D136: ST AGNES to CRANTOCK
Tuesday 10th September 2024
Today miles: 11.5 Total miles: 2235.3
For the first time in three days I’m starting the day with dry socks and shoes. Thank you to Trevallas Manor Farm campsite for being fantastic hosts. The first few miles were visually interesting as I walked through the old mines and quarries near Hanover Cove. Walking through the boulder laden quarry felt a little eerie, particularly in the early morning mist. There’s also a sharp breeze blowing and it’s hitting me straight in the face as I turn past Cligga Head. I really enjoyed the next mile into Perranporth, a steady twenty minutes along the side of the sweeping cliffs. I could have stopped for a break in Perranporth however I’d only been going for an hour so just carried on walking.
I crossed the beach at Perranporth and following the official route of the South West coast path I climbed up into the dunes. It was rough going, constantly going up and down the sand dunes. Pretty quickly I decided to just descend from the dunes and instead walked along the beach, just above the mean high water mark. I could see that there were several other people with backpacks/daypacks doing the same thing. A little later climbing up from the beach I passed a couple of young walkers who were studying their map. I advised them to ignore the official path and to avoid the difficulty of walking across the high dunes. Looking back I saw them minutes later walking along the beach. I took another short break at Holywell, basking in the sun, not looking too dissimilar from the two seals I had seen earlier. There’s a spectacular viewpoint at Kelsey Head, looking towards ‘The Chick’ and there’s a steady stream of people walking up the ridge for their selfies. It’s only around sixty metres above sea level but gives impressive views nonetheless.
I only had around three miles to go and it’s only 2pm. I could see Crantock beach up ahead and walked the mile up the Southern edge of ‘The Gannel’. It seemed to take me a lifetime to walk that final mile towards Crantock. As I got closer to the point where I would be leaving the coast path and heading inland I had a final look out towards the river. The tide was out and I could see several people walking barefoot across the sand. I could also see the pedestrian bridge which I’d hopefully be using tomorrow morning in order to cross that very same water feature.
I broke my reading glasses earlier today, I’m not sure how it happened but they’re now in three pieces. I’m booked on to Quarryfield campsite tonight and when I mentioned my glasses the nice lady on the reception desk kindly lent me her spare pair for tonight. She also agreed to charge up my power pack, it’s another great campsite. The site has a restaurant/bar so after setting up my tent I way able to have an excellent meal of fish and chips and a couple of pints.
Werewolfandflump UK Coast Path 