I set off early from Portreath. The beach is deserted and I can look back at the headland I walked over yesterday. It doesn’t seem as steep as I remembered.
I follow a road that winds as it climbs up the hill, losing the sea view. I am looking forward to branching off on the coast path, but I soon come across a common problem. Continue reading
The bus from Portreath to Hayle Towans is a double-decker today and I want to sit in the front seat at the top, to enjoy the views. Frustratingly a man and his child are in one seat and a couple are in the other. Damn. But then I recognise the woman in the couple: an old work colleague from Lincolnshire! Coincidence. We chat all the way to Hayle Towans and neither of us gets to see much of the view.
It has rained overnight and the morning is dull. Hayle Towans beach (3 miles of sand) stretches out in front of me, curving around to Godrevy Point and Godrevy Island with its lighthouse.
I am staying in Portreath and catch the Greyhound Express to St Ives. The ride is wonderful with extensive sea views most of the way. There are only three of us on the bus until we hit the holiday camp at Hayle Towans. After that, it is standing room only.
The tiny bus station at St Ives is perched on a hill and the bus requires careful manoeuvring to get in and out. There is a grand view of St Ives harbour.
I head down and eastwards, away from the harbour and towards the railway station. From Continue reading
The first beach I come to in St Ives is called Porthmeor Beach. I stop and have a cup of tea and a cream scone in a café overlooking the beach. I opt for a booth out of the sun. It is 4:30 pm but still blazing hot.
Artists come to St Ives Continue reading
The number 508 bus should take me back to the Gurnard Head Hotel. Unfortunately, Western Greyhound does not run a service on Sundays. (Why ever not?!) So I have an expensive taxi-ride from Penzance to Treen.
Too excited to look at my map properly, I head off along the nearest footpath, only to find I am nowhere near the sea and about to rejoin the main road. Wrong path! Never mind I take a photo of the hotel across the fields.
I catch the number 10 bus from Penzance to Botallack. The driver corrects my pronunciation. It’s BOW-ta-lack, not Bo-TA-lack.
From the village I try to take a footpath towards the coast but soon end up lost in a field and have to double back, eventually finding the same boring gravel track I walked along yesterday.
Continue reading
People say that Land’s End is a disappointing place – dominated by a large hotel and shopping complex, and an even larger car park. Yes, I thought the Lizard was more attractive, both in ambience and scenery. But Land’s End is Land’s End and will always have a special significance for long-distance walkers.
I take a photograph of my husband standing in front of the hotel. Then he sets off on the long drive back to Lincolnshire and I start walking, on my own, heading for Botallack.
Continue reading
Lamorna Cove is, I am sure, a beautiful place. But this morning it is shrouded in fog. I look back across the cove, trying to make out the route that I walked yesterday. The path winds treacherously above the shoreline. In the distance is the craggy mass of Carn-du.
I set off from Perranuthnoe in brilliant sunshine. My plan for today is to walk through Penzance and Mousehole and to finish my walk in Lamorna Cove. It is a long way. I’m using an Explorer OS Map – more detailed than my usual Landranger Map – and the distance seems huge. I’m nervous already.
The BBC weather forecast today is ‘wet’. The BBC rarely lets us down.
But it is still dry when I start walking along the side of Porthleven Harbour. I stop to take photographs and to allow a group of walkers go on ahead of me. There are around 10 of them and they seem to have an official leader. I rather hoped they would be heading the other way, but no, they were walking the same way as me. I prefer walking alone, so I hang back to get some distance between us.
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Response ID: 328,436,497 Report number: 1222 Location: Ceredigion Coast Path (part of the Wales Coast Path) between Gwbert & Mwnt Date: 04/02/26 2 walkers, no dog, meet about 40 Welsh Black bullocks Pips report: “On the return stretch of our walk we encountered extremely treacherous terrain and a herd of about 40 Welsh Black bullocks […]
Incident number:1220 Response ID: 328,248,081 Location: Back Forest Farm, River Dane, near Wincle & DaneBridge, Peak District ///wasps.promote.homelands Date 26/01/26 Single walker, no dog SY’s Report: “I was heading back to DaneBridge/Wincle from Gradbach/Black Forest. I’d walked by Back Forest Farm along the path between their fields and came to a gate/stile. As I crossed […]
Incident number: 1218 Response ID: 320,795,463 Date of incident: 29.12.2025 Location: Below Denston Hall, Denston Suffolk Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PROW L.Cooper’s story “I saw a group of cows ahead and waited to see if they would move. As I couldn’t get past without going near to them I backtracked and […]
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 