and not much autumn colour.  The views out to the Sound, however, were beautiful.

View to the Breakwater and Mew Stone

The walk is about 4 miles and we were surprised how quickly we saw the villages of Kingsand and Cawsand.  At this point we stopped for lunch on a bench looking out to sea with the sun shining on us.  It was really warm for the last day of November.

Kingsand and Cawsand

Walking through the narrow streets of Kingsand we were charmed by the quaint old cottages. We noted that the car park in this village was £1 for 6 hours.  I am sure this is a winter rate, but worth remembering if we want to come in this direction by car.

View through a garden gate, Cawsand

Cawsand was in shadow and a little chilly so we decided not to linger but catch the next bus back to Cremyll.  Fortunately we only had a couple of minutes to wait,  The bus ride itself was very pretty with views over woods and fields to Millbrook and across to Plymouth.  The tamar bridges stood out in the sun. The bus links with the ferry so we were soon back home.

Ilfracombe

While on holiday in Combe Martin we caught the bus to Ilfracombe to walk along the South West Coast Path around this town.  From  the Landmark Theatre we started to walk towards Torrs Park.  There was a steep path up to the cliffs and then a zig zag path up to a viewpoint, but the views along the way were lovely.

View back to Ilfracombe

Beaches at Ilfracombe

View up the coast towards Bull Point

View towards Ilfracombe and beyond

 On the way back we walked slightly inland, which was a gentler slope and took us through the National Trust Car Park and then through the gardens above the Landmark Theatre.  This was  much quicker than the route we had taken on the way out.

Once back in Ilfracombe we walked around Capstone Hill to the harbour.  The big attraction in the harbour is Damien Hirst's sculpture, Verity.  Unfortunately there was a fair in the harbour car park so it was not easy to see the sculpure without fairground vehicles being in the way.  Nevertheless, it was imposing although not particularly to my taste.

After eating our lunch watching gig racers practising and other boats bobbing around on the rough sea we headed back to Ilfracombe town to catch the bus back to Combe Martin to collect the car and visit Marwood Gardens.

Par to Fowey

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.

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.

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.

View from Gribben Head

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.  

A view from Fowey

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.