polzeath to harlyn

south west coast path

sunday, 8th september 2019

It looks like it’s going to be a lovely day today. Not particularly warm but I should get a lot of sun and there’s barely any wind.

Padstow low tide 07:38

Padstow high tide 13:44

weather forecast.jpg
tide times.jpg

I start the day at our holiday cottage on a golf course and amble down the golf course towards Polzeath. It is a beautiful morning. I admire the late wild flowers as I approach Polzeath. 

I head out onto Polzeath Beach. It’s still early so the beach is pretty quiet but surfers are making their way out to the waves.

polzeath

I head along the path above Broadagogue Cove and Greenaway Beach and gently descend towards Daymer Bay.

I head out onto the beach at Fishing Cove Field, inhabited by dog walkers, and amble slowly along the sand. St Enodoc Church can be found just inland here but I continue along the beach. Normally I’d be able to walk straight across to Daymer Bay but the tide is too far in so I take to the grassy slopes of Brea Hill and head through the dune system.


view over fishing cove field

I amble through the dunes until I find a safe exit point onto the beach and then it is a pleasant stroll along the sand of Daymer Bay heading towards Rock.

daymer bay

shadow on daymer bay

daymer bay

I reach the ferry slipway at Rock and wait for the ferry to cross over from Padstow.

approaching ferry

I catch the ferry across to Padstow which costs me £4 for a return ticket.

ticket

The ferry pulls into the harbour in Padstow and I alight the ferry and amble into Padstow for a bit of exploring

It’s still early so Padstow is fairly quiet but I expect it will be heaving later.

I wander around the harbour passing the The Shipwrights (@theshipwrights), The Harbour Inn and The Old Custom House (@ochpadstow)

the shipwrights

harbour inn

old custom house

padstow harbour

I retrace my steps and then climb steadily out of Padstow, walk through a gate and then follow grassy slopes up to the granite war memorial overlooking Daymer Bay and the Camel estuary. The clouds are gathering quite ominously but I don’t they’ll threaten me today.

camel estuary

The war memorial always signals the end of any crowds (not that there were any) and I should just have dog walkers, runners and surfers for company for the rest of today.

war memorial

There’s a plaque next to the war memorial which I haven’t seen before to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War.

They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them.
— For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon

I amble along the coast path and fall into conversation with an Australian who is walking the south west coast path in its entirety. He is on day 11 of his walk and is hoping to complete the walk in 38 days.

I reach Harbour Cove and the coast path meanders behind the beach but the sand is far too enticing so I head out across the beach instead. I have the whole beach to myself except for a few dog walkers. Out at the mouth of the estuary can usually be seen The Doom Bar, named after a rather tasty beer from Sharp's Brewery! It's covered in water today. The ominous clouds are still behind me but ahead are blue skies.

At Hawker's Cove I come across a small group of buildings and head along a road before passing between two rows of cottages. The Padstow lifeboat was stationed here until 1967, before being relocated to Mother Ivey's Bay due to river silting. I spot someone fishing from the lifeboat station slipway.

lifeboat cottages

fishing

I continue to amble along the coast path enjoying the wild flowers.

I head towards Stepper Point and walk below the coastguard station here and then pass a daymark, which served as a navigation beacon for seafarers during daylight hours.

coastguard station

daymark

I amble along the cliffs and pass Pepper Hole and Butter Hole and head along the grassy slopes to Gunver Head, passing Fox Hole. A sign tells me that the fields around here are full of corn buntings and skylarks but I don't see any. It's very unusual to go on a coastal walk without hearing skylarks but it's the wrong time of year.

I pass a blow-hole, Round Hole, at Roundhole Point, an 80 feet deep hole in the cliffs formed from a collapsed cave. Somehow, a man managed to fall down it recently. I now have lovely views over Trevone Bay.

trevone bay

I walk down towards the beach car park and then head out on to the beach and enjoy the fine sand. I retrace my steps and head out of Trevone Bay.

The path continues above a rocky beach towards Harlyn Bay. I come across sea bindweed, sea thrift, common toadflax, secret beaches and some nutters who are throwing themselves into the sea.

