Padstow to St Ives
15th-22nd June 2009
The scenery along the coast between Padstow and St Ives includes architypal Cornish sandy bays between rocky headlands, but it is much more varied than I'd expected, with longer sandy beaches, dunes and some spectacular clifftop walking as well as a river crossing and an estuary to negotiate. There are pretty little fishing villages and lots of industrial archaeology, especially between Perranporth and Portreath; evidence of the extensive mining of tin and other minerals.
The underlying geology is slate with some granite outcrops. The mining is associated with the granite whilst the slate contributes the spectacular coastal scenery. There are caves, blow holes, islands like the Merope Islands (right), separated from the mainland by a narrow channel, and stacks like those at Bedruthan Steps; each evidence of a progressive cycle of erosion.
We walked this section of the path in June 2009. There were fewer wildflowers than when we walked from Westward Ho! to Padstow a month earlier, but it was still pretty and, to our surprise, when the underlying rock was granite, there was attractive early-flowering heather. The weather was a lot better than it had been a month previously - with the exception of one (very) wet day when we walked from Constantine Bay to Porth it was dry and sunny but not too hot; ideal for walking.
Not surprisingly there were more people about and we got used to the RNLI lifeguards, complete with landrovers and colourful flags, watching over the surfers and swimmers on the beaches. However the path wasn't crowded and so far as 'serious' coast path walkers were concerned we met just two other couples and a single man who was walking from Minehead to Land's End at a rate he was finding uncomfortably fast. The weather has a real impact on the appearance of the coastal scenery; the sea was a beautiful deep blue-green, but with little wind the sea was much calmer than a month previously. This was easier walking than on the previous leg; there were some ups and downs, especially between Perranporth and Portreath, but we took them in our stride.
Once again we booked the holiday through Contours; the B&Bs were of quite variable quality but some were superb, including '50 Church Street' in Padstow [which became a rental apartment not a B&B in 2016] where we spent the first night, after travelling by train to Bodmin Parkway and then on the 555 bus to Padstow. Padstow is a lovely place; we had a pleasant meal at Pucelli's italian restaurant and then went for a walk up the beautiful Camel Estuary on the Camel Trail.
By walking slightly further than Contours had planned on our penultimate day, we were able to reach Lelant - we'd walked from St Ives to Lelant and back in 2007 - so at this point we'd 'closed the gap' and walked all the way along the path from Minehead to Penzance. Contours had allowed a day for us to walk from Hayle to Lelant and St Ives; we used this 'extra' day to get a taxi to St Michael's Mount on the south coast and then to follow St Michael's Way to Carbis Bay and then the South West Coast Path to St Ives. We travelled home by train from St Ives to St Erth then St Erth to Paddington and Kings Cross to Downham Market.
