Day 1 - St. Mawes (Falmouth) - Portloe
Author: Dave
Statistics:
|
The day before the storm.
The first hour into the walk
This year Jason finished off his last of his prologue days. He had gone down a day early walked on the Friday and then got on the same train as me at Truro and so it was that we arrived in Falmouth together. We walked down to the pier where the ferry went over to St. Mawes which is where our B&B was for the night. The ferry wasn't due for another 30 minutes so we walked over to the pub opposite the pier. While walking the 20 yards I was fortunate enough to be shat upon by a seagull. Supposed to be lucky that! While Jason got the beers in I went to the toilet to wash the splatter off the front of my trousers - fortunately the worst of the main dollop missed me. As I came back from the toilet, the few blokes sitting at the bar all turned round to look at me with my front crotch area of trousers dark and wet where I had washed them with a paper towel. I started to explain but then seeing how thin it sounded and looking at their disbelieving faces I shrugged my shoulders and sat down to my beer and pork scratchings.
We caught the ferry over to St. Mawes, checked into our B&B and then popped down to the sea front and had a good meal in the Ship Inn. We popped into another pub round the corner for another couple before an early night. The second pub had a TV and we watched the news and weather forecast which looked OK for the following day but gave severe weather warnings for the Sunday advising people to only make journeys if absolutely necessary and to stay away from the cliff paths. Oh dear.
The following morning was mild and fairly bright as we wandered down to the harbour to get our other ferry across to St. Anthony in the small outboard boat. There was one other fella waiting at the harbour who, it turns out, was also walking the SWCP in aid of the very worthy cause of the RNLI. Pete was recently retired and, not being someone to sit and take it too easy, had embarked on doing it all in one hit. He lived in Falmouth and so had built a few rest days into his 6 week plan, one of which he had bought forward to the following day to avoid the forecasted storm that was to come. A wise move as it turned out.
Pete was good company with a fair bit of local knowledge and we walked with him until early afternoon chatting about all manner of subjects. The paths were good and fairly dry considering the last few weeks had been rather wet. A couple of hours after Portscatho we found an isolated small cafe with some tables out the front that looked out over the cliff. The sun had been out for a while and it was now quite warm and we were ready for a bite to eat. We asked Pete if he would like to join us for a brew but he had the foresight of bringing a packed lunch and was keen to press on before the weather closed in, as it was forecast to. We wished him good luck and had a welcome sit down in the sun with a sandwich and cup of tea. Although Pete was in his sixties, he had set a good pace and we speculated as to whether we were slowing him down a little.
We caught the ferry over to St. Mawes, checked into our B&B and then popped down to the sea front and had a good meal in the Ship Inn. We popped into another pub round the corner for another couple before an early night. The second pub had a TV and we watched the news and weather forecast which looked OK for the following day but gave severe weather warnings for the Sunday advising people to only make journeys if absolutely necessary and to stay away from the cliff paths. Oh dear.
The following morning was mild and fairly bright as we wandered down to the harbour to get our other ferry across to St. Anthony in the small outboard boat. There was one other fella waiting at the harbour who, it turns out, was also walking the SWCP in aid of the very worthy cause of the RNLI. Pete was recently retired and, not being someone to sit and take it too easy, had embarked on doing it all in one hit. He lived in Falmouth and so had built a few rest days into his 6 week plan, one of which he had bought forward to the following day to avoid the forecasted storm that was to come. A wise move as it turned out.
Pete was good company with a fair bit of local knowledge and we walked with him until early afternoon chatting about all manner of subjects. The paths were good and fairly dry considering the last few weeks had been rather wet. A couple of hours after Portscatho we found an isolated small cafe with some tables out the front that looked out over the cliff. The sun had been out for a while and it was now quite warm and we were ready for a bite to eat. We asked Pete if he would like to join us for a brew but he had the foresight of bringing a packed lunch and was keen to press on before the weather closed in, as it was forecast to. We wished him good luck and had a welcome sit down in the sun with a sandwich and cup of tea. Although Pete was in his sixties, he had set a good pace and we speculated as to whether we were slowing him down a little.
A short rocky beach excursion
Just before we set off again, we managed to scrape enough loose change together to buy me an ice cream. It was sunny and I thought I would make the most of it by enjoying a well earned ice cream. Jason obviously decided he hadn't worked hard enough as he didn't want one which was just as well because I don't think we could have scraped enough change together.
We set off and as we came out of the light tree cover I thought I could see the distant outline of a walker going over the top of a headland a mile or so away. It had started to cloud over a little and was looking like rain wouldn't be too far away so we got our heads down and I found my walking legs after they had been broken in after the first morning warm up. As I crested each headland I could see the distant figure up ahead getting gradually closer, only to find the figure behind getting more distant by the same amount. The scenery was pleasant and the sea was crashing with deep booms and a roar into the bottom of the cliffs as the swell started to increase ahead of the forthcoming storm. We came up over the last headland and saw Portloe nestled in a deep sheltered valley below us. We had made good time and so as we descended into the village we decided a quick pint was in order. The first pub we got to was right on the slipway and was in fact a hotel. It looked nice but but a quick glance made us think it may be a bit posh for us, even though our clothes were clean and resonably odour free being our first day. We headed up the valley a little and came to another pub, The Ship Inn. We wandered in half expecting Pete to be in there (as it turns out he was in the other one down at the slipway). We had a quick pint and then wandered another hundred yards or so up the road to our B&B where we had one of the biggest rooms we've stopped in so far; complete with patio doors to the garden - although we didn't make use of these as the it had now started raining a little. It turned out it wasn't to stop until some time later tomorrow.
We had our dinner back at The Ship Inn and another couple of pints before another early night and a bit of TV back at our very comfortable B&B. I dozed off with the sound of a gale blowing through the trees and the rain lashing at the patio doors. Oh dear.
We set off and as we came out of the light tree cover I thought I could see the distant outline of a walker going over the top of a headland a mile or so away. It had started to cloud over a little and was looking like rain wouldn't be too far away so we got our heads down and I found my walking legs after they had been broken in after the first morning warm up. As I crested each headland I could see the distant figure up ahead getting gradually closer, only to find the figure behind getting more distant by the same amount. The scenery was pleasant and the sea was crashing with deep booms and a roar into the bottom of the cliffs as the swell started to increase ahead of the forthcoming storm. We came up over the last headland and saw Portloe nestled in a deep sheltered valley below us. We had made good time and so as we descended into the village we decided a quick pint was in order. The first pub we got to was right on the slipway and was in fact a hotel. It looked nice but but a quick glance made us think it may be a bit posh for us, even though our clothes were clean and resonably odour free being our first day. We headed up the valley a little and came to another pub, The Ship Inn. We wandered in half expecting Pete to be in there (as it turns out he was in the other one down at the slipway). We had a quick pint and then wandered another hundred yards or so up the road to our B&B where we had one of the biggest rooms we've stopped in so far; complete with patio doors to the garden - although we didn't make use of these as the it had now started raining a little. It turned out it wasn't to stop until some time later tomorrow.
We had our dinner back at The Ship Inn and another couple of pints before another early night and a bit of TV back at our very comfortable B&B. I dozed off with the sound of a gale blowing through the trees and the rain lashing at the patio doors. Oh dear.