Thursday 21 May 2026

Day 27 of walking
Lizard to Coverack
Distance: 19.32km
Total distance: 544.07km
Climbing: 699m
Total climb: 17,706m

On a clear day you can see forever, but not today. When we left this morning Lizard was shrouded in mist. Austin and Linda at the Caerthillian said it would burn off but it was not to be. Back down at Lizard Point we could barely see the lighthouse but sure could hear its sound. Every thirty seconds a blast. It was very directional though. In bed last night I could hear it faintly but down on the coast on the seaward side of the lighthouse it was very loud. Apparently they typically emit a specific. rhythmic pattern that allows sailors to identify which lighthouse they are hearing.  This lighthouse was not a deep low frequency groan but more of a high pitch whistle.

The South West Coast Path Association says ‘this is a section of cliffs and coves, punctuated by headlands giving excellent views along the coastline. Here and there are areas of sandy beach at the foot of the cliffs’. This could well be true, we will never know. All day we hardly knew we were on the coast. The mist rolled in off the sea, up the cliffs and across the meadows. At least there was no wind or rain today and it was warmer for that.

From Lizard we passed the murky outlines of the lighthouse, Lizard Wireless Station (another site of Marconi’s pioneering work in wireless telegraphy) the Lloyds Wireless Station and the Bass Point Coastguard Watch. At the Watch the volunteer opened his window for a brief chat, mainly about the weather. I think we were the first walkers he had seen this morning.

We passed the new RNLI life boat station. This has a building at road level, a cable car down to the boat house and then a long slipway that disappeared into the mist but presumably went into the sea. We did see the dramatic collapsed cave called The Devil’s Frying Pan, This has a narrow hole through the rock with a narrow land bridge over it. Then the tiny fishing village of Cadgwith, a collection of lobster pots, fishing floats and boats clustered around a single pub. This village had a very high proportion of cottages with thatched roofs.

From Cadgwith we soon came to the ruins of the Serpentine works, a once-thriving Victorian serpentine rock factory. The Lizard area is the largest outcrop of serpentine in Britain. It is part of the earth’s mantle which would normally be about 20km below the surface. The rock has streaks of blue, green and red, reminiscent of a snake’s skin giving the rock its name. Local sculptors still carve ornaments from the colourful rock. The only beach we crossed today was at Kennack Sands which had the usual surf hire shop, cafe, life guard, car park and toilets.

From the beach it was fairly easy walking on low cliffs. The mist lifted for a while and then descended again. Just before reaching Coverack we had two options, both official Coast Path routes. The first was to continue around the coast, the second was to go inland and through a sculpture garden. The coast wasn’t offering anything today so we went the inland route. The Terence Coventry Sculpture Park is set in three small meadows surrounded by trees and with an outlook over the coast. It is a free sculpture park and celebrates Coventry’s life as an artist and as a rural farmer. There are about 25 large works in metal and stone representing rooks, owls, swallows, bulls, cows, horses, dogs, as well as people. It is a beautiful, quiet, peaceful setting, such a contrast to the dramatic rugged coastline.

Tonight we are in Coverack at the Fernleigh B & B. On arrival Anne made us a fresh pot of coffee and some home made lemon drizzle cake. In our room were also home made chocolate cookies. It is yet another of those nice little Cornish fishing villages going about its business without the crass commercialism of some others. There is a little harbour with boats sheltered behind a tall stone quay wall, a cafe, a community grocery store, a gift shop, fish and chip shop and a lovely pub called the Paris Hotel, named after a liner that ran aground here.

We had dinner in the Paris Hotel. Barbara: 5 bean chilli with rice, homemade tortilla chips and fresh salsa, Paul: chicken Shawarma, marinated chicken, flat bread, tzarziki hummus. vegetables, fresh salsa, jalapenos and fries. We stayed in this hotel last time and loved it. It is on a low point right by the sea and eight years ago as we ate dinner a pod of dolphins swam by.

Overall today was another good day despite the white out. No rain, no wind and warm enough. Late in the afternoon the mist had gone and it was a beautiful warm, sunny evening. We felt good after our day off in Lizard. Having rounded Land’s End and Lizard we now have a lot more woodland, hedgerows, flowers and a feeling you are not quite as exposed to the elements.

Coverack to Mawnan Smith is going to be a fun day, so don’t go away folks, stick around and come back tomorrow.

Extra:

In the last little while we have seen signs like: The Western most point in England, the Southern most point in Great Britain, the best crab sandwich in the British Isles, the prettiest beach in the United Kingdom etc. So what do these place names actually mean?

United Kingdom – a political sovereign country made up of England Scotland Wales and Northern Island (but not the Republic of Ireland – a separate country).

The British Isles is a geographical term for a group of over 6,000 islands including England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, The Republic of Ireland, and Crown Dependencies (Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey).

Great Britain is England, Scotland, Wales and their associated islands – but not Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.

Britain is just a shortened version of Great Britain.

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are distinct constituent countries making up the sovereign state of the United Kingdom.