South West Coastal Path, (UK National Trail), 113 miles, 8 walking days, May 2011
Newquay – Perranporth – Portreath – St. Ives – Pendeen – Porthcurno – Marazion – Porthleven – Lizard Point
The South West Coastal Path stretches over 630 miles of English coastline starting at Minehead on the north coast of Devon and finishing at Studland in Dorset. We walked the 113-mile section from Newquay to Lizard Point, the southernmost point of mainland England, via Land’s End, the westernmost point of mainland England. The walk had a special significance for me. My father, one of five siblings, was born and raised in Pendeen, close to the trail and just 9 miles from Land’s End, and we organised a rest day/family reunion when we reached Pendeen. Ten family members turned up and a jolly good time was had by one and all.
The walk itself was quite demanding with several challenging ups-and-downs and, in places, with the path running quite close to the cliff edge causing Carol some alarm. But we passed some interesting places including numerous beautiful but deserted beaches and headlands; swirling and tumultuous seas; many disused tin mines, a symbol of Cornwall’s mining heritage; an ancient stone circle with standing stone near Wicca Pool; the open air Minack Theatre at Porthcurno (closed when we walked by, unfortunately); the evocative St. Michael’s Mount in Mount’s Bay, Penzance; Acton Castle at Perranuthnoe; the memorial to Guglielmo Marconi at Poldhu; and finally, Lizard Point, the end of our walk.
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