Sunday 30th January (cold)
Very cold morning as we set off to the Rambler's meeting point in between St Just and Zennor.
Today's walk was arranged by the lovely Sylvia and Graham. With icy cold feet, we set off up the hill towards Carn Galver which was pretty frozen up. This turned out to be a blessing as otherwise things would have been pretty muddy. It's surprising how quickly you warm up with a good old stomp up a steep hill and that stomp is made all the earlier if the company and chat is good!
In no time at all, feet and fingers were warm and we'd reached the top of the hill. We had fantastic views including a glimpse of the Nine Maidens otherwise known as Boscawen Un Circle (a stone circle). Don't be fooled - there are infact 19 stones not 9. We carried on and were lucky enough to see Men an Tol. Basically this is a holed stone from a very early date and which looks like a donut or polo! Going through the hole upside down is supposed to encourage fertility? Nobody seemed keen to give it a go! After a few miles, we dropped down towards the sea and stopped in Morvah for lunch. The more resourceful members of the party retired to the church to eat their lunch as it was still pretty chilly outside. To our absolute delight, the Yew Tree Gallery was open serving hot drinks. Bliss! One delicious Black and Greens hot chocolate later and a visit to the best ever equipped toilet (for example providing free suncream) we were ready to go again. We went along the top of Morvah beach which looked fantastic and gave us a great view of Pendeen Watch. The final part of the walk was from Morvah to our car on the coastal path - there was a mix of terrain including some rather swampy areas which needed careful navigation. You can probably imagine our delight when we arrived back to base to discover Sylvia had set up a portable cafe (in her camper van) with tea/coffee and delicious biscuits. Thank you Sylvia. Great ending to another fabulous walk!
Sunday 6 February (windy)
Went for a walk along the North Cliffs with the lovely Lucy. We parked up at the Sunset Surf Cafe car park and walked along until almost Poltreath. Going out was easy going, coming back was hard work with the wind against us. It was a struggle to put one foot in front of the other end especially across Gwithan beach. It was lovely to see some snowdrops up on the cliffs whilst eating our sandwiches. We had fantastic views and were lucky enough to see loads of seals at Godrevy. We rewarded ourselves with a hot drink at the Sunset cafe - yum!
Saturday 12th February (mild, sunny day)
Sarah and I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and go for a little local jaunt. We set off from Lelant Church (St Uny) - we dropped down onto Lelant beach giving fantastic views of Hayle estuary but unfortunately we were unable to reach the rocks to get up onto the coastal path at the end of the beach so had to head up the path onto the main track above the beach which was incredibly muddy! Not the biggest fan of mud. We took the top path heading towards Carbis Bay and dropped down through the trees and over the river passing by the Carbis Bay Hotel. Carbis Bay beach is particularly beautiful always making me think of the med and the hotel is a great place to sit and have a drink of an evening! We then strolled along Millionaires Row deciding which house we'd have given the chance. We stopped for a coffee at Treloyhan christian conference centre before heading into St Ives for lunch. Yum - a lovely reward for a good old stomp. We then decided walking back was the better option than bus and off we set homeward bound. We took the lower coastal path after Carbis Bay and as the tide was right down, we were able to drop down on the far end of Lelant beach and walk back along the beach admiring the surfers....I mean surfing along the way. A wonderful day which felt like the first day of spring shared with a good friend!
Sunday 20 February 2011
Sunday 23 January 2011
Venturing afield.....
Sunday 23rd January (slightly overcast to begin but sunny afternoon)
Decided to venture further afield today and persuaded my overworked and stressed friend Sarah to accompany me northwards up the coast. 9.30am bright and breezy we met in Hayle and set off to meet our fellow walkers. This week was a walk with the Kernow Boots aimed for 20-40's (yes we still belong!). We arrived at Trevone Bay - free parking always a bonus and toilets! A nice secluded bay to set off from. We went overland through fields for just under an hour until we arrived in Padstow. I'd never been before and was impressed. Very cute, lovely harbour and great views around the estuary! Not a big town but attractive with some nice looking pubs as well. There was some confusion about lunch arrangements but this was quickly cleared up and we set off back along the coastal path. My legs and bottom certainly felt the strain of the uphill gradient but it was so worth the effort for the views across the River Camel estuary. Stunning!! The route back to Trevone was via Stepper Point - beautiful views, big cliffs with loads of lovely bays - I managed to control my fear of heights (just about). The sun came out and we were a happy if tired group of walkers by the time we arrived back at the car. Rick Stein's influence is very obvious in Padstow and so after 7 miles walking with some steep hills, a few of us decided to treat ourselves to fish and chips at his Fish and Chips Shop. Delicious and went down a treat. Slightly extravagant at £6.50 but eating in and a pot of tea. Definitely worth it. We then had a little wander and explore around the town. Then it was home time. The days are definitely getting longer so Sarah and I decided to come off the A30 at St Agnes and come home along the coastal road stopping at Godrevy for a last blast of air! Beautiful sunset - a perfect end to a great day!
