Day 37: Fowey to Looe

Weather: Heavy fog and occasional light rain with very strong southerly
Distance covered today: 22.5km (14.0mi)
Last night's B&B: The Well House
% Complete: Cumulative distance: 64.4%:  686.6km
Total Ascent/Total Descent: 1022m/ 1026m
GPS satellite track of today's route: Day 37(click!)

In the pub the other night a wag suggested he could define an English summer, “Two hot days and a thunderstorm", he said. "Then it’s autumn!” Sure enough, we had two hot days, followed by thunderstorms (that actually put our home internet out, according to Veronica), and today was positively wintry, actually considerably poorer than the weather forecast predicted.  The cloud base was so low that at first I doubted I would get any snapshots at all. Fortunately the gale force wind was from the South West, so it blew me happily on my way and my glasses coped without a problem.

The other end, not so much: eventually I was squelching along in sodden footwear, but thereby hangs a tale of such abject stupidity that I hesitate to announce it publicly. Actually, I might as well. Readers of this drivel will already be reasonably well informed of my inadequacies, so a little more evidence won’t hurt. 

Since the start of my long-distance walking, some eight years ago, I have bought four pairs of boots. The first pair I had fitted in a now defunct outdoor chain called “Blacks”. I assiduously tried to walk them in, but early in my LEJOG adventure they tortured my little toes, and I whinged endlessly about them. I had cleverly realised that LEJOG would wear out at least one pair of boots, so before leaving home, I bought a second pair on the internet, identical to the first and went through the whole “battle of the little toes” again, whining again endlessly about it.

By the time I had finally worn those boots out, I was wiser. The problem was that the manufacturers of these wonderful, English leather Boots had gone broke, and Brasher Supalites  were no more. After copious research, I discovered that Brasher had sold the rights to Berghaus of Germany, who in turn had contracted out the manufacture to the Chinese. I bought a bigger size, wore them in and my next few long walks were mercifully free of toe damage issues (and the associated commentary). But these boots too wore out, and meanwhile Berghaus were experiencing major quality issues with the Supalites and have withdrawn them from the market. I was forced to choose another brand!

I went to Cotswold Outdoor, where Veronica had very successfully been fitted with a new pair of boots by a lovely young lady called Summer. By the time I got there, Summer had left, and some surly youth measured my feet and told me what to buy. I took his advice without checking the size. After a couple of uncomfortable weeks trying to wear them in, I checked the size and found they were the same size as the original toe-crushing Supalites!

So there you have it! Your long-distance walker has managed to buy three pairs of boots out of four that were just too small for him! I share your incredulity! Anyway, the current pair of toe-crushers has been wreaking havoc with my little toes during this trip. Fortunately, and for reasons that will only become apparent in a few days’ time, Veronica had persuaded me to  bring along a decrepit old pair of walking shoes, which I have been using over the last few days to the blessed relief of the Compeed covered little toes. They just weren’t up to the deluge today, and hence I squelched along feeling like a total idiot! It’s back to the dry toe-crushers tomorrow!

The reference back to LEJOG got me thinking about where I was on that trip after 680 odd kilometres. To my total surprise and absolute delight, 679 km took me from Langdon Beck to Dufton, a leg which I later described as the very best experience of my LEJOG adventure. Here’s the link:
LEJOG Day 55

Interestingly to me, I was on the 55th walking day of LEJOG, whereas on the SWCP, I’m only at Day 37. No wonder I’m shattered! It is though, remarkable that after this distance I’m not yet three quarters the way round the Coast Path, whereas on LEJOG, I was already towards the upper half of the Pennine Way, nearing the Scottish border!

OK, so I do understand that all this talk of apparel and statistical analysis may mean that there are literally no readers still reading this, but if there is an exception, I would suggest that you labour on, for today I discovered what I can only describe as the jewel of Cornwall!! Barry, who I met along the path, told me that there is no better example of a Cornish fishing village anywhere. After walking quickly through it, I have to agree. True, there are in Polperro, one or two genuflections to the tourist dollar, but the overall impression of the village is one of complete authenticity. Cars are not even allowed into the village and need to park well away in a pay and display carpark. The place has a nineteenth century atmosphere and, by any standards, it is romantically beautiful, particularly in the dark atmospheric conditions of today.

Barry was the only long distance walker that I met on the path today. After a brief introduction, he told me, “I lost my wife to cancer a few years ago. We used to walk together and now I walk and remember her.” His process is different to mine. He bought a camper van and parks it in the middle of a couple of coastal paths and does circular walks back to the van, a logical and economical alternative. 

That said, I prefer my process. Tonight, I’m experiencing a brand new B&B, with a young couple who have obviously just opened for business. The heating doesn’t work (so my squelchy shoes won’t dry). There were no towels or soap; not even a teaspoon for my tea, but they are a delightful young couple, appalled at the inadequacies and determined to do better.That’s fine for me!

As I entered Looe (pronounced "Loo") this evening, I noticed a fleet of boats featuring glass bottoms! I must refer my sole remaining reader to a post I blogged way back in 2011, in which I advised one Donald Trump to invest in a fleet of glass-bottomed boats to ply the Union Canal between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

LEJOG Day 72

Little could I have guessed that the glass-bottomed boat idea would blossom in Looe in Cornwall and that seven years later, having scorned my idea, Donald Trump would be President of the USA!,

Fowey in the mist from the ferry this morning

The woman or man in this Coast Watch station waved at me as I passed. I was no doubt the only moving object she or he could see!

I know just what this tree feels like!

Clearly a smuggler's den! My guidebook agreed!

Almost no visibility. No point in vista pictures

A clarifying little waterfall!

Barry, the only other.  long-distance walker on the path today. (he looks uncannily like me!)

A Dartmoor pony for Veronica. Totally untroubled by the conditions

Troubled seas

An imminent cliff collapse along the path. The authorities have not yet noticed it. Beware!

Whitebells gracing the way for mile after mile, fading into the fog

The beautiful harbour of Polperro

Pirates be here!

A classic Cornish fishing village street. Beautiful!

Shells on the exterior of a house

Shell House, but not as I knew it!

Call a spade a spade!

At last a serious diversion after days without one

Yours truly identifies an OS issue! The marker on the left defines the OS grid reference in situ for a place named "Horse Stone", whereas, my mobile app, says it is "Hore Stone" at 1:25,000. I later confirmed the latter in a paper 1:50,000 OS map. Come on Ordnance Survey! Get your act together!

Still, the cloud base glowers!

St George's Island (or Looe Island). Of course, both are true. This is Cornwall!

Looe Harbour

One of the glass-bottomed fleet!!!