Photos

From my room in Plymouth across the Sound early morning

Leaving Plymouth, the Mount Batten tablet, steps near Stadden Heights

Approaching the ferry to Nos Mayo

Our B&B at Cellars, Nos Mayo

Unusual fungus and dead trees on the way to Bigbury on Sea.

Last day of 2014 walk

Well folks, it is all over for this year - we are now in Bantham after a tiring 15 miles. Our B&B for last night was with 2 sisters in a very old house (which used to be a Napoleonic moated fortification!). We were up at 6 and having breakfast at 6:30, on our way by 7. This was because we needed to cover the 8 miles to the river Erme by 11 in order to be able to ford it before the tide got too high. The 8 miles proved to be mainly along a cart track which was a wide shelf on the cliff face! Stunning views, bright morning, light breeze - what could be better. A few ups and downs but nothing too taxing. We got to the ford in plenty of time. The water was about mid-calf at its deepest and there were quite a few people enjoying the water in the very wide estuary. We then had 5 miles of roller-coaster hills, very steep. Ankle, knee, muscle killing climbs and descents! Poor Julia, who has been suffering from laryngitis for 3 days, really suffered on the ascents. We made it to Bigbury on Sea JUST in time to wade across to the Island for a drink and a baguette in The Pilchard pub. Wading there got our shorts thoroughly soaked - 5 minutes later and we would not have made it. Our return trip was on the water-taxi (a very tall 6-wheeled tractor which kept all passengers dry above the waves as it trundled along the sand bar). We only had time for one hurried drink on the Island as we had to cover the next 1.5 miles up and down hill to the river Avon where we hailed our next ferry (by standing on high ground and waving our arms!). This one only runs between 3 and 4 pm daily and was a small rowing boat with an outboard motor. No fancy steps to board this one - he ran the bow up onto the sand and we clambered aboard as the tide came racing up the estuary. Nearing the other side we got caught up in a mooring line but it was soon cleared and we scrambled ashore, then up our last hill for this year to the Sloop Inn. We have the family room, which is 2 rooms with a shared bathroom - typical pub rooms, so nothing elegant or stylish. They cannot fit us in for dinner until 8:30 and there is nowhere else to eat in the tiny hamlet! Also they do not serve breakfast until 9 and we have a taxi booked for 8:45 in order for Julia and Kevin to catch their train at 10:40 from Plymouth station, so we will have to make do with a continental breakfast then eat on the train. It has been another great walk, with fantastic weather and breathtaking views. I weighed myself yesterday and appear to have lost half a stone along the way - another bonus! We have all improved our tans, smiled and laughed a lot...... Oh, yes, and grown some huge blisters which look like additional toes! Here's to next year and completing the whole path.

Thursday 7 August early morning

This is the view from my bedroom window across Plymouth Sound to Staddon Heights. B&B is fantastic - family room where my bed is in an adjoining room to J&K on 3rd floor. Went out last evening and walked over The Hoe (3 minutes from B&B) and into shopping centre, where J&K both bought Tilley hats. Had a pizza and a couple of glasses of wine then in bed before 8pm again! Wonder what today's walk will bring..... A beautiful morning so far and forecast is another sunny day.

Photos from Wednesday 6 August

Photos from Tuesday

Wednesday 6 August

Our B&B at the Finnygook Inn, Crafthile was OK but nothing special. Though my meal of salmon on risotto was very good! Took me ages to get to sleep because of people I the smoking are outside my window. They had told us we could not have breakfast before 9am as the chef did not come into work until 8:30. We asked if we could just have cereal, toast and a drink but we were only offered cereal with milk left out for us. We therefore packed our bags early and went down for some cereL at 7am. The cereal was there, but no milk etc. walking around in the dining room set the alarm off twice but no one came to do anything about it. We were ready to leave by 7:30 but could not get out via the fire doors on the ground floor so had to use the one upstairs. As we left the burgled alarm was still going off. Our walk was reasonably un eventful, with Julia walking again but minus her rucksack. We walked past the old fort now used by the MOD as a firing range, along the cliffs toward Rame Head, through the grounds of Mount Edgecombe Country Park, which was a beautiful track through mixed woodland

