Portreath to St Ives

17 September 2009 - Portreath to St Ives

Distance - 18 miles

Weather - Sunny

We stayed at - The Grey Mullet Guest House, 2 Bunkers Hill, St Ives, Cornwall, TR26 1LJ Cost - £60.00

There were already people out on the water surfing by the time we left Portreath. It was another glorious day and the sunlight playing on the water made me feel really joyous. Alistair made us pause for a moment as he wanted to take a photo of a couple of surfers that were doing really well, that is until he tried to take a photo! Finally after a lot of patience and probably just as much luck, he managed to get a photo of both of them riding the waves.

We then ascended up onto the cliff top and were soon viewing the spectacular scenery around Ralph's Cupboard. A little further on we saw a helicopter, the sound from which was really reverberating off the sides of the cliff. All credit to the pilot, as he got in really close to the cliff edge. Then a man descended out of the helicopter on a winch bearing a stretcher. As we stood watching the drama unfold, a guy walking his dog on the clifftop came over to speak to us. He explained that this was a training exercise they often carried out at this spot. He agreed with us that the pilot was very skilled to keep the chopper in the correct place and not to clip the cliff. I've posted a picture of the action, even though it's a bit blurry.

After a while we gradually descended from the cliffs down onto a beautiful sandy beach at Towans. Then finally inland along a scruffy road alongside the quay to Hayle, then more road walking to reach Lelant. It wasn't the most inspiring of walks, but at least Hayle had a cash machine. We stopped at a pub at Lelant for some lunch, then made our way back to the coast path, with the railway line a constant companion until we reached St Ives. The houses that lined the path from Carbis Bay to St Ives were rather nice and must have cost their owners a bob or two.

We had a lovely evening in St Ives taking the time to catch up with my uncle and his wife. The town was really busy, but we managed to get a table and some food in a lively pub on the seafront. It was quite late by the time we got back to our lodgings at the Grey Mullet Guest House - probably the first time we've ever had to use the after hours key!