Other SWCP posts:
Day 25: Pendeen Watch to Sennen Cove
Day 27: Lamorna to Marazion
Day 28: Marazion to Porthleven
Day 29: Porthleven to Lizard Point
Day 30: Lizard Point to Coverack
Day 31: Rest day in Coverack
Day 32: Coverack to Maenporth
Day 27: Lamorna to Marazion
Day 28: Marazion to Porthleven
Day 29: Porthleven to Lizard Point
Day 30: Lizard Point to Coverack
Day 31: Rest day in Coverack
Day 32: Coverack to Maenporth
Day 26
Sennen Cove to Lamorna
Approx. 11.7 miles, 890m ascent
27,300 steps
My sister, brother-in-law, little nephew and their dog decided to walk the first section of the day with me, so Grandad got a morning off from driving all over Cornwall on my behalf. We parked at Sennen Cove and rejoined the path, with just a mile to go until Land’s End. The sun was out once again, and it was a very pleasant meander at the pace of a 4 year old, having a good catch-up natter along the way. Bungle the dog found some perfectly muddy puddles to wallow in, and we enjoyed exploring the rocky landscape of Maen Castle, an ancient cliff top fort.
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| Nearly at Land's End! |
At Land’s End we got the required photo, although avoided the expensive option with the official signpost in shot. I celebrated having completed the entire north coast of Devon and Cornwall, plus a little bit of Somerset of course. About 257 miles done, 14,490m of ascent in total; or 1.6 Mount Everests! Time to turn the corner and head back in the direction of home. I left my family behind, and quickly escaped the tourist trappings, very quickly finding some glorious empty rocky cliffs.
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| Touristing |
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| Good rocks |
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| The narrowest arch |
The path dipped in and out of little valleys and coves, rolling through an exposed heath landscape on top of low cliffs. The RSPB reserve signs promised Choughs, and I wasn’t disappointed, soon hearing the distinctive call. The path dropped down into the little hamlet of Porthgwarra, and I was pleased to find a lovely cafe with a big garden, so I settled in in the sunshine with a pasty and some rocky road cake, glad to be able to take an early stop instead of continuing on to Porthcurno for my lunch stop.
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| More rocky cliffs |
Refreshed, I followed the path back up and out of the valley, passing more gorgeous white sand and bright blue seas. The route soon spat me out at the top of the Minack theatre above Porthcurno. I didn’t feel much like stopping, and there were crowds of tourists, so I continued on; I’d love to return to the theatre one day for a show and explore it properly. The path follows the extremely steep steps down the cliff around the outside of the theatre, not for the vertigo-suffers, and especially fun with lots of people trying to go both ways on the narrow steps! I made it to the bottom in one piece, and was soon back out onto the quiet cliffs beyond the bay.
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| Very blue sea at Porthcurno |
Another spectacular section with views out to the rocky headlands, and I was soon dropping back down into the little bay at Penberth, an extremely pretty little fishing village, still with a few proper fishing boats pulled up on the slipway. The landscape was gradually changing as the coastline began to tuck in away from the wild westerly weather, and trees were starting to appear, the first I had seen since St Ives. At St Loy the path skirted some houses with beautiful lush gardens which seemed to be spilling over out into the landscape. The path popped out onto the boulder beach and I had a short section of boulder-hopping to navigate, before heading back into the trees, enjoying the shade and cooler atmosphere.
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| Some more rocky coast, can't remember exactly where! |
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| Pretty Penberth |
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| Tropical Cornwall |
The final section of the day dropped the path down into the rocky edge of the cliff, with some fun narrow and craggy terrain to navigate, including squeezing through some quite tight boulder gaps; I would have been in danger of getting stuck if I had had the big rucksack in tow! The weather started to shift as I made it into the cove at Lamorna, the sun disappearing and the wind picking up. Lamorna is a slightly peculiar place, I believe it is privately owned, and there is chatter that the landlord was intending to sell so wasn’t maintaining anything; it certainly had a very quiet and slightly drab feel to it. I managed to get a drink at a friendly cafe though, whilst I waited for Grandad to navigate his way down the narrow road to find me.
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| The last valley before Lamorna (I think!) |
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