Day 5 - Porthcothan - Newquay
Author: Dave
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A stroll along the beach...mostly
We had our own separate annex at the B&B (Penlan). The only downside was there was only one bathroom and it was en-suit in my room. So I was woken early by Jason wandering through for a pee and emptying the contents of his bladder - all 14 pints of it from the sound of it. When we got up and looked out the window we could see it was a bright morning and looking set to be a very warm day. We ate breakfast outside at the garden table. It was a fairly monstrous breakfast; fruit, cereal, yogurt and then one of the rare occasions I had the full fry up. It was a good'un too and all served up by the friendly and knowledgeable proprietor who could have doubled as King Arthur. This is the first (and maybe last) time we have eaten breakfast outside on the SWCP. While eating our breakfast a bank of cloud had moved across and the temperature had dropped. By the time we were togged up and bidding farewell to HRH Pendragon, it was just starting to rain slightly.
We set off a little disappointed that the weather looked as though it had taken a turn for worst. Fortunately the rain never really came to anything and stopped again as we trudged off down towards the beach and struck out along the coast path. After a while the undulations started and we were soon standing at the northern end of Bedruthan Steps which are several large sea stacks sitting in the middle of the beach when the tide is out, as it was at this moment, but completely cut off from land when the tide was in. The cove looks almost inaccessible standing at the top but there are a couple of steep paths leading down if you've got a good head for heights. I think there may even be some steps over at the southern end as we saw some people scrambling down the last bit to get to the beach. Sometimes the beach offers a nice easy walking shortcut if you have good access at both ends. This didn't look the case today and it wasn't really beach weather either so we stuck to the cliff top and the gently undulating footpath.
A little further on and just round the next headland we had our first sight of Watergate Beach. This is a stretch of sand about 2 miles long with easy access onto about half a mile along near Jamie Oliver's famed 15 restaurant. I thought it a good idea to drop down onto the beach at the earliest opportunity. Why wait for easy access when there was a goat track of sorts straight down the somewhat crumbling cliff - especially as the sun had now come out and it getting warm. perfect weather for a stroll by the sea - what could possibly go wrong. Jason took some convincing but the lure of the easy walking on wet sand won him over.
I set off and went slip sliding down the track slightly faster that anticipated due to the minor landslips all around me. Jason set off just behind me and triggered further slips of fist sized rocks with some slightly larger ones whizzing past every now and again. So I sped up and half slipped, half jumped sections and was down very quickly and none the worse for wear although more by luck than judgement. Jason, being much more cautious (sensible) than me was taking his time coming down - mostly on his arse. I suspect this was actually making it more difficult with shale, rocks and boulders sliding out from under him, rattling down the cliff and hitting the sand at the base of the cliff. I hoped the same fate wouldn't be his - he had the beer money ! When he finally reached the safety of the sand he dusted himself down and muttered a few words to me before starting off along the beach. It's fair to say he didn't congratulate me on my choice of route.
We set off a little disappointed that the weather looked as though it had taken a turn for worst. Fortunately the rain never really came to anything and stopped again as we trudged off down towards the beach and struck out along the coast path. After a while the undulations started and we were soon standing at the northern end of Bedruthan Steps which are several large sea stacks sitting in the middle of the beach when the tide is out, as it was at this moment, but completely cut off from land when the tide was in. The cove looks almost inaccessible standing at the top but there are a couple of steep paths leading down if you've got a good head for heights. I think there may even be some steps over at the southern end as we saw some people scrambling down the last bit to get to the beach. Sometimes the beach offers a nice easy walking shortcut if you have good access at both ends. This didn't look the case today and it wasn't really beach weather either so we stuck to the cliff top and the gently undulating footpath.
A little further on and just round the next headland we had our first sight of Watergate Beach. This is a stretch of sand about 2 miles long with easy access onto about half a mile along near Jamie Oliver's famed 15 restaurant. I thought it a good idea to drop down onto the beach at the earliest opportunity. Why wait for easy access when there was a goat track of sorts straight down the somewhat crumbling cliff - especially as the sun had now come out and it getting warm. perfect weather for a stroll by the sea - what could possibly go wrong. Jason took some convincing but the lure of the easy walking on wet sand won him over.