At Harlyn Bay I climb down steps to reach the fine, sandy beach. I amble along the beach for a while before retracing my steps to head towards the car park where my lift awaits.

view over harlyn bay

harlyn bay

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

  • red campion

  • himalayan balsam

  • red valerian

  • ragwort

  • rabbits

  • buddleia

  • mullein

  • hemp agrimony

  • sunflowers

  • nasturtiums

  • roses

  • hydrangea

  • agapanthus

  • fennel

  • mesembryanthemum

  • japanese anemones

  • crocosmia

  • small copper butterflies

  • clouded yellow butterflies

  • blackberries

  • honeysuckle

  • swallows

  • housemartins

  • knapweed

  • sea thrift

  • sea bindweed

  • betony

  • common toadflax

podcast logo small.png

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

10 out of 10.png

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 13.8 miles today which amounts to 28485 steps. It has been a beautiful day of walking. Ten out of ten!

The total ascent today has been a miserly 119 feet or 36 metres.

map

polzeath

view over fishing cove field

ferry

padstow harbour

trevone bay

nutters

harlyn bay

beach collection

port isaac to polzeath

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

saturday, 7TH SEPTEMBER 2019

After yesterday's squally rain it looks like the weather will be much better today. It's not going to be particularly warm but at least it should be dry and the wind has died down a bit.

Port Isaac high tide 12:12

Port Isaac low tide 18:40

weather forecast.jpg
tide times.jpg

I start the day in the car park at the top of Port Isaac. I head down a tarmac path which leads into the village, passing autumnal flowers along the way

port isaac

Fortunately it's still pretty early so the village isn't heaving yet with Doc Martin fans. I head down the hill towards the harbour, passing all of the touristy shops.

I pass the Golden Lion (@GLportisaac) and the Port Isaac lifeboat station before I have views over the harbour and I head down the slipway onto the beach.

port isaac harbour

The Port Isaac Shanty Festival starts today and a stage is being set up at the top of the beach. I enjoy the beach for a while before heading uphill out of Port Isaac.

view over port isaac

I now have lovely views over the beach and harbour and I enjoy the wild flowers next to the coast path. I spot a hummingbird hawk-moth and for a change manage to photograph it.

hummingbird hawk-moth

I climb up some granite steps before walking around the edge of a field on Lobber Point. I cross a footbridge at Pine Haven.

I climb up a long flight of steps before heading around Varly Head, passing Varley Sand. I’m now above Greengarden Cove and I continue along the coast path around Scarnor Point. I pass above Downgate Cove and walk along the cliffs above Reedy Cliff.

I climb gently down from Kellan Head towards Port Quin.

approaching port quin

Port Quin is now a short hop away and I head out onto the rather rocky Port Quin Beach. There used to be a thriving pilchard industry here as well as mining activities but these have both long ago dried up and the teeny village is now owned by the National Trust.

port quin beach

I head out on the beach for a bit. I spot a man sat at the top of the beach wearing wellies, a bright orange jacket and a flat cap. He gets out a bag and then pulls out a load of paintbrushes and starts to paint on some paper.

Hang on a sec! I recognize that man. He’s Kurt Jackson!! Needless to say I leave him to his peaceful painting.

I leave Port Quin via the road before climbing over a stone stile. I cut inland of Doyden Point, passing a truncated gothic tower, Doyden Castle, built in 1827 and now turned into a holiday cottage.

doyden castle

I continue along the coast path passing a couple of mine shafts surrounded by slate fencing posts. These mines are known as Gilson's Cove mine or Doyden Point mine and produced a mixture of silver, lead and antimony and also a bit of copper.

mine shaft

Between the two shafts the coast path runs through the middle of a horse whim that was used to haul materials from the mine.

I climb gently onto Trevan Point and enjoy the wild flowers where I also come across a small copper butterfly. I also spot a red admiral and a small tortoiseshell butterfly but they prove to be too flighty to photograph.

small copper

I continue along the coast and come across Epphaven Cove where I can cross a stream over the beach and caves. It’s a bit of a scramble down to the beach but there’s no beach today anyway with the tide so far in.

epphaven cove

Between Epphaven Cove and Lundy Hole Beach I come across a painted lady butterfly.

painted lady

I continue along the coast path to reach Lundy Hole Beach. It’s rather a small beach and entirely covered by the tide except for boulders at the head of the beach. There is a wooden flight of steps which takes you down to the boulders but it’s a bit of a scramble after that to reach any sand.

lundy hole beach

lundy hole beach

I climb down the steps to do some recording and then retrace my steps and continue along the coast path to reach the arch at Lundy Hole. There is a legend that as St. Menfre was combing her hair the devil appeared in front of her and was so taken aback he dug Lundy Hole. What a load of old nonsense!

lundy hole

I pass Great Lobb's Rock and then pass by Downhedge Cove, Pengirt Cove and head above Sandinway Beach, passing several disused quarries and enjoying the wild flowers along the way. I also come across a wall brown butterfly and a raggedy speckled wood butterfly.

wall brown

speckled wood

The large offshore rock behind the eastern headland of The Rumps is known as The Mouls and is a breeding site for puffins, gannets and kittiwakes in summer but they are presumably long gone now.