Decided to venture further afield today and persuaded my overworked and stressed friend Sarah to accompany me northwards up the coast. 9.30am bright and breezy we met in Hayle and set off to meet our fellow walkers. This week was a walk with the Kernow Boots aimed for 20-40's (yes we still belong!). We arrived at Trevone Bay - free parking always a bonus and toilets! A nice secluded bay to set off from. We went overland through fields for just under an hour until we arrived in Padstow. I'd never been before and was impressed. Very cute, lovely harbour and great views around the estuary! Not a big town but attractive with some nice looking pubs as well. There was some confusion about lunch arrangements but this was quickly cleared up and we set off back along the coastal path. My legs and bottom certainly felt the strain of the uphill gradient but it was so worth the effort for the views across the River Camel estuary. Stunning!! The route back to Trevone was via Stepper Point - beautiful views, big cliffs with loads of lovely bays - I managed to control my fear of heights (just about). The sun came out and we were a happy if tired group of walkers by the time we arrived back at the car. Rick Stein's influence is very obvious in Padstow and so after 7 miles walking with some steep hills, a few of us decided to treat ourselves to fish and chips at his Fish and Chips Shop. Delicious and went down a treat. Slightly extravagant at £6.50 but eating in and a pot of tea. Definitely worth it. We then had a little wander and explore around the town. Then it was home time. The days are definitely getting longer so Sarah and I decided to come off the A30 at St Agnes and come home along the coastal road stopping at Godrevy for a last blast of air! Beautiful sunset - a perfect end to a great day!
Saturday 15 January 2011
Mum's first solo venture with the Ramblers
Saturday 15th January (grey, grey and more grey but NO rain. Quite blowey but warm)
So Nathan has departed back to Reading Uni so I ventured off on my first solo Ramblers experience. We met at Treskillard (free) car park not far from Camborne. There were a good 15 or so of us so a decent turn out with Sylvia as leader. We walked at a comfortable pace with plenty of stops for stiles - a good way for those a little slower to catch up. The 6/7 mile walk was a mixture of fields and woodlands and we had quite an exciting river crossing experience!! The route took us through Beacon as well as Treslothan with its beautiful, evocative church - lovely! If I was ever to get married.....a suitable location! We stopped for lunch at perching on various rocks at the site of the quoit and then proceeded through Troon and up the hill past the naked lady (avert your eyes if you're sensitive!) back to the car. Plenty of great chat and nice to explore inland as oppose to the coast route. A fabulous and uplifting walk
So Nathan has departed back to Reading Uni so I ventured off on my first solo Ramblers experience. We met at Treskillard (free) car park not far from Camborne. There were a good 15 or so of us so a decent turn out with Sylvia as leader. We walked at a comfortable pace with plenty of stops for stiles - a good way for those a little slower to catch up. The 6/7 mile walk was a mixture of fields and woodlands and we had quite an exciting river crossing experience!! The route took us through Beacon as well as Treslothan with its beautiful, evocative church - lovely! If I was ever to get married.....a suitable location! We stopped for lunch at perching on various rocks at the site of the quoit and then proceeded through Troon and up the hill past the naked lady (avert your eyes if you're sensitive!) back to the car. Plenty of great chat and nice to explore inland as oppose to the coast route. A fabulous and uplifting walk
Saturday 8 January 2011
The start of a year of walks
We've always enjoyed walking - both together and alone and the start of 2011 saw us joing the Ramblers as fully paid up members. I live in Cornwall which offers walking opportunities galore and Nathan has decided to try and vist all the British National Parks this year so we thought we'd keep a record of our walking!
Sunday 2nd January - overcast and mild with light showers but mainly dry
Kick start to the year - walk organised by Penwith Ramblers starting at Breage Church (lunch ordered before walk started!). This was a two part walk; each section was 4 miles long. The first section saw us climb for 15 minutes or so up onto Tregonning Hill (a ridge) with views of the coastline encompassing Rinsey, Praa Sands, Perranuthnoe, St Michael's Mount, Penzance, Newlyn and Mousehole to our left and the Helston area to the right. We then descended though open field ploughing through some rather sticky mud and climbing over many stiles (some quite physically trying) to collapse into The Queen's Arms for some delicious lunch (we both had vegetable soup and shared a sticky toffee pudding).
