St Michael's Mount, Penzance, Cornwall

April 2015

Penzance ...

is where we based ourselves - at the excellent Blue Seas b&b. And because it's a long way from our Cambridge base, as well as the final county in our tour of 39 English counties, we spent a bit longer than our usual long weekend and we brought our wives with us - as we sometimes do.

A rather rainy time we had of it at times, with heavy rain and blustery winds on some days, but we managed to walk our statutory 8 miles and more between gusts, mostly on the coastal paths, which offer fantastic views in return for some rather up and down tracks. I think it's called "blowing away the cobwebs."

Here we are, John, Duncan, Mark and Tim, with a mine chimney in the background to prove that all four of us have walked at least 8 miles in all 39 counties of England, and in fact about 20 miles in Cornwall.

Over four days we explored four different parts of the western tip of Cornwall.

1. Our first walk was of about 6 miles, by bus to the former mining village of St Just. The parish church is of interest but we headed west towards the coast, passing the impressive Bronze Age burial cairn of Bollowall Barrow. A few yards further on is the spectacular scenery around Cape Cornwall, with large waves breaking over the rocks several hundred feet below and views of Land’s End to the south.

Lunch was at the Queen’s Arms in Botallack then back towards the coast a mile or two north of Cape Cornwall. The landscape here is dotted with ruined engine houses and other relics of the once thriving tin and copper mining industry.

2. We took the train from Penzance to St Erth on the north coast and changed to the St Ives branch line. Although only about four miles long, this is a spectacular journey along the cliffs above beautiful sandy beaches with views across the Hayle Estuary to Godrevy lighthouse in the distance. After lunch we headed west behind Porthmeor Beach and joined the South West Coast Path. After an easy start, this section of the path becomes very rocky and uneven, so at Hor Point and in deteriorating weather, we found a more sheltered route back inland to the outskirts of the town to catch the train back to Penzance.

3. With more intermittent rain and very low cloud, we kept to sea level and followed the South West Coast Path along the sea wall from Penzance to Marazion, a very attractive little village, with ferries (or causeway at low tide) to St Michael’s Mount, today hardly visible through the low cloud and mist. In the evening we walked a mile along the sea wall in the opposite direction towards Newlyn and an excellent three-course supper in the Tolcarne Inn.

4. The sun reappeared on our last day, so we caught the bus back to Marazion and walked the coast path eastwards to Perranuthnoe. Although the first half mile or so is along the main road through the village, the coast path then took us down to the this spectacular section of coast with good views of St Michael’s Mount, and with Penzance, Newlyn and Mousehole visible in the distance. We saw pilot gigs in training for the World Pilot Gig Championships due to be held the following weekend on the Isles of Scilly.

At Perran Sands, we diverted inland up the hill to the pretty village of Perranuthnoe and the Victoria Inn. Although they appeared shocked to be asked if sandwiches were on the menu (the answer was a stern ‘no’), they did provide us with good beer and light bites from their starters menu.

Finally back westwards and the coast path to Marazion, and Penzance.

Duncan also walked a dozen miles in the Scilly Isles, which for the purposes of the 39 counties counts as Cornwall. Great for walking, even the biggest island, St Mary's is only 10 miles around its coast, so you get a lot of sea views for a few strides.