The path continues towards The Rumps before swinging sharply to the left where I head towards Pentire Point and come across a herd of lazy cows lying on the coast path.

the rumps

The Rumps were formerly an Iron Age Cliff Castle with excellent defensive capability due to the constricted neck leading out to the twin headlands.

I now change direction and start to have some protection from the cold northerly winds. I can now see across to the infamous Doom Bar sandbank where the River Camel meets the Atlantic Ocean. The sandbank is revered as a formidable nautical challenge that should be approached with respect and navigated with skill. Or so my pint glass tells me!

I now have magnificent views over Hayle Bay towards Polzeath.

view over polzeath

I descend towards Pentire Haven but the sand is covered up so I climb back onto the cliffs and head towards Pentireglaze Haven. There’s sand here and I normally walk across this beach straight onto Polzeath Beach but the tide is in too far today.

pentireglaze haven

I head back onto the cliffs and amble along before dropping down to Polzeath Beach where I head straight out onto the beach. It’s rather busy but that’s probably not surprising as it’s a Saturday and the weather is rather good. There are a lot of people out on the surf.

polzeath

polzeath

polzeath

I amble back along the beach heading towards Polzeath village where I pass the Waterfront Bar and Grill (@WaterFront_Polz).

waterfront bar and grill

Fortunately I found a public footpath from our holiday cottage down to Polzeath yesterday afternoon otherwise I would have had to traipse along roads back to the cottage.

The footpath takes me out of Polzeath and I have one final round of photographing the wild flowers before heading across The Point golf course and my walking is done for the day.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

  • white valerian

  • red valerian

  • hummingbird hawk-moth

  • fuchsia

  • tansy

  • crocosmia

  • acanthus

  • oxeye daisy

  • buddleia

  • ragwort

  • honeysuckle

  • common toadflax

  • red campion

  • sea thrift

  • ribwort plantain

  • cows

  • cormorants

  • bladder campion

  • small copper butterfly

  • red admiral butterfly

  • small tortoiseshell butterfly

  • betony

  • knapweed

  • painted lady butterfly

  • blackberries

  • sloes

  • herb robert

  • gorse

  • cat’s ear

  • wall brown butterfly

  • hawthorn

  • heather

  • speckled wood butterfly

  • mullein

  • himalayan balsam

podcast logo small.png

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

9 out of 10.png

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 12.3 miles today which amounts to 26879 steps. It has been nice to get back out on the south west coast path after three months away and it has been a lovely day’s walking. Nine out of ten!

My total elevation today is 489 feet or 149 metres.

MAP

hummingbird hawk-moth

small copper

painted lady

wall brown

speckled wood

beach collection

minehead to porlock weir

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

sunday, 9th june 2019

The weather forecast for the week looks utterly filthy but I might just get a decent break in the bad weather today to complete the walk from Minehead to Porlock Weir. It’s not going to be a very warm day but there shouldn’t be much wind and I might just about be able to avoid any rain.

Minehead high tide 11:45

Minehead low tide 17:32

weather forecast 3.jpg
weather forecast 4.jpg
tide times 2.jpg

After a long drive over Exmoor, I start the day at the very start of the South West Coast Path (it could well be the very end of the South West Coast Path if you are walking it in the wrong direction) next to the map sculpture in Minehead.

minehead

The sculpture consists of a giant pair of hands holding a map, designed by local art student Sarah Ward and built out of bronze by Owen Cunningham and was installed in February 2001.

map sculpture

In a contest for A-level students, Sarah came up with the idea for a 12ft sculpture in galvanised steel. The sculptor Owen Cunningham, from Belper, Derbyshire, was commissioned to make it by the South West Coast Path Team, part of the Government's Countryside Agency. The sculpture cost £19,000 and Sarah won £100 (woo hoo!), which she put towards a gap-year trip to study a conservation project in Australia.

I leave the sculpture and amble along the promenade where I pass a Christmas tree dumped in a flower bed. It must have been there at least five months and no-one seems to have bothered to have removed it.

christmas tree

At the end of the promenade I pass the teeny harbour.

minehead harbour

I cotinue walking below a wooded slope before heading inland slightly to reach Greenaleigh Farm. Here I turn sharply back on myself to the left to climb steeply up through the wooded slope.