Tuesday 5 August

My knee swelled up like a Mellon last night and was uncomfortable in bed. 3 applications of Ibulieve and tablets this morning, as well as wearing my knee support seem to have done the trick as I got through today's 12 miles OK. Julia has been suffering with a stiff shoulder which was extremely painful in the night, so she decided to see the doc today and not walk with us. Doc said to take co-codamol but to keep walking though without her rucksack. I had quite a bad nosebleed this morning, but not for long! Talk about walking wounded!!! Our B&B, which looked so great, turned out to be less so. They would not do breakfast before 9am - so we asked for a packed breakfast to take with us. They left sandwiches on paper plates in the fridge, drinks in glass bottles and nothing else! Julia and Kevin's WC blocked so they had to use mine and they tried to charge £5 more than agreed for my room! Kevin and I set off at 7am without Julia (she caught the bus to Looe to see the Doc) in the rain. We walked the 5 miles to Looe in under 2 hrs and called in a cafe in Looe for coffee and breakfast sandwiches. The walk from Looe was billed as strenuous but due to landslips the path had to be diverted and was a bit tedious in places, along roads. However the rain had stopped at about 8am so it soon got VERY hot and we were glad of out water supplies. On leaving Shipton Bridge the guide book suggested it was possible to walk to Downderry along the sea wall and beach, so we did! However, as Julia missed out a day last year and Kevin pushed me in the nettles (he still insists I fell....),this year when just the 2 of us were walking he kept telling me not to get swept out to sea or Julia would never believe he had nothing to do with it! We got to Portwrinkle at 2, had a drink at the cafe (there is nothing else there!) then walked 10 minutes up a steep hill to our B&B (The Finnygook Inn at Crafthole)

Photos from Monday 4th August

Monday 4th August

Our walk today was from Par to Polperro. Last night's B&B was spacious and the food was good but it was 3/4mile to nearest pub for our evening meal. We left there at 8:20 and walked past the back of a campsite and up onto the cliffs. The guide book said 7 miles, moderate. It was a beautiful morning and we met Jan at the Daymark on Gribbin Head, which is. Huge red and white striped tower. Had a cup of tea there then walked into Fowey where we caught the ferry to Polruan, then had lunch in the Crumpets Tea Shop before starting the 7.1 mile, strenuous trek to Polperro. This was one of the hardest walks I have ever done but the scenery was the best I have ever seen. The isolated coves where the water was crystal clear as it gently surged over the rocks, the golden, inaccessible sandy bays and sheer rugged isolation, made the hard work worthwhile. We did get rather short of water, but just held out till the first pub in Polperro. We are staying at "The House on the Props" and my twin room is on the 2nd floor with a view over the harbour, where the tide is just coming in. They don't do breakfast until 9am, which us much too late for us, so we have opted for a pack-up and we will leave at 7am. Not sure what the weather forecast is for tomorrow.

Photos from Sunday

Sunday 3rd August

After a full English breakfast we set out from Mevagissey on a beautiful morning. The path soon took us up more steep hills and cove after cove of steps! We counted a few of them, some were flights of 60 and some over 80 steps! Again beautiful views with the addition of patches of woodland which gave welcome shade. Julia and I wished we had taken our usual flask if tea as there was nowhere to get refreshments until a mile before Charlestown and that was a crowded beach kiosk with nowhere to sit and very noisy, so we decided to go on into Charlestown where we had a very fine lunch in the garden of a restaurant overlooking the harbour lock with 2 tall ships ( one was the Pheonix, a 2-masted brig but much smaller than the Stavros and with only 3 square sails to each mast). After that it was a long 2 miles through the dreary industrial area and backstreets of Par to our B&B which itself is spacious and very nice. We met Kevin's family for a meal in the Ship Inn (nothing special, just the usual pub grub and noisy children from the nearby campsite......) then another early night.

Photos from Sat 2 Aug 14

Saturday 2nd August

We left our very good B&B in Portloe at 8am after a substantial, tasty, breakfast. The book said today was 12.4 miles, strenuous at first then easy. It was straight up steep, long steps, over a stream then continuing up. We went up and down all day, from one cove to a headland to another cove. At one point I was about to ask Julia if the path went down to the sea again, then realised that, if it could go right down to sea level from t he top of a cliff, it would do so!! And it did! Port Holland proved useless for tea but the castle at Caerhayes was impressive, even if the coffee was not! Up to Dodman point with superb views. Had lunch in a little cafe in Gorran Haven. It should have been easy from then on, but Julia and I were already so tired, even the easy stretch seemed hard! We got into Mevagissey at about 4pm

Kevin's birthday

Walking with the family

Our walk for The Lizzard to Coverack took us right through the campsite where our caravan was! We joined Mandy and the children on the beach at Kennack Sands for a bite of lunch (despite having gorgeous bacon butties in a pub in Cagwith) then they joined us for a while. Amber came all the way to Coverack but Mandy and Axel went back after 50 minutes so they could pick us up in the car later. Another fantastic day with sun and scenery.