- Just over half way
- Passed 50,000 ft ascent
- Half marathon today (more or less)
Wonderful, the end is now closer than the beginning. In a spirit of optimism I'll try to stop talking about mud now, too đŸ˜€ (consomme today, just saying). Soft start, sunny finish and a quick preview of the Lizard. Komoot summary here. The plan was a 13.1 mile section to Coverack (hence the half marathon reference) and although I stole a march by taking the ferry across Gillan Creek, the path got its own back on Lowland Point.
First up, a shout out for my Dorset beekeeping neighbours Ian & Ruth who interrupted their own Cornwall sojourn to drive over and take me out for dinner - thanks both. Second, I missed two important events yesterday. I am now officially walking in West Cornwall and I passed the cumulative ascent of 50,000 ft (as of end today it's up to 52,500). By the time Nic joins me in a week or so I should have made it to 58,000 which is all the way from sea level to the top of Everest and back again. Gotta get my bragging rights in some time....
So, a soft day as they say in Ireland. Which means wet again but only overnight so a lovely calm start to the day as I set off from where the Helford ferry would have brought me last night.
I've never walked this section before so it was a treat to see it for the first time and the two inlets, Helford estuary and Gillan Creek, were quite eerie in the early morning. I startled a few eider ducks and a couple of squirrels as I meandered through the woodland path of the Boshan Estate. A skein of geese and a wedge of swans, too.
Gillan means creek in Cornish so it's a bit of a tautology but I'll forgive it. The guide says the official path goes round the end of the creek but I liked the look of the ferry. There are stepping stones here instead of the ferry for low water but described as awkward and slippery. The ferry looked deserted so I thought I'd just admire the view for a bit and text Jess' Steve happy birthday, when the ferryman appeared. Best £5 I've spent since tea at the Nare hotel. Gillan suffered badly in Storm Emma which was the worst for them in 100 years, as the winds came from the East. They're sheltered from the more usual south-westerly gales. A lot of the damage is still visible.
Leaving Gillan having shaved about 1.8 miles off today's plan (conscience told to be quiet: I've done the Portland section 3 times) there is a long wooded section with a diversion round a cliff fall before reaching open fields and a view out to Nare Point. There's a National Coastwatch post here with a view across Falmouth bay to St Anthony Head and the Fraggle Rock lighthouse but the day was a bit too gray to do it justice.
The station, like so many, is old MOD and was used until the 90s to observe and calibrate air-to-sea torpedoes. There were also lighting deceptions carried out here by the Navy and Elstree studios, similar to those on the other side of the bay.
From there it's a pleasant walk on the open country above the cliffs until dropping down to Porthallow (port at the end of the moor). It was owned by Beaulieu abbey in the 13th century and later the Trelowarren estate and was another major fishing centre for pilchards. Following rowdy all night parties, diving was banned in the 70s when locals bought and ran the beach and it's still run by trustees from the village. Diving moved to Polkerris, just up the coast, which is a popular base to explore the Manacles reef for old wrecks.
Of course the most important thing is it's the half way mark for the SWCP so I inveigled a passer by into taking my picture there.
A celebration oat cake and a banana (I tell ya, life in the fast lane) and then on to Porthoustock. This used to be a major port for the local stone quarries which provided much of the stone for local airfields in WW2. There is a large stone crushing concrete mill, now disused, and a jetty that can take ships up to 270ft long.
On past Porthoustock, the path used to go seaward of the quarry there, with suitable arrangements to avoid blasting the walkers, but recent storms have required a long road diversion, so the path got me back a bit for my cheating at Gillan. I passed through a couple of fields of daffodils, ready for market. These used to be a major earner for Cornwall as they come into season earlier here but air freight has brought increased competition.
When the path gets back to the coast it's at Lowland Point. It's a very unusual sight for Cornwall where I'm more used to high cliffs and long beaches, to see a low level, marshy, boulder strewn landscape. A bit like the east side of Portland.
The diversion cuts off the information board that explains more about the general area which is now an SSRI. There's been activity here since 2,500 BCE and remains have been found of a 2nd century salt works. It is one of the few areas to provide Gabbro, a particularly hard rock used for roads and coastal rock armour, also found in the Cuillin range on Skye and the Appenines in Italy.
I have Coverack in sight now for a last easy section to the finish but the path, as ever, has other ideas. The land here is so marshy and boulder-y that it requires very careful navigation and I was again grateful for the poles. My normal walking pace (according to Komoot) is about 2.5 mph but on this section it was down to 1 so it took a while to make it to Coverack.
A fishing village with a large sandy
beach, it was the site of a devastating flash
flood in July 2017, now largely restored but on the way in I could still see some remaining damage where the water had undercut the foundations.
The danger came not as usual from the sea but from heavy rainfall and
hailstones the size of 50p pieces. There was a lot of press coverage at the time and the local council were very quick to reapair roads etc but ironically South West Water later dug them up again to lay new mains. You could't make it up. Sadly for the village it again suffered during Emma and lost a section of the car park above the harbour. I made a point of buying supplies from the local store, in solidarity. Looking across from the harbour, it seems to be thriving again but I was told that the main hotel has only just re-opened.
After the Mohegan steamship was wrecked on the nearby
Manacles rocks in 1898, with 106 drowned, a lifeboat was established here and
the old station remains, just above the harbour.
The weather by now had cheered up a lot so I made the trip down to the Lizard, for old times sake. Too late for the cafe we liked but a glorious evening anyway and views to remind me why this is still one of my favourite sites.
Two days to go and I hope to make it to Porthleven. There's a food festival there later this month -wasted on me but I should be out of there just in time. I'm conscious that there's still a huge amount to do but beginning to feel, not confident exactly, but that I'm making good progress and it's becoming a little less daunting.
If you are, thanks for reading and feedback.
More blogging tomorrow.
Peter
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