I then turn sharply to my right and continue climbing less steeply through woods before leaving the woodland behind to be replaced by gorse, bracken, foxglove and rhododendron coved slopes. The remains of Burgundy Chapel are somewhere just below me.

Burgundy Chapel was a medieval chapel formerly belonging to the Luttrell family of Dunster Castle. Little is known of the chapel's origins, but it has been suggested that it was built in thanksgiving for a Luttrell's safe return from the Burgundian Wars in the 15th century.

I begin to hear a cuckoo calling and hear it intermittently after this for quite some time so maybe there’s more than one about.

I continue climbing up the slopes to reach a bench, signpost and car park at North Hill where I have magnificent, if rather murky, views over the Bristol Channel to South Wales and over Steep Holm and Flat Holm.

bench with a view

I follow the signpost and turn right to Selworthy and Bossington (four miles away). I follow a stony path flanked by gorse and ignore a disintegrating sign marked ‘Rugged Coast Path’.

rugged coast path

I pass a group of Exmoor ponies - at least I assume they are Exmoor ponies since I’m on Exmoor - who aren’t bothered about my presence and just continue munching the scrub.

exmoor ponies

I enter the Holnicote Estate and pass a field bounded by a stone wall covered in foxgloves and full of some of the worst shorn sheep I’ve ever seen.

foxgloves

sheep

I go through a series of gates and climb steadily up on to Selworthy Beacon at 950 feet (290 metres). The summit of Selworthy Beacon is just to my left at 1013 feet (308 metres) so I climb up to the trig point (s3944) and cairn marking the summit where I have magnificent views across Porlock Bay.

selworthy beacon trig point

the (murky) view from selworthy beacon

cairn on selworthy beacon

It must be a pretty windy place usually up on Selworthy Beacon but I hardly have a breath of wind today.

I retrace my steps back to the coast path and turn right to start descending. I take a right hand fork marked for Bossington (2 miles) until I reach the point where the alternative ‘Rugged Coast Path’ rejoins the main path.

rugged coast path

I drop steeply through a valley at Hurlstone Combe, full of kids who don’t look too happy to be outdoors, to reach the coast again at Hurlstone Point where I have magnificent views over the shingle embankment at Porlock Ridge.

hurlstone combe

The ridge was created 8000 years ago but was breached by a violent storm in October 1996, creating a tidal saltmarsh.

view over porlock ridge

I follow the path which passes through a small wooded patch and head towards the River Horner which I cross using a footbridge and head into the rather pretty village of Bossington, mostly owned by the National Trust.

bossington

I head out of the village along a road to the right marked for Bossington Beach. The sparrows are chirping away from their vantage point in the guttering of lots of the cottages here. I walk down towards the beach. Although it’s possible to walk along the pebbly beach at low tide I turn inland left along a path and through fields full of acrobatic swallows.

I pass a memorial to the eleven people who lost their lives when an American aircraft crashed into the marsh at Porlock on the 29th of October 1942 while out on a U-boat patrol mission.

memorial

I pass a stone barn and a load of dead trees before turning right along a path which leads me out onto the western end of Porlock Ridge and I crunch slowly along the pebbles.

dead trees

porlock ridge

I briefly amble along the road into Porlock Weir where I pass the Ship Inn before walking through the car park to the tiny harbour, built in 1422, where I end my walk.

porlock weir harbour

I have now walked the South West Coast Path in its entirety three times and the podcast produced for this walk will mean that I think I’ve managed to record a podcast for every section of the coast path.

As we leave Porlock Weir in the car it begins to rain and that is followed by torrential rain as we drive over Exmoor. I seem to have finished my walk just in time!

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

  • housemartins

  • swallows

  • echiums

  • day lillies

  • salvia

  • fuchias

  • goldfinches

  • rape

  • comfrey

  • green alkanet

  • chiffchaffs

  • herb robert

  • foxgloves

  • rhododendrons

  • squirrels

  • cuckoos

  • deer

  • skylarks

  • exmoor ponies

  • navelwort

  • sheep

  • pheasants

  • sparrows

  • poppies

podcast logo small.png

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

9 out of 10.png

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 10.9 miles today which amounts to 23526 steps. Despite an ominous looking forecast for the week I’ve managed to stay dry today and the walking has been lovely. Nine out of ten!

