Day 25: Land's End to Lamorna Cove

Weather: Sunny with a light, cool, following breeze. Perfect
Distance covered today: 18.4 km (11.4 mi)
Last night's B&B: Little Pengelly
% Complete: Cumulative distance: 45.5%: 461.0 km
Total Ascent/Total Descent: 806 m/ 866 m
GPS satellite track of today's route: Day 25(click!)

Tough day today, yet again, but mercifully it was to be executed in perfect weather. I was aware before the start that things might be a little unpredictable, because the geography looked difficult. Researching the route suggested that from Land’s End there were any number of major “freeways” along the cliffs to provide round circuits for those visiting the resort. Over time, and as the distance from the resort increased, so the number of people and the condition of the path declined. It soon became clear that it was to be another day of extreme ups and downs and I might as well get used to it!

Interestingly,  I was now meeting people that I had met on previous stretches of the path on a regular basis and we were treating each other as old friends. I noticed though that the regulars were almost always foreigners. It seems that the English do not wish to walk these long distance paths. They are perfectly happy to do day trips which involve circular walks, but doing the whole thing, or even parts of the trail: no, best left to foreigners. This is hard to justify, because the beauty of the scenery is simply majestic and it seems to me to be unique, though I am not really in a position to judge.

Unexpectedly, after the crowds had thinned out to an almost lonely hike, gradually they started building again. I was approaching the phenomenon of the Minack Theatre, an extraordinary, open air theatre created by Rowena Cade. She was as extraordinary as the theatre she created. With just a few helpers, she built this amazing construction on the edge of a sheer cliff. The view from the bleachers down to the stage and to the sea beyond is simply unparalleled. The site regularly puts on Shakespearian productions, as well as more contemporary plays, though for me, in that inspirational setting, I would love to hear music. What a place to perform Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”!

Minack is located in Porthcurno which is also significant as the location of an historic submarine communications cable station. In the late nineteenth century, the remote beach at Porthcurno became internationally famous as the British termination of early submarine telegraph cables, the first of which was landed in 1870, part of an early international link stretching all the way from the UK to India. In the Inter-War years, the Porthcurno cable office operated as many as 14 cables, for a time becoming the largest submarine cable station in the world, with the capacity to receive and transmit up to two million words a day.

I had intended to visit the museum, but was surprised to find it wasn’t even signed off the Coast Path and I missed it completely. This suggests to me that its significance is a little undervalued in today’s public imagination.

For me, larger problems lay ahead. Beyond Porthcurno the path became increasingly demanding and I was having difficulty keeping to my agreed time schedule with Veronica. I was crossing stepping stones at Penberth Cove, when a female voice called me for assistance. She had been driving down into the cove when a tyre had punctured and she had no idea what to do. Obviously, I tried to assist to change the tyre, but after half an hour of valuable time, discovered that her tyre lock key didn’t fit her second-hand car tyre wheel. There was no mobile connection in the cove and she was desperate! I had a deadline to meet Veronica and was already significantly late! We phaffed around for a while without reward, until some local residents arrived and suggested that mobile access to the AA might be available in a certain location, further up the cliffs. Feeling awful, I used this as my excuse for withdrawal and set about dashing off to meet Veronica.

The condition of the path steadily deteriorated until it was scarcely a path at all; just a clamber over the rocks on the edge of the cliff. I was trying to balance being careful with moving as swiftly as possible so that I could meet Veronica as close to the agreed schedule as possible; an impossible dilemma!

Fortunately, Veronica met some youngsters at our agreed meeting point who assured her that the way was indeed much more difficult than had been anticipated and that she should allow me some leeway. Quite exhausted, I met her an hour later than planned at the quay in Lamorna Cove.  Seeing her, completely in control of her emotions, being rational and logical, was as reassuring as it could possibly be.  I fell asleep in the car on the way back to our accommodation.

How very comforting!

Land's End recedes

Another arch

Magnificent colours!

Who knows what these are? I'll have to research them at leisure!

First beach on the South Coast

I have been guarding this place for millennia and I still feel involved!

The beach at Porthcurno

The marvellous amphitheatre at Minack

Looking up from the stage

Incredible lady...

Beautiful Porthcurno Beach

These guys seem as if they have been blown backwards by the prevailing southwesters!

A pony for Veronica to go with her donkey!

Stepping stones to a flat tyre

The offended vehicle

A skyscraper on the horizon, probably from China

Beautifully rounded granite

Back to the forest

Arum Lillies!!

Stream to sea

Is this a path????

The geology changes. Granite gives way to sandstone

The lighthouse at Tater-du

????

How to cross this?? Veronica is waiting!