Thursday 2nd November 2017
15 miles today, 96.15 miles in total.
A cold mist was lying low over the land as I started walking again from Tesco car park after a day off. Rather than go back up to the A39 roundabout I elected to go down through the town. It’s always up or down in Cornwall!
In the middle of Wadebridge is the ‘Old Bridge’, with seventeen arches.
It spans the River Camel, this is five miles upstream from Padstow. The new bridge that takes the A39 is in the distance. The Camel Trail joins the two towns and it’s where we walked the dog yesterday between dental appointments.
With the exception of a chat with the man in the ‘Nice Baps’ roadside cafe (he stamped my log-book for me) the first few miles were boring and rather dangerous, walking along the side of the A39. There is no footpath and the traffic is relentless, with heavy lorries, tractors, white vans aplenty (their wing mirrors are at my head height), and a variety of different driving styles on display. I felt I needed to concentrate better than pheasants to avoid becoming roadkill.
After a while I turned onto the side road through St Kew then up to the B3314 at Pendoggett and was rewarded with better views and a less dangerous road. But it was still road, and very hard underfoot.
There were some good views to either side. This was looking south. The sea was to the north.
I stopped at the top of the hill coming out of St Kew for lunch, sitting at the bottom of this signpost.
At Delabole I turned off the B road towards Trebarwith Village. Tintagel came into view, so near and yet so far.
I found Trebarwith, and chatted to a local man who told me I was close to Tintagel but at least an hour’s walk away. He gave me directions which I managed to mis-hear or ignore. Coming down the (very steep!) hill from the village I turned left at the bottom of this hill instead of carrying straight on, and walked down almost to sea level at Trebarwith Strand instead of back up the equally steep hill on the other side.
There’s always a silver lining, and in Trebarwith Strand I came across a (closed) art gallery with some stunning seascapes painted by Dean Murphy. If you like art he’s worth checking out.
The diversion meant I added another steep stepped section of the SWCP to get back up the cliff to Treknow, (at least it wasn’t road) and sat down to rest on a bench at the top of the climb.
Today’s route seemed to go on for ever, but it was simply a brain/legs combination that had decided 12 miles was ‘enough’ and 15 miles was ‘too much’, and the fact that the last three miles were the steepest and hardest to walk meant I was playing the “Rest if you must but don’t you quit” mantra for quite a while.
Tintagel tourist office was also closed when I arrived. The Post Office marked on the OS map closed some time ago. I found the car in the car park and waited for Mr to return to take a souvenir photo of the end of Phase 1.
It has been a cold and sunny day, perfect for walking.
15 miles in total, hilly and at times quite hard.
7 hours walking.
Phase 1 complete.
Thank you to all who have already contributed to the fundraising at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/helegant-walks-lejog
Home tomorrow to replanning. I’ve learned a few useful lessons, not least that road walking makes my feet sore and that I need to keep concentrating, especially when I think I know where I’m going.
Then Sings My Soul 