Part Two begins... Padstow-Falmouth! (Sept 26)

Sorry!

I got all excited about resuming the blog... then went down to Wales again for a few days! Back now and ready to post!!! I hope you're ready for lots of pics... several are from my phone camera but the quality seems pretty good, all things considered :-)

Saturday 26th Sept saw us leaving the house at 7.15 am for the bus stop. A bus into Newquay was followed by another to Padstow, and the resumption of The Walk.

Padstow Harbour


The harbour at Padstow is very pretty, but we whisked our way through and on to the paved pathway out of town!

Popular pathway out of town!

It was a cloudy start to the day but the sun peeped through.

Looking back up river towards Padstow

There are some pretty beaches like Harbour Cove,




and I loved these cottages at Hawker's Cove.






We rounded Stepper Point and passed Butter Hole where the whole headland seems rather fragile, and there are glimpses back toward the Camel Estuary.

Near Butter Hole

As we walked down the coast the cliffs became more interesting,

showing marked slippage and erosion.

I was fascinated by the Round Hole near Trevone Bay...

It was amazing! Tim and I were rather surprised that there were not warning signs all over the place and envisioned the results of exuberant youth on a night time walk!!!

More soon...

The wanderer returns!

I have a lovely prospect ahead of me - sharing pictures and moments with you, as I'm just back from another wedding in York, and before that, almost three weeks in Cornwall with Tim, walking the coast path from Padstow to Falmouth! We based ourselves at his, and either caught buses or used the car and bus to complete this 'Part Two' of the walk. There are one or two little bits that we have left out - reasons will become clear, but we have had a fantastic time.


My busy few weeks began with Keith leaving for Kosova, followed by the delivery of the two uni-babies to their respective universities on consecutive days. Tim to Sheffield on the Saturday; his new room was very nice with a lovely kitchen/living area :-); and Bridgie to her lovely house in Manchester on the Sunday :-).

It worked well because it meant I could also visit Meriel for her birthday before heading off on the long trek to Cornwall! We went to The Farmer's Cart for a birthday lunch, and it was delicious... the pictures speak for themselves...

Special Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding!

Back in Bedford I packed for the walk, although I did feel quite unprepared this time - I hadn't made a fruit cake, or bought the usual provisions. I decided to drive down because we thought the car might be useful this time. It was a long journey, 7 hours with the motorway very slow around Bristol, but we had a lovely evening walk around Cubert which was an excellent introduction to Part Two proper!

Ready for the off -Tim's stuff - Saturday morning!

An hour on the Gower!

Well it was more than an hour but I couldn't resisit Big A's assonance?!

We had very mixed weather while we were staying at the flat, an awful lot of heavy rain showers raced through on a blustery wind, but we did get a couple of nice days.

This was typical - looking out, to see a rain shower rushing up the channel!

A shower on the Gower!

The strong winds also meant there was a big sea running, one day the waves were 12/13ft, wonderful to watch from the protection of the flat!

On the Tuesday afternoon, Bridgie and I heard a horn sound, and the lifeguards got everyone out of the water. Very unusual, this, and we just made out the lifeguard call out that they were closing the beach because of Portuguese-man-o-war, (I think you Aussies know them as blue bottles?). They even got all the surfers out which was quite an achievement (though they went back in during the evening once the lifeguards had finished their duty!).

Next morning saw the lifeguard methodically combing the beach (low tide) and he scooped up something and dropped it in the back of his truck. I had to find out what it was, so went down to have a look, and this is what they'd scraped up...

It is only little, about 5" long, but I was very impressed, I may have seen one before but I don't remember it. I had a long chat with the lifeguard who told me he'd spent time in Aus and there, they just put up a warning and carried on as usual! Not on our little beach! Anyway, it was very exciting, and Tim (Uncle) tells me it even made the South West News, as they had been discovered at several places along the Welsh coast.

Pics of our visit to John and Chris next time :-)>

A wedding

More catching up now... after Meriel's visit it wasn't long before we headed up north ourselves for Chris and Louise's wedding. Chris is Gill's son, (Gill is Keith's sister) and we spent a couple of days staying at Meriel's but Phil couldn't make it because of his course.

The weather stayed fine for most of the day, they managed to get all but a few photo's done before it rained, but it blew away quickly and everyone had a wonderful time :-)

The ceremony was lovely, and the setting was super. The next pic is for the foodies amongst us...

...this starter was delicious... mmm... fig....

During the evening reception, about 10.30pm, they hustled everyone out on to some steps for some fireworks. I am not usually taken with fireworks but they were the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen. I wish I had been able to photograph them - they were awesome! If I can get hold of any pics I'll show you what I mean - but the were fantastic.