For the second section of the walk we headed through fields close to Porthleven before heading back along the coastal road with some fabulous views of Rinsey. There was some excitement caused by crossing the rapids and river before ascending a field back into Breage. Fantastic company, great food and a brilliant start to the year!
Monday 3rd January - colder than yesterday but brighter with sunny intervals
A day going it alone - destination: Trelissick Garden which is a National Trust garden and therefore ideal for us as members. I decided to surprise Nathan with a detour stopping at Ponsanooth, parking at the bottom of the hill and heading up to Kennal Vale Nature Reserve. I had enjoyed a visit in 2010 and wanted to see whether this beautiful secluded valley had the same effect on Nathan as it did on me. He enjoyed it as much as I did. With a fascinating history set in beautiful woodlands, there is a magical ambience here and is well worth a visit and wander around.
Part two of the day - we headed to Trelissick Garden situated by King Harry's Ferry on the river Fal . We opted for the Northern Woodland Walk giving us some fantastic views across the river including an enormous ferry moored up. The sun was shining through the trees onto the water which was an almost green colour and so still - stunning. There were blackbirds and robins aplenty singing their hearts out to accompany us on the walk. The cream tea at the National Trust tearoom was very welcome (we got there just before closing) and gave us enough energy to make it home!
Saturday 8th January - mostly sunny with the odd heavy rain shower
Nathan's last day before heading back up country and we decided on a "smugglers walk" starting out at Prussia cove - we used an AA Walk to guide us. It was approximately four miles long. It involved going inland across fields to Perranuthnoe and back along the coastal path to Prussia Cove. It did give us some lovely views of St Michael's Mount but we did have to negotiate a couple of tricky stiles and initially the route was a little bit confusing. We timed things to perfection though as it started raining the minute we arrived back at the car where a cup of tea and flapjack went down well.
Having decided to do this blog, we will both try to remember our cameras on further walks to document them better. Happy walking and good luck to Nathan with getting to the parks.
Sunday 2nd January - overcast and mild with light showers but mainly dry
Kick start to the year - walk organised by Penwith Ramblers starting at Breage Church (lunch ordered before walk started!). This was a two part walk; each section was 4 miles long. The first section saw us climb for 15 minutes or so up onto Tregonning Hill (a ridge) with views of the coastline encompassing Rinsey, Praa Sands, Perranuthnoe, St Michael's Mount, Penzance, Newlyn and Mousehole to our left and the Helston area to the right. We then descended though open field ploughing through some rather sticky mud and climbing over many stiles (some quite physically trying) to collapse into The Queen's Arms for some delicious lunch (we both had vegetable soup and shared a sticky toffee pudding).
For the second section of the walk we headed through fields close to Porthleven before heading back along the coastal road with some fabulous views of Rinsey. There was some excitement caused by crossing the rapids and river before ascending a field back into Breage. Fantastic company, great food and a brilliant start to the year!
Monday 3rd January - colder than yesterday but brighter with sunny intervals
A day going it alone - destination: Trelissick Garden which is a National Trust garden and therefore ideal for us as members. I decided to surprise Nathan with a detour stopping at Ponsanooth, parking at the bottom of the hill and heading up to Kennal Vale Nature Reserve. I had enjoyed a visit in 2010 and wanted to see whether this beautiful secluded valley had the same effect on Nathan as it did on me. He enjoyed it as much as I did. With a fascinating history set in beautiful woodlands, there is a magical ambience here and is well worth a visit and wander around.
Part two of the day - we headed to Trelissick Garden situated by King Harry's Ferry on the river Fal . We opted for the Northern Woodland Walk giving us some fantastic views across the river including an enormous ferry moored up. The sun was shining through the trees onto the water which was an almost green colour and so still - stunning. There were blackbirds and robins aplenty singing their hearts out to accompany us on the walk. The cream tea at the National Trust tearoom was very welcome (we got there just before closing) and gave us enough energy to make it home!
Saturday 8th January - mostly sunny with the odd heavy rain shower
Nathan's last day before heading back up country and we decided on a "smugglers walk" starting out at Prussia cove - we used an AA Walk to guide us. It was approximately four miles long. It involved going inland across fields to Perranuthnoe and back along the coastal path to Prussia Cove. It did give us some lovely views of St Michael's Mount but we did have to negotiate a couple of tricky stiles and initially the route was a little bit confusing. We timed things to perfection though as it started raining the minute we arrived back at the car where a cup of tea and flapjack went down well.
Having decided to do this blog, we will both try to remember our cameras on further walks to document them better. Happy walking and good luck to Nathan with getting to the parks.
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