Leaving Exeter by train is quite spectacular even in the rain as the line runs along the coast through Dawlish where the seas destroyed the seawall leaving the rail line suspended (three-years-on); it apparently took just months to repair. At Teignmouth the line turns inland, going through Totnes, Plymouth, Bodmin, St Austell & Redruth – very green farmland &, in the towns, neatly aligned stone terrace houses.
By the time we arrived in Penzance the rain had lifted so we were able to enjoy a quick look round the town & eat a cheese, red onion & balsamic vinegar Cornish pasty before cycling into a strong head wind along the promenade to our accommodation for 2 nights – The Lamorna Pottery.
We cycled through Newlyn (memorial to fishermen lost at sea) and onto Mousehole (last visited in 1987) taking in the gulls nests and colourful stone houses along the way. The push out of Mousehole was as I remembered it but as the view was so spectacular I didn’t moan too much! The last bit was a gentle ride down to Lamorna Pottery café and B&B, which Caroline fondly remembered from café visits in the 1980s with May & Myra.
We were shown to our room but quickly made our way down to the café before closing time at 4pm as their Cornish Cream Teas come highly recommended – I can now endorse that! Yum – the best scone & clotted cream with homemade strawberry jam I had in England so far.
After that we walked down to Lamorna Cove to investigate the smugglers’ haven & have a drink at the Lamorna Wink pub. (Photos from Caroline) I was surprised by the number of houses down at the cove & on the way in as it’s a rugged relatively remote area. It once was a granite mining area so two of the houses have huge rock heaps tumbling down behind them! The coastal walkway that comes into the cove is notorious for its cragginess & precipitous drop offs, which the other couple staying at our B&B could vouch for as they had just come off it when we met them on the road.
The Wink was busy by the time we returned so after a quick drink we wandered back commenting again & again just how many NZ native plants we could see – ti kouka, harakeke, broadleafs & hebes.
No coverage at our B&B so spent the evening re-planning our route, writing p/c and updating blogs, and watching a bit of pre-election results TV.
Turned the TV on before we went down to breakfast to find that the UK election had returned an inconclusive result with Labour gaining ground but not enough to take power. Good to see that Caroline Lucas retained her seat for the Greens. The owner of the B&B was very disappointed in the result – felt it left the UK a lame duck or laughing stock in Europe.
Friday 9th June
After a lovely cooked breakfast I watched a breakfasting grey squirrel while I waited for Caroline to join me. We then set off (without gear - Yay!) for a ride to Land’s End; it was a lovely day so the ride was pleasant & relatively easy. We took the less used route to St Buryan that runs by our B&B then joined the NCN3 route through traditional dairy farming country; the Cornish folk are very proud of their dairy products, particularly Kelly's icecream. Arrived at Land’s End around 1030am, took a few photos of the stunning coastal landscape as well as the tacky shops & activities that sit at the end of the road. On down to the First & Last Refreshment House for an icecream – Caroline nearly lost hers to a large seagull that hovered over her, and then tried again after we had sat down! Missed a perfect photo when I looked up into its great white out-stretched wings.
Went around & down to Sennen harbour to take in the view of the lovely long sandy beach. Ate our picnic lunch there then went to the cafe for a cup of tea & a shared piece of cake...... of course, at Little Bo Cafe! It is right next to the Boatshed store run by a rather amusing chap who writes books set in Sennen Cove. Back up the hill & away we went to our B&B stopping on the way to look at The Merry Maidens standing stones.
The cafe was still open when we got back so we had a cuppa & piece of cake each – thank goodness we did as the meal we planned to have at the Lamora Wink didn’t eventuate as they were booked for a 70th birthday event so we found when we had walked there. So back to the B&B in the rain to drink a miso soup each & eat chocolate, and write up dairies.
We have now officially started LE-JOG – have completed 10.18 miles of our 874 miles (as the crow flies but in reality over 1100 miles) to John O’Groats!! Tomorrow, Saturday 10th, it is predicted to rain pretty much all day & the YHA we wanted to get to is fully booked. We will see where we get!
[Note: have photos for this section but the system seems to not want me to load any as it keeps coming up with a sad face & an'X' sign. May update at a later stage]
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