We drove home the next day (Wednesday) and packed the car up ready for an early start next morning, for Wales. Bridgie and I were planning to drop Keith off near Hereford (where I was at college - show Bridgie my old stomping grounds) and then he was cycling to Hay-on-Wye (of second hand bookshop fame) and Bridgie and I were going on down to the flat on the Gower where Katy was staying. Katy had just come back from a couple of weeks in Philadelphia/New York and was having a week in the flat before school began.

A gentle knock on my door heralded the news that dear Bridgie had been sick all night and couldn't come :-( She hadn't disturbed us but had been very poorly, so because Keith had B&B bookings all done, he and I headed off guiltily, leaving poorly Bridgie behind. We kept Hereford for another trip but I dropped him off as planned and he cycled off into the sunset...

I went on to the flat. Keith travels well equipped and had no punctures over the next few days, which was great,(I was on standby to rescue as necessary!) and the weather, though very windy at times, was ok for him.
Down at the flat the weather was wetter and windier than Keith's. We had this beautiful rainbow over the beach one afternoon.

Caswell Bay

Bridgie caught the train down on the Saturday and Keith arrived during the aftenoon too so it was then a full house. Katy returned home next morning and Keith, Bridgie and I had the rest of the week in the flat with another visit to John and Chris... more next time :-)

Catching up!

The sun is shining (unusual for this summer!) and the washing is blowing dry on the line. It's been an age since I last blogged, so here goes... though I shall have to do it in stages or you'll give up before you begin!

Phil has successfully completed his TEFL course and is back home now, awaiting final accreditation, and applying for jobs. He's decided against Indonesia for the moment, but is still planning to head out Far East. The course was very intensive and, as he hasn't really had a holiday this year, he's taken up an invite to go to New York with some mates.They are travelling up to Montreal and Back to Boston, and have two weeks altogether. He certainly deserves a good holiday.


Jobs are scarce over here, so Tim has been working in our garden to earn some cash, Bridgie seems to have nurtured her finances a little more shrewdly and has had some to spend. She's applying for some work while at uni which is a great idea... Costa Coffee or the like.


Meriel came to stay for a week in August and we went to visit Boughton House. En route, we stopped at Geddington to see the Eleanor Cross,




this is where the body of Eleanor the wife of Edward I laid on its journey to Westminster Abbey. Wherever they stopped he built a cross - I think there are only a couple left. The village itself was beautiful and had this pretty ford.

the house itself wasn't really my cup of tea, but the gardens were lovely. There was a beautiful walled garden,

with a wonderful sensory section. The garden had many water features, including this...

which if you can enlarge shows what it looked like before it was restored! There was also a raised mound - a bit like a pyramid with the top lopped off, and next to it a modern 'sculpture?' called Orpheus which I loved. We weren't allowed to walk on it as the grass had only just taken, but basically you can walk down the slopes to the pool at the bottom... and look into the Underworld. An amazing space :-)

home

Thought it was time to post again!


Today was Phil's final day at Lincroft and the students and staff gave him some lovely things. Some took such time and care... this cake was made by one of the girls he taught...

He is starting a 'Teaching English as a Foreign Language' course in two weeks, which lasts all of August. He's then hoping to go abroad - probably Indonesia, to work.

Some of you know about The Ashes tour...

...well the women play too, and Katy and I went to watch their fourth one day match which was very exciting. England won on the last ball of the match! :-) I will say no more!

Thought you maight like to see the progress in Katy's garden too...

She is very pleased with it - it is looking really lovely.

Port Isaac to Padstow 24th March

We were again given a good breakfast before being delivered back to Port Isaac to continue the walk. This was more familiar ground and again we were blessed with wonderful weather... sun and wind :-)

This walk talk us via Port Quin



... The Rumps and Pentire Point through Polzeath and on round to the ferry at Rock.

We watched the dredger taking sand out of the estuary,

and later saw it being offloaded at Padstow pier.

We found a good place to eat, and a willing pair of hands to take a photo to mark the end of Stage One.

We decided to stop here for the summer, Tim caught a bus back home, I stayed in another B&B and then caught the train back the next day.

It has been wonderful - we have walked about 160 miles and climbed about 30,000 feet (36,974 apparently!). The weather has been amazing, from snow to blazing sun, the scenery could not be bettered and the company perfect.

Roll on September/October when we can continue...

Tintagel to Port Isaac March 23rd

To complete the first stage... along the edge of one path huge slates had been stood on end as a boundary,

natural flaws in them had left holes... I couldn't resist experimenting!