I set off and went slip sliding down the track slightly faster that anticipated due to the minor landslips all around me. Jason set off just behind me and triggered further slips of fist sized rocks with some slightly larger ones whizzing past every now and again. So I sped up and half slipped, half jumped sections and was down very quickly and none the worse for wear although more by luck than judgement. Jason, being much more cautious (sensible) than me was taking his time coming down - mostly on his arse. I suspect this was actually making it more difficult with shale, rocks and boulders sliding out from under him, rattling down the cliff and hitting the sand at the base of the cliff. I hoped the same fate wouldn't be his - he had the beer money ! When he finally reached the safety of the sand he dusted himself down and muttered a few words to me before starting off along the beach. It's fair to say he didn't congratulate me on my choice of route.

Fistral Beach
_

Some caves and the cliffs at the end of Watergate Bay
We then set out to find the 'Goldilocks' zone on the beach. You don't want to be too far from the sea where the sand is dry, soft and tiring to walk on, or too close to the sea where it is a bit marshy and tiring to walk on. This magic zone is just the right distance from the sea and the sand just the right firmness to be able to make good progress without the heavy pounding on the feet you get from a hard track or tarmac.
We made reasonable progress but Jason's legs were still feeling the strain of the two previous days and kept his pace down. There were a few surfers and a few others running and walking dogs on the beach, but by and large it was quite. As we got closer to the southern end I noticed the cliffs getting bigger with no way back up. I was hoping there would be steps or a way out down the bottom, but it was a gamble and I didn't know for sure. The tide was also coming in and I started to have concerns over whether we would be able to make it back if there was no way up the cliff at the end of the beach. So, I broke into one of my trots that's half way between a fast walk and a jog. I got to the end and saw a huge flight of steps clinging to the cliff edge - so we were going to be OK. I explored a couple of caves while waiting for Jason and then we climbed the steps and sat on a bench over looking Newquay and ate lunch.
We knew today was going to be a short day and sure enough it was. The next couple of miles were walking through the suburbs of Newquay and then stopping for a coffee in the centre as we had time to kill. We checked into the B&B early, dumped our packs and had a wander over Fistral beach and had an ice cream while watching the surfers.
Newquay is the biggest town we've passed on the walk so far and was a bit of a culture shock. It feels much like any other town really and not in the spirit of the coastal path. That said, the B&B was very pleasant and we managed to have a few beers while watching the world go by in the town centre that evening. Still, tomorrow's destination was a small Cornish village where we were to stay in a pub. What can possibly go wrong ?
We made reasonable progress but Jason's legs were still feeling the strain of the two previous days and kept his pace down. There were a few surfers and a few others running and walking dogs on the beach, but by and large it was quite. As we got closer to the southern end I noticed the cliffs getting bigger with no way back up. I was hoping there would be steps or a way out down the bottom, but it was a gamble and I didn't know for sure. The tide was also coming in and I started to have concerns over whether we would be able to make it back if there was no way up the cliff at the end of the beach. So, I broke into one of my trots that's half way between a fast walk and a jog. I got to the end and saw a huge flight of steps clinging to the cliff edge - so we were going to be OK. I explored a couple of caves while waiting for Jason and then we climbed the steps and sat on a bench over looking Newquay and ate lunch.
We knew today was going to be a short day and sure enough it was. The next couple of miles were walking through the suburbs of Newquay and then stopping for a coffee in the centre as we had time to kill. We checked into the B&B early, dumped our packs and had a wander over Fistral beach and had an ice cream while watching the surfers.
Newquay is the biggest town we've passed on the walk so far and was a bit of a culture shock. It feels much like any other town really and not in the spirit of the coastal path. That said, the B&B was very pleasant and we managed to have a few beers while watching the world go by in the town centre that evening. Still, tomorrow's destination was a small Cornish village where we were to stay in a pub. What can possibly go wrong ?