Thursday 3rd May: Weather: 9°C to 12°C: Sunny at times and sometimes overcast
Lamorna to Marazion: 18k walk: 8hrs: 8.30am to 4.30pm Ascent 500 metres
Accommodation: Wheal Rodney Holiday Park Marazion
Lamorna to Marazion
Looking back at Lanmorna Cove
Calm seas today but 170kph winds in 1981 caused to Penlee disaster
Looking across to St Michael’s Mount
Warm climbing through overgrowth
Pretty fishing port of Mousehole
The butcher of Mousehole
Morning tea overlooking Mousehole
Walking through Newlyn
Newlyn harbour
Sea gulls nesting on wharf rooves
Cornish humour
Jubilee swimming pool
Don’t park near the sea
To St Michaels Mount carrying hot Sainsbury’s chicken in orange bag
Causeway to St Michaels Mont
Another fabulous day with fine sunny weather, sometimes overcast, cool but at times warm - if that sounds confusing, the weather in Cornwall is very confusing! Highlights were the delightful village of The Mousehole, the infamous town of Penzance, and finally St Michaels’ Mount, the Island off the coast near Marazion where we’re staying the night.
The Lamorna Cove Hotel is dead quiet at 6am. We haven’t even met the management yet, as yesterday we had a code to get our key from the box. There’s a few guests, judging by the three cars in the car park, but no other hikers that we can see. Breakfast is our own concoction - tea, bread and jam or peanut paste, followed by coffee. We leave at 8.30am and backtrack down the same road to Lamorna Cove. It’s a cool 9°C but sunny.
Back on to the coast path at 8.50am and we’re climbing through an overgrown path that’s very rocky and bouldery. It’s almost warm as we climb uphill around the backside of each headland, through thick, wet, muddy overgrowth, with occasional distant views of St Michael’s Mount. After about three kilometres, we reach a few hill top houses and descend into the delightful village of The Mousehole. It’s only 10am, but it’s such a beautiful warm sunny day, with a magnificent view of the little harbour, that we decide it’s a good time for morning tea - just a coffee today - no clotted cream and jam as we’re still full after our breakfast. There’s seats overlooking the harbour, and it’s interesting watching the local activity - especially the local butcher who turns up in his van, opens the swing back doors, and proceeds to hacksaw his way through a side of beef. No food safety standards here!
Past Mousehole, there’s a memorial to the men who died in the Penlee lifeboat disaster 19 December 1981. The lifeboat Solomon Browne, based at the Penlee lifeboat station near Mousehole, went to the aid of the vessel Union Star after its engines failed in heavy seas. After the lifeboat had rescued four people, both vessels were lost with all hands; in all, sixteen people died including eight volunteer lifeboatmen.
The coast path passes through the smelly fishing area of Newlyn, the town where the Mayflower supposedly stopped to refresh with clean water after leaving Plymouth. There’s fish mongers interspersed with sailors pubs, and one sign catches our eye - typical of Cornish humour (see the photograph labelled Cornish Humour). There’s seagulls nesting on rooftops. We’ve seen so much bird life in the past two weeks and bird watchers standing in the freezing wind waiting for their snapshot moment. Around Mount’s Bay to Penzance, with it’s typically English amusement parlours scattered along the waterfront. Way off in the distance we can see the orange sign of Sainsbury’s, half way between Penzance and Marazion where we’re headed.
We pass the Jubilee lido (public outdoor swimming pool), the largest seawater swimming pool in the UK - empty of people now, but busy in summer. Following the coast path between the train line and the beach, we come to the overpass leading to Sainsbury’s. Time to shop for stuff for the next few days. We start with a tin of evaporated carnation milk, fresh bread and jam. There’s a seat out of the wind at the side of Sainsbury’s, a smoker’s den, where we sit to have lunch and decide what else we need for dinner apart from the essentials we have just bought. We saw a rotisserie of hot chicken inside Sainsbury’s - looks good for dinner, as we’re staying at a self catering holiday park 500 metres out of Marazion.
After lunch of fresh bread and peanut past or jam, Ian goes back to Sainsbury’s to buy a hot chicken, bottle of Mateus Rose, and a dark Cornish beer. Packed to the hilt, we’re on our way to Marazion, laden with a few extra kilo in our back packs. It’s become overcast and cool as we arrive at Marazion, and see the hordes of people leaving the carpark to walk to St Michael’s Mount, a small Island joined by a 500 metre man made causeway to the mainland. The granite causeway is only exposed for a few hours either side of low tide, and today it's open from 11.55am to 4.10pm. We had checked the tide times weeks earlier and had hoped we would be there then, but because the walk from Lamorna was relatively easy, we made it in good time, despite our longer stop to shop at Sainsbury's.
St Michael’s Mount is managed by the National Trust, and the castle and chapel have been the home of the St Aubyn family since approximately 1650. The barge house provided an interesting pictorial history of the site, together with a documentary film. We found a table and chairs out of the wind to have an afternoon tea before leaving the island at 4pm and wandering back over the causeway. Though the old village of Marazion, an ancient market town, then 500 metres up Shop Hill road to the Wheal Rodney Holiday Park where we were made very welcome at the reception and given the key to our bungalow.
It’s almost 5pm when we open our door and find it’s a lovely large bungalow, with separate bedroom, ensuite, and a large lounge/dining/kitchenette - perfect for us. First thing we do is turn on the oil heaters before unloading our haul from Sainsbury’s. Followed by a hot shower before sipping a dark beer whilst looking at today’s photos, then dinner of hot (well warm) chicken, salad and mayonnaise. Time after dinner to consolidate our food bags. We have another jar of wild blueberry jam to disperse into 3 plastic jars (thanks Susie), and tea, coffee and sugar to amalgamate into one bag to make sure we have enough for the next 4 days. I’m getting reminders from booking.com that our London hotel at Heathrow is getting close. It seems like we only started the South West Coast Path a few days ago.
Afternoon tea St Michaels Mount
Amphibious Drake ferrying people
Leaving St Michael’s Mount
Wheal Rodney Holiday Park
Checking the cracks
Checking the cracks