Friday 1 May 2026

Day 11 of walking
Morwenstow to Bude
Distance: 14.94km
Total distance: 223.40km
Climbing; 634m
Total climb: 6941m

Today we awoke to Mowenstow shrouded in mist but by the time we had finished breakfast it had all disappeared. The Bush Inn is 1km inland off the path so we had to retrace our steps of yesterday back to the coast. First highlight was Hawker’s Hut. This is a tiny hut on a steep cliff built by the Rev Robert Stephen Hawker as a lookout to warn ships of the dangers of navigation. It is built entirely of timber salvaged from ship wrecked boats. He also entertained literary friends in the hut and wrote essays and no doubt sermons. Hawker became vicar of St Morewenna and John the Baptist in 1834 and was something of an eccentric. He wore colourful clothes, sometimes dressed as a mermaid and excommunicated his cat for mousing on a Sunday. He was also extremely compassionate and introduced the practice of giving the bodies of shipwrecked sailors a Christian burial. Previously they had been allowed to bob around in the ocean for days and couldn’t be buried in the church cemetery because it was not known if they were Christians. Along this coast over 150 ships have been wrecked between Morwenstow and Bude. At his funeral mourners wore purple instead of black.

Visible just about all day was the enormous site of GCHQ Bude. GCHQ stands for Government Communications Head Quarters. This is a UK Government high security satellite ground station and “eavesdropping” centre monitoring global communications. This site focuses on collecting data from satellites and intercepting data and voice traffic from communication networks. It was secure behind security cameras, two layers of high fence with razor wire. It definitely gave the impression you were being watched and listened to. The large dishes were visible as we left Morwenstow and we can still see them from outside our guest house window in Bude.

Today was a relaxed day. The wind had blown itself out and it was a nice calm day. