DAY 1 PENDEEN TO ST JUST

The blog has been resurrected!  To be fair, we have been very busy this summer undergoing the tortuous process of moving house.  We finally made it into our dream flat at the end of September, but it’s more of a nightmare at the moment; it’s going to take a complete renovation first!  Our DIY skills have been put to the test, but we have done all we can for now, and a holiday is round the corner, so I have time to record our earlier adventures.

Regular readers will recall that on an earlier Leg, I had my worst day on the Path; I was so hot, tired, thirsty and struggling on an uphill stretch that seemed never ending, that I shed a few tears before managing to pull myself together and get to the top.  That day our route was cut short, and because we were staying in St Just, getting back to the Path from that point meant we missed out a few miles.  Now, in the blog I have been totally honest about various short cuts taken across headlands, but this was a gap too large to ignore.  So before getting to Falmouth, we decided to return to St Just and complete the missing section.

The plan was to catch the bus to Pendeen and pick up the Path a little to the south of Pendeen lighthouse.  It seemed for a while as if the plan might go wrong from the outset; there were some anxious moments waiting for the bus which was a good 15 minutes overdue.  We eventually boarded with some relief, and set off on yet another hair raising, hedge skimming ride-Cornish bus drivers must have nerves of steel!

A short walk down a lane and then a path obscured by foliage brought us to the Coast Path.  The weather was very pleasant, ideal for walking, but because there had been a lot of rain recently, the  path was slippery in places.  This was early September 2025, so we were hoping to catch the last of summer, but we have learnt to expect any kind of weather any time!  By 11 am we had reached Geevor tin mine, with its extensive ruins, now a museum.  It was supposed to be dry all day, but at 11.30 it began drizzling.  We carried on initially, hoping it was just a shower, but it suddenly got more persistent, so I deployed my new bit of kit, the poncho!  Well, I say poncho, it’s a hood in the middle of two sheets of waterproof papery material.  I put my rucksack on the outside of it, so it was gathered up around my waist-I think I should have had the poncho over everything.

The rain didn’t last long, the sun came out and I dried off quickly.  The elevations were not a problem, but the path was covered in many, many stones, really unpleasant to walk over.  We were planning to have a nice break at the cafe at Cape Cornwall, but it was closed!  At least the toilets were open, and seating was available, so we had some of our emergency rations and more water.  There is a coastguard office at the Cape, so we made the effort to walk up there to get my passport stamped.

We had our first really steep ascent on the other side of the Cape, but the main annoyance continued to be the stony track.  Also, my knee had been twinging in the weeks before, and was continuing to do so now, though I wasn’t in any great trouble from it.  From past experience, I just carry on, and eventually it gets better.

At 2 pm we reached the point where we needed to head inland back to St Just, and there was a strange echo of the Worst Day; it was quite hot now, and we were fighting our way upwards, through overgrown foliage, including brambles and nettles.  There were also two stone stiles, with risers so deep, I needed a boost on the bum from Paul to get me up!

But by 3 pm we were back at the hotel resting.  Considering we had had little training practice beforehand, we were pleased with how the day had gone-a few twinges here and there, but a nice warm up to the week ahead.  The next day we would be driving to St Austell to park up the car, getting the train to Falmouth, then the ferry to St Mawes, where we would stay overnight before continuing onwards.  Ferries-they’re just so unreliable…

Stats:-

Time 2hr 48mins.  Elapsed Time 4hrs.  Distance 7.01 miles.  Pace 2.5mph.  Ascent 850ft.  Descent 875ft.

DAY 2 FALMOUTH TO PORTSCATHO

Before I get into the walk proper, a few words on the mini drama on the previous travelling day.  All our planned arrangements had gone well at first; we had arrived at Falmouth in time for the 3pm ferry across the bay to St Mawes.  We had just turned into the ferry road when we were accosted by a couple, informing us that the ferry wasn’t running, due to the weather (which didn’t seem very bad at all on land!).  They said they had just ordered a taxi, and offered to share it with us (for a share of the cost, natch!).  Actually, it was a good deal for us too, so off we went.  Luckily, the King Harry chain ferry was operating otherwise it would have been an hour long trip via Truro, so before long we were checking in to The Rising Sun pub.  Our original plan was to get the Place ferry over to St Antony the next day, but we would have to wait and see if the weather would play ball.

We’d made plans B and C, but plan A was on!  Despite cloud and drizzle, the small boat was running, so we got on board about 10 am, and on the other side began to walk around the headland.  Before long, we came across a very old church with a fantastic Norman arch over the door.  After a bit more woodland, we stumbled across a battery emplacement with toilet facilities (ah, the simple delight of unexpected toilets!) and then the lighthouse.  We then had to work a bit harder on the uphill stretch, and I got very hot because I was in full waterproof gear.  It was a proper Cornish mizzle; it doesn’t seem very much, but we’d have got very wet without our protection.

By midday we were over half way, so we decided to take a small detour inland to a cafe for refreshments.  The mileage wasn’t too onerous, so we could take our time, especially as check in was notionally a rather late 4 pm.  The timing worked out well as we missed a heavier shower, after which the sun made an appearance!  The waterproofs came off as we got going again at 1.15 pm.

From then onwards, the terrain was as easy as it gets on the Path, just some muddy areas where we needed to take care but by 2.30 pm we were safely ensconced at The Plume and Feathers at Portscatho.  Yet again, our stay coincided with some local entertainment in the form of a small group of sea shanty singers.  All in all, a good start to the new section.

P.S. I think the speedy pace rate shown below was slightly skewed by the ferry ride!

Stats:-

Moving Time 2hr 28min.  Elapsed Time 4hr 21min.  Distance 7.15 miles.  Pace 2.9mph.

Ascent 500ft.  Descent 475ft.

DAY 1 GALLERY

DAY 2 GALLERY