What a great start to the day

After packing up a very wet tent we drove down to Porthleven where I’d finished my previous day. Jenny and I have holidayed here before and we found a cafe near a pub called The Ship and had breakfast. The Ship has happy memories for us but we still both wish we’d had dinner before we started drinking that night. Sunday night, in November, in The Ship, in Porthleven, is pretty crazy.

I finished my breakfast and drink first and headed onto the coastal path. Leaving Jenny to take her time over her coffee and hopefully have a nice relaxing day. I was really grateful to start the day like this. It wasn’t too late and I was feeling quite calm about the day ahead. I know I’ve put a lot on Jenny in supporting me on this walk.

I had the place to myself

This isn’t entirely true but there were very few people on the path. I was heading towards Praa Sands and for the first couple of hours I only saw one other walker and a group of three runners. The mist was really quite thick and except for the occasional glimpse I didn’t really see the sea. The weather was actually quite pleasant, the mist making me a bit wet but it was warm while I was walking so I felt protected from the elements. I thought of the children from the porridge advert that used to be shown in the 80s or 90s where they had a warm glow around them. I felt like that.

The path from Porthleven is really good. There’s one part where it becomes very narrow and quite overgrown but generally it’s a pleasure to walk. It didn’t bother me too much that I couldn’t see the sea, I was happy just concentrating on the path and enjoying how it moved me through the landscape towards my next destination.

Occasionally buildings would appear out of the fog. I assume these were once used for some kind of industry but I’m not very good at reading the plaques they often have next to them. I usually just take a picture, think to myself that I’ll look up later what industry was here, and then move on. It was strange with the mist because in most of my previous days I’ve been able to see this type of thing along the coast for miles but today they just appeared suddenly out of the gloom.

Praa Sands

The mist cleared slightly at Praa Sands and I was able to see a little better. More people now and more houses.

I’d spoken to one of the only people I saw earlier in the walk and he said that because of the mist you feel like you’re surrounded by nothing but there were actually some houses around us even then. It’s just that we couldn’t see them. Well now there were definitely houses but it still didn’t seem like too many. I imagine in the summer Praa sands would be very popular.

For a while the coastal path takes you along the beach but this doesn’t last too long before it again heads onto cliffs and the edge of fields. There’s some really nice walking here. I think people park their cars at Perranuthnoe and then do the coastal walk back towards Praa sands. At first I thought they must be waking from Penzance but as it was families with children that did seem a long walk to me. The car park here I think was also charged based on a honesty box. I wonder how much they make. I hope most people pay. I still remember the days of the honesty box at Bradgate park and arguing with David and Sally about who would put the money in.

St Michael’s Mount is missing

Not long after the car park there is a diversion that heads inland and sends you down some roads. I’m trying not to get annoyed by these anymore because this path is so long, and goes through some really tricky terrain, it’s actually amazing that there aren’t more. It really is a marvel.

You stay inland for a couple of miles and then get to Goldsithney. This is quite a touristy place and from here you walk past St Michael’s Mount and then onto Penzance.  I wasn’t particularly excited by Goldsithney and because of the mist I couldn’t see any of St Michael’s but I knew soon I’d be waking past a retail park that had a Sainsbury’s.

Now, I know this shouldn’t be something to be excited about but it has fond memories for me. The first time I brought the boys on a camping trip to Cornwall we’d used this Sainsbury’s quite a lot. Jake had got a hoody from here and we used to enjoy going to the cafe for a hot chocolate. I know this shouldn’t be a particularly special memory, and it’s probably quite sad going all the way to Cornwall to then spend time in Sainsbury’s cafe, but it is what it is.

I took a picture of a train

The walk from St Michael’s Mount, then along the beach and finally into Penzance is long. Really easy walking but long. For a lot of its length it runs next to a railway line. I found myself fascinated by the trains running by, wondering where they were heading, what the passengers were doing. I felt the desire to take a picture of a train. I’m not sure if this elevates me to the status of trainspotter.

The path then takes you into Penzance docks and eventually to the seafront.

Penzance

I didn’t hate Penzance but I don’t think I’d want to live here. It looked like a really nice place but had a sort of tired feel. Although at one stage I walked past an open air swimming pool and that gave me a warm feeling as people were swimming and it looked like there was a real sense of community and that gave me comfort.

As I was heading out of Penzance I went past a pub that was blaring out music. Everyone in it looked really happy and it had a real character. It was such a contrast. I’d gone from having a Smith’s soundtrack in my head to something really happy and optimistic. I would have liked to have been a local at that pub.

Mousehole and the walk to Lamorna

I’d always been curious about Mousehole (not pronounced mouse hole). In the past when I’ve looked for holiday cottages it gets a lot of results. It’s not far out of Penzance on the coast path / road and at first looked very similar. Once you get into its depths though you realise why it’s so popular. You’re back to being in a small Cornish village with a harbour and narrow streets. There were children playing in the harbour with paddle boards and jumping off the harbour wall. It was only a few miles from Penzance but a million miles in terms of feel.

After I got through Mousehole I realised I wasn’t going to be able to get to the campsite before dark, and I’d done 20 miles and was feeling tired. I noticed that Lamorna was 2 miles away on the path so thought that would be a good place to be picked up at. Jenny said she’d meet me there and I said I’d be about 30 minutes.

It was a tough path. A really enjoyable path but very tough. Lots of climbs over rocks made slippery by the rain and you really need to use your hands to steady yourself, parts extremely close to the edge, steep parts, and one small section that had collapsed.

I was a bit late to the pickup but had really enjoyed the last part and had an enormous sense of achievement to have made it through.

Jenny didn’t mind. She was sat sewing and listening to an audio book in a delightful little cove. Although the cove is surrounded by rocks that look like they’ve been scattered there. It looks sort of deliberate.