Day 15

August 23^rd Depart Perranporth

Arrive Portreath Accommodation: The Cliff House B&B

Distance 19.9 KM | Cumulative Distance: 324 KM | Grade – Moderate/Strenuous

Ascent 2,454 FT | Cumulative Ascent: 44,999 FT

Before I start today's blog I should start with meeting up with Liz and my sister, Shirley and her son David, last night. They duly arrived at my accommodation in Perranporth and we were all extremely glad to see each other. We decided to head out of town to find a country pub, and found a lovely one out in the middle of the countryside where we had a great meal before depositing me in Perranporth. We said out good byes around 9 am and then I went to my room to watch some TV for an hour before trying to go to sleep. I had a feeling it was going to be a long night, as my room was on the ground floor and faced a terrace where people were drinking and having a great time. It sounded like they were in my room at times!! Sleep was hard to gain, and consequently I was tired when I woke at 5-50 am, and so I was in no hurry to get up.

At 8 am I had breakfast and was eagerly waiting for 9 am when Liz was due to join me for the walk. It was a glorious warm sunny morning and the prospects were for great walking conditions. Unfortunately Liz did not get dropped off until 9-25 by which time ominous black clouds were rolling in and I could see a rainbow in the general direction we were heading. Before setting off I suggested to Liz that she might want to consider throwing on her rain gear and I put my pack cover on my bag and we set off. This was Liz's introduction to the life I've been living for the past two weeks, and we started off with a steep climb along Cliff Road which ran right behind my B&B and which after a couple of minutes brought us to a field which the path followed down to the far corner and then turned left to go up past a building. It was right about this turn that the rain and wind hit, which was less than 5 minutes after we started to walk. I said to Liz you are more than welcome to go back and find my sister in town, to which she declined, as she was now thoroughly soaked from the waist down, and I told her that the rain will be stopped within 30 minutes and that the sun would be out. Sure enough 30 minutes later we were walking in glorious sunshine!

Today's walk would see us entering quarry and mine workings, which are a legacy from a bygone age, as you will see from the pictures lower down. The walking from here on was really good with great views and postcard scenery around every corner. We stopped at one point and could hear this strange noise but couldn't figure it out until Liz caught sight of 2-3 seals with one of them barking. After a while we came to Perranporth Aerodrome before encountering a deep descent to Trevallas Porth. From here we had to go upstream to find a little bridge and then we turned right to get back up to the cliffs. Liz was doing really well and it's obvious she has benefitted from all the spin classes she has been attending. The path led us around the cliffs and then we dropped again down, this time into Trevaunance Cove before yet another climb back to the cliffs and a lovely walk that took us around St. Agnes Head and the views ahead were superb. Along the top a chap passed us who was heading to Porthrowan and he told me that there were two really stiff ups and downs once we had climbed out of the little village. Porthrowan was very similar to all the other little villages one encounters along the way, and the plus side is climbing up and away, and the negative is the long descents which play havoc with your knees!!

We were now 3 3/4 miles from our destination and the walking was very good, and we were now walking alongside MOD lands, which was well fenced off to keep trespassers out. Again we passed some beautiful coves and bays. Very pretty.

The first of the two climbs came and Liz handled it with aplomb, and the second climb was handled in similar fashion. We were now on the homestretch and the path detoured us to the road as there was a path closure, due to a land slip, and it never ceases to amaze me why people get so close to the edges, as you never know what's under your feet!

We arrived at the B&B for a well deserved cup of tea.

Now for some pictures, I hope you enjoy them.