The path took us on to Port Gaverne (not pronounced with a hard 'a' as we had always said it as children, but with a soft 'a' as in 'gave') and round to Port Isaac which, with its narrow streets was as charming as ever, but would be a nightmare in the summer!

We found a little cafe for some more sustainance... pity this wasn't real!

Our B&B was some way out of Port Isaac so we were picked up in the car park and whisked off to our final, for Tim, overnight stay.

Here is a little look back at one of the 7 valleys we crossed between Trebarwith Strand and Port Gaverne to give you a taste of the size of the valleys and the type of path, although the steepness is lost as you look down to Tim and follow the path back up to my feet!

Our final day's walk took us on mostly familiar ground from Port Isaac to Padstow - it was beautiful, sunny and very windy.

Tintagel to Port Isaac March 23rd

Our Bed and Breakfast in Tintagel was lovely, and we were treated to another scrumptious breakfast, from Julie and Keith - another place we'd happily recommend :-)





I have to mention the fudge shop again because it was so gorgeous! The pic below is dark, but worth including to see the guy, Tim, working on the fudge on his marble slab

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kjS0aIH9U0 try this link to see him in action... it's a pity you can't smell it because it is wonderful!

We walked on along the cliff, by the youth hostel (closed again - as have been most of them - we were too early in the year!) and along the slate cliffs which have been quarried leaving fascinating shapes and sometimes dangerous paths to walk on.

We descended into Trebarwith Strand which we visited a lot one summer when we rented a cottage nearby and it was our nearest beach.

From Trebarwith you climb the cliff path to about 300' and drop back down to sea level almost imediately - there were 6 more of these to do before we'd finish the day!

These descents into gullies with little streams tumbling into the sea were wonderful and felt completely away from it all. Places you want to explore with a rug and hamper to help!

The guide books repeatedly warned how dangerous these paths can be, especially in the wet, so were were very lucky to have such fabulous weather and be dry underfoot on the slate/shale. It was easy to see how tricky this path might be but we navigated our way safely.

This was one spot I stopped at for some time, just watching the sea.

Boscatle to Tintagel March 22nd

I have Wimbledon on the tele, it is blisteringly hot, and have done nothing all day, so, guilt prompted, I've decided I really should finish writing about the last stages of our Coast Path walk!


So come with me back to Margaret's at Crackington Haven. She had offered us such a haven of rest - I loved the bed I slept on - a futon that seemed to wrap its arms around me so cosily, so after a good sleep and another good breakfast, Margaret took us back to Boscastle to continue our walk. We will definitely come back to Margaret's, we feel like she's part of our family.

We set off along the cliff path at Boscastle in beautiful sunshine,

Blowhole at Boscastle.

the blowhole was very active and we had glorious views to see and colours to enjoy.


We took it at a very leisurely pace, and had a lovely walk via Ladies window

and valley of the rocks where a stream tumbles down a narrow valley and crashes into the sea.

We walked on to Tintagel where we had more delicious soup at Tintagel castle, (celery and apple) another cream tea :-) and some wonderful fudge from Granny Wobbly's Shop...definitely worth a visit.

At home

Since I got back from Wales I've thrown myself into the gardening, I took this picture a while back but you can see what's going on... and I've begun digging next to the fence because I have no room for the runner beans otherwise!

Mangetout, red onions, potatoes,leeks and sweetcorn seem to be doing well :-).

The only problem I've had is with the raspberry canes... only 5 have sprouted, I need to talk to them at the garden centre as that's poor return on 20 canes!

Other than the garden, I've been playing a lot of golf, still nowhere near my old handicap but it's lovely to be playing.

Also helped Katy with her back garden, she had a weird gravel 'patio-square' that was just awful so we took it out...

.. there was masses of small gravel, then a barrier matting underneath.The ground beneath was as smooth as concrete. We began filling up a huge builder's bag with the pebbles - then realised we wouldn't be able to shift it! Instead we used little bags to transfer it to the pathway at the side of the house and laid it along the edge of the path and around the herbs.

Laying the turf was great fun as more helpers were on hand - Paula and Alan offered to help - not sure they realised quite what was in store! Alan dug over the 'concrete' soil, we all picked out stones...

then came the turf laying...

... only to find that someone hadn't done their Maths correctly(!!!!) and we were one turf short.

Anyway - we put that right the following day. I'll put in a pic of the completed grass at some point.

However, all the golf and gardening has taken its toll, I began to feel extra tired at the beginning of half-term week, and by this Thursday was aching all over again. So I've spent the last two days resting completely in the hope that I can catch it before it gets too bad.