D119: POLPERRO to LOSTWITHIEL
Saturday 20th April 2024
Today miles: 15.5 Total miles: 2004.6
Today should be a monumental day. I’m expecting to pass two thousand miles and according to my calculations that’s about half way around the English (British) Coastal Path.
It’s only a short hop for the bus to get me back to the Northern edge of Polperro and then a quarter mile walk to get me back onto the coastal path. There’s then a routine fifty metre ascent up towards Hard Head, leading onto another good path alongside Lansallos Cliffs. I had my first mini break at Pencarrow Head.
Pencarrow Head would have been a great location for a wild camp. Not long after leaving Pencarrow Head I encountered a small herd of cattle, around twelve standing right on the coast path. Most of them I managed to avoid but three of them began moving along the coastal path in front of me. The route for the next quarter mile was covered on both sides with gorse and hedgerows meaning the beasts had nowhere else to go other than along the footpath. They walked with me, or rather they walked in front of me for about four hundred metres before eventually turning away from the path.
It’s only about a mile and a half to Polruan where there’s a ferry boat across the River Fowey. On arrival in Polruan I found a nice place to rest overlooking the river and watched the little orange ferry boat criss-crossing the river, a small group of local kids jumping into the water nearby. It’s around eight miles to Lostwithiel and across the River Fowey. The first couple of miles was through Pencalenick Woods and it’s a pretty decent path with some nice views. At Pont I picked up a minor road and then followed it for a few miles until reaching Lerryn. There’s a small shop in Lerryn, it’s overpriced but convenient. I grabbed two more cans of fizzy pop and I even paid for a frozen ice lolly for a youngster whose pocket money didn’t quite stretch to the price of a Walls Magnum.
It was about half a mile North of Lerryn when I notched my two thousandth mile. Disappointingly the location wasn’t particularly scenic nor particularly attractive but it was memorable. I only had a couple of miles before arriving in Lostwitheil where I’m booked into ‘The Kings Arms’ hotel for tonight. It’s a little early so I wandered around town and picked up some food for later, including my favourite subway sandwich. I arrived in my room around 5pm and didn’t leave until early the next morning.
Werewolfandflump UK Coast Path 