My Ordnance Survey app has failed me today so I don’t know what my total ascent is. My other tracking app has produced this elevation chart which looks about right. Selworthy Beacon is showing as 1018 feet rather than the 1013 feet it should be but I was stood on top of the cairn at some point which may have added an extra 5 feet!

MAP

map sculpture

exmoor ponies

foxgloves

selworthy beacon

porlock ridge

herons rest to broadsands, brixham and back again

john musgrave heritage trail, dart valley trail, greenway walk and south west coast path

monday, 6th may 2019

The weather forecast looks pretty good. It should be sunny most of the day but it’s not going to be particularly warm again.

Dartmouth high tide 08:04

Dartmouth low tide 13:45

weather forecast 2.jpg
tide times 2.jpg

I start the day at our holiday cottage, Herons Rest, set high above the River Dart and Dartmouth. I leave the cottage and head left along the road where I pass Maypool Youth Hostel.

the view from herons rest

The wildflowers in the hedgerows are looking at their very best.

I enter a field where I have magnificent views over the River Dart before entering the grounds of Greenway House.

view over the river dart

greenway

I come across a signpost for the Greenway Walk and head off in the direction it is pointed.

I follow a footpath through fields and next to farm buildings to reach Lower Greenway where I come across a lime kiln on the beach next to the river.

lime kiln

The lime kiln on the beach is one of several scattered on the estuary foreshore, and limestone from the quarry across the creek was burnt here to produce a soil fertiliser. The area from Berry Head sits on a thick bed of Devonian limestone, once marine reefs, and Galmpton was an important centre for quarrying the stone on the River Dart. It was also used as a ballast in the early ships sailing from here to Newfoundland, and Galmpton Creek limestone has been found in some of the earliest buildings in the New World. It also appears in French and Spanish harbours, for the same reason.

My notes tell me I can cross the beach here. What my notes don’t tell me is that the beach is swallowed up at high tide and the path is impassable. It happens to be just about high tide and I won’t be crossing the beach for a few hours.

high tide

I retrace my steps back up to a minor road and follow this for a while towards Galmpton. A bit unexpectedly I come across Greenway Halt just below the road. Next to the entrance to Greenway Halt a sign points through fields telling me that there is a permissive path to Galmpton.

I follow the sign into a field and climb down to cross a stream. I continue following paths which take me to Galmpton Creek.

galmpton creek

Galmpton Creek has been a boatbuilding centre for centuries, and in its heyday over 300 sailing trawlers were built here, as well as wooden motor torpedo boats during World War II. It is still a bustling marine repair centre, but its use nowadays is mostly for pleasure craft.

I pass Dartside Quay where I join Kiln Lane. I follow the lane which passes another lime kiln before joining onto Stoke Gabriel Road which takes me through Galmpton.

another lime kiln

Next to the turning into Slade Lane can be found the Manor Inn.

manor inn

I turn left into Slade Lane and follow the road up to Galmpton Warborough Common.

galmpton warborough common

It is a pleasant surprise to find early purple orchids covering the football pitch here. It doesn’t look like football is played very often here!

I pass the war memorial next to the A3022.

war memorial

I cross the busy road and then follow a footpath which takes me underneath the arches of Hookhills Viaduct, below the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway line.

railway arches

The viaduct was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Construction commenced in 1860, after Brunel’s death, and was opened to the railway in 1864. The viaduct has nine arches and is 85 feet tall and 116 yards long.

I follow the road which takes me down to the large, curving red sandy beach at Broadsands. I amble out along the beach before retracing my steps, admiring the colourful beach huts and the newly restored Broadsands Bistro.

I leave Broadsands and amble along the South West Coast Path around Churston Point to reach the shingly Elberry Cove.

elberry cove

I amble along the beach and then head along the coast path besides Churston Golf Club before passing Fishcombe Point to reach Churston Cove, where I now have views towards Brixham Harbour.

churston cove

I cross the shingly and rocky beach and climb up onto the coast path and continue towards Brixham, dropping steeply down to Fishcombe Cove.

fishcombe cove

I climb steeply out again and head through Battery Gardens where the remains of 378 Battery Artillery Southern Command can be found. I head along Oxen Cove next to what was once AstraZeneca's Brixham Environmental Laboratory but which was donated to Plymouth University in 2013.

oxen cove

I pass through the car park where a new shellfish landing jetty is being constructed to improve Brixham’s fishing infrastructure. It should be open in Summer 2019. I then pass Brixham Fish Market to reach the centre of Brixham.

brixham

I amble along the harbour and pass the full sized replica of the Golden Hind in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe.

brixham

I retrace my steps back through Brixham and head back towards Fishcombe Cove where I pick up the John Musgrave Heritage Trail.

