Falmouth to Portloe, 22 km,807 m climbing

‘It’s your road and yours alone, others may walk it with you, but no one can walk if for you’. Rumi

This morning we wanted to make sure we were on the first ferry over to St Mawes so we were down to the dining room at 7 am for breakfast. There were already ten people eating! No matter, we had plenty of time and in true Barbara style we were waiting on the wharf at 8.05 for an 8.30 sailing. It was an exciting start to the day, a 20 minute crossing of the Fal River estuary to the little village of St Mawes, on a passenger only ferry that would take maybe 50 people. There were eight of us on the first sailing. The ferry went incredibly slowly and I’m sure in my prime I could have kept up with it in my kayak.

The crossing was interesting, looking back on Falmouth and threading our way through hundreds of anchored pleasure boats. We had good views of the castle on Pendennis Point and the castle on St Mawes. The ferry entered a tiny stone wall lined harbour and let us off at a very slippery set of stone steps that seemed to reach up to the sky. There was a 10 minute wait for the summer time only ferry to take us to Place,which turned up at the same steps. This was a tiny boat, open, ie no cabin, and could take maybe 12 passengers if everyone was very friendly. It was less than 10 minutes to Place, which is not really a place. Place has a pontoon jetty, a large house and a church. That’s it. It is however the place that the South West Coast Path starts again on the north side of the Fal estuary.

We had a quick look in St Anthony’s Church. It is unusual in that it has a medieval cruciform plan. It is probably from the 12^th century but has been ‘restored’ a few times since then. The path took us around the estuary which was a beautiful way to start the day. It then went around St Anthony Head which has old gun emplacements, a lighthouse and views back to Pendennis Point and Falmouth. The rest of the morning was easy walking on a charming path over low cliffs with small sandy beaches and excellent views up and down the coast. There was one village, Portscatho, typical of this part of Cornwall. Once a fishing village that survived on the seemingly endless supplies of pilchard but now dependant on tourism.

It was sunny today and possibly the hottest we have experienced here. At Pendower Beach we found a shed being used as a small summer café and bought out the entire stock of apple juice, ie  four little 200 ml boxes. From here things got a little trickier. The low cliffs grew and grew until we had to climb the great promontory of Nare Head. The long sandy beaches were replaced by isolated and inaccessible rocky coves. From here the path became a bit kinder, not too severe ups and downs until we came to yet another pretty little fishing harbour, Portloe, which is where we are tonight. This village is tinier and even more tranquil than most. We are staying at the upmarket Lugger Hotel which has a lovely location on the water’s edge. We are not actually in the main hotel building but in a next door renovated boat house. This is very comfortable.

A maid has just knocked on the door and asked us if we wanted to have our beds turned down – I said no as Barbara was asleep on one – but she did leave us tomorrow’s weather forecast and two hot chocolates in tall glasses. We couldn’t afford to eat in the hotel restaurant (and didn’t have the appropriate clothes) so walked up the road to the village’s only pub, The Ship Inn. This is in fact the centre of life in Portloe and we had a great meal in there.

It was a slow 100 metre walk up the road, we are suffering from the effects of the high, steep cliffs this afternoon, and the heat. More of both are forecast for tomorrow.