Friday 27th April: Weather: 7°C to 11°C:
Newquay to Perranporth: 16k walk: 5hrs 30 mins: 11.30am to 5pm 500m Ascent/Descent
Accommodation: Gywthian Way Perranporth Air BnB
Newquay to Perranporth
Footbridge over the Gannel
Rare twosome photo on the Gannel
Crantock Beach Life saving shed
Thanks for taking us to Crantock
CU soon john in Newquay
John, black dot walking to Newquay
On our way to Perranporth
Hot pasty and cold cappuccino
North westerly wind cold on cliffs
Serious erosion of Cliffs
Beware, cliff edge unfenced
Perranporth in distance
Which side of puddle? Down or up
Through the Pendale sand dunes
Winston Graham Memorial Bench
Much warmer now in the Mod Box
Highlight today was sitting in John’s warm cosy lounge room by the fire, chatting and waiting for the rain to ease before walking to Perranporth, home of Poldark and Winston Graham. And that was a good thing because by the time we left at 11.30am instead of our usual 8.30am, the rain had turned to scattered showers. Next highlight was crossing the Gannel over a footbridge that only appears about 2hrs either side of the low tide and today’s low tide is at 10.38am.
A kinda sleep in til 6.30am and we’re up and saying hooray to Susie who is on her way to work. A cup of tea, and the Matthew is off to work. It’s pouring raining but the met service is forecasting a break in the weather around midday. So we’ll wait and see. Time me to check London Hotels and trains for our UK departure, time for Ian to pick up some fresh bread from Sainsbury’s, time to do some last minute re-packing, and time for a coffee and cream before deciding the best time to leave.
At 10.30am, there’s a break in the weather. It’s a bit lighter outside and the rain is more mizzle so a good time to leave. John takes us down Pentire Crescent then down a lane to the Gannel. It’s almost dead low tide and the footbridge is completely exposed. Along the sand/mud bank and across to the other side then up a county road through the small village of Crantock. Along a public footpath then down the steps to Crantock Beach where John worked as a lifeguard 43 years ago in 1975 - a trip down memory lane as he hasn’t been back here for almost 20 years.
We say goodbye, but we’ll be back to do the other half of the South West Coast Path another time. Up the hill and along the cliff edge where there’s plenty of people out walking their dogs. usually 2 at a time. It’s still a cold 10°C, mizzly rain, windy but not gale force and by 1.30pm as we arrive in the small village of Hollywell, it’s time for a lunch break. There’s no shelter around. Not even a toilet block. But there is the Hotel St Pirans Inn just 20 metres away and it looks warm inside.
There’s 2 walkers just emerging from the hotel who say it’s warm inside but the food - well! We go in anyway and spy hot pasties in the oven warmer. We have a cappuccino and share a large traditional pasty. It’s not too bad - not the worst we’ve had. And it’s hot. The coffee’s ok as well.
Leaving Hollywell, and up the hill and on to the path again. It skirts around a large para military training camp secured by barbed wire fencing. It looks deserted and the tin humpys look old and derelict. The path goes perilously close to the cliff edge and there’s more warning signs about the unfenced cliff being dangerous. Tell me.
Although it’s cold and overcast and occasionally raining, the visibility is quite good up and down the coast. At least it’s not misty and the winds aren’t gale force. But the north wester is coming off the Arctic and it’s cold. After another hour, we can see Perranporth off in the distance and there’s a choice walking a long stretch of sandy beach or picking our way through a maze of tracks through the sand dunes behind. The tides coming in, so we choose the dunes. It’s a bit sheltered from the wind, it’s not raining now, and definitely not muddy. But it’s sandy and soon our shoes are filled with sand. For the next 4k it’s up and down sand dunes following a green track through the military zone, eventually getting to a holiday park with hundreds of cabins perched behind the dunes.
It’s almost 4pm when we finally exit the last sand dune via the Winston Graham Memorial Bench and walk into the village of Perranporth. Winson Graham was author of the popular Poldark TV series in the 1970s. Set in Cornwall, it was a TV series following a detective as he solved crimes around the county. Having first moved to Perranporth in his late teens, in 1925, with his parents, in the 1940s Winston Graham rented a bungalow on the cliffs at Perran Sands – the bungalow’s no longer there, but a memorial seat has been erected on the coastal footpath between Newquay and Perranporth, overlooking Perranporth beach. Winston Graham lived in Perranporth from 1925 to 1959.
We can’t get into our Air BnB until 5pm and it’s only about 15 minutes walk to get to it. Time to buy a Mateus Rose to go with our bread and cheese that we didn’t eat for lunch. It’s become very windy and very cold as we trek up towards the YHA at the top of the cliff overlooking Perranporth. Nicola, our host at the Air BnB, has given clear instructions on how to get to her place at Gwythian Way. It’s easy to find. It’s just freex=zing cold getting there. Tony, Nicola’s husband welcomes us and shows us to his back yard where there is a 2 roomed self contained granny flat. Perfect.
A drink of Mateus would be nice, but we need to shake the sand out of everything before entering, then have a hot shower to warm up. And then it’s time for a drink with our nuts, cheese and bread. Another interesting day on the South West Coast Path. It’s predictably unpredictable.
Cheese and Mateus Rose near heater
Cheese and Mateus Rose near heater
Cheese and Mateus Rose near heater
Cheese and Mateus Rose near heater