The John Musgrave Heritage Trail is a 35 mile walking trail encompassing parts of Torbay, South Hams and Teignbridge. It was launched in March 2006 in memory of John Musgrave, a former chairman of the South Devon Group of the Ramblers, whose generous legacy to the group on his death in 2003 has been used to fund the development of the trail. John was an enthusiastic walker, leading walks in many of the areas through which the trail passes.

I pass through woods and then open scrubby ground where I come across whitethroats singing. I follow a track where I hear a cuckoo before joining a road which leads me into the village of Churston Ferrers. I explore the village and come across Churston Manor Hotel and St Mary the Virgin.

churston manor hotel

st mary the virgin

I rejoin the John Musgrave Heritage Trail and wander along Churston Road to reach Churston Cross. I cross the A3022 and pass Alston Farm. The wildflowers are looking delightful in the hedgerows.

I come across a field of rape.

rape

At Higher Alston I fail at the final hurdle. Either I missed a sign or it doesn’t exist. I should have headed through fields to my left but instead I keep ambling on to reach the busy A379 which I warily cross by dodging the speeding cars.

Directly opposite me there should be a footpath. There isn’t. Instead I’m met by a massive, locked gate. There should be another footpath a little further up the road. There isn’t. I just find a wooden gate covered in barbed wire.

I return to the massive gate and climb over it and walk through fields in the general direction of Higher Greenway. I can see the Paignton and Dartmouth steam train chugging along below me.

It’s clear that this isn’t a footpath so I retrace my steps back to the main road and clamber back over the gate. I’m confused so I’ve got no option but to take the safe route down the A379 and through Galmpton and out through to Higher Greenway. It’s rather a long last trek to get me back to Herons Rest, our holiday cottage for the week.

[Addendum: I retrace my steps back to Higher Alston a couple of days later to see where I went wrong and there is indeed a sign pointing left up a track. Unfortunately it was hidden behind a big, red ‘Road Closed’ sign so it’s no wonder I missed it!]

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora and fauna encountered on the walk today includes :-

  • honeysuckle

  • bluebells

  • green alkanet

  • red campion

  • herb robert

  • wild garlic

  • garlic mustard

  • early purple orchids

  • periwinkle

  • red valerian

  • daisy

  • greater stitchwort

  • ivy-leaved toadflax

  • cow parsley

  • alexanders

  • primrose

  • bush vetch

  • herb bennett

  • rape

  • chiffchaffs

  • song thrushes

  • chaffinches

  • wrens

  • whitethroats

  • a cuckoo

  • swallows

  • a buzzard

  • pheasants

  • great tits

podcast logo small.png

PODCAST

The podcast of today's walk is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.

8 out of 10.png

MARKS OUT OF TEN?

According to my phone I've walked 14.2 miles today which amounts to 31532 steps. I’ve walked around 3-4 miles further than I should have done at the end of the walk which brings the score down on what was otherwise a thoroughly pleasant walk. Eight out of ten!

MAP

early purple orchid

hookhills viaduct

broadsands

brixham

rape



























































beachcombing - part 2

SOUTH WEST COAST PATH

thursday 27TH - friday 28TH SEPTEMBER 2018

maenporth - 27th september 2018

It’s time to tackle the Falmouth beaches. After a misty and cold start the sun is out and it’s starting to warm up. I’ll amble along Maenporth, Swanpool and then Gyllyngvase before heading in to Falmouth.

maenporth

maenporth

beach collection

swanpool - 27th september 2018

swanpool

swanpool

swanpool

beach collection

gyllyngvase - 27th september 2018

gyllyngvase

beach collection

perran sands - 27th september 2018

It’s Thursday afternoon and I’m at Perran Sands at low tide. I’ve never been here at low tide before but it’s rather nice.

perran sands

beach collection

loe bar - 28th september 2018

I wander down from our cottage near to Helston, along a nice footpath through the Penrose estate, to Porthleven, stopping off at Loe Bar on the way.

loe bar

beach collection

porthleven sands - 28th september 2018

Oops! I somehow managed to knock my wide angle lens into manual focus mode so I haven’t got any wide angle shots of Porthleven Sands.

beach collection

That’s it. It’s the last day of our holiday and we travel home tomorrow. After a filthy day travelling down on Saturday the weather has been glorious. Thank you Cornwall.

podcast

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The podcast of this beachcombing is now available. You can subscribe via the iTunes store or listen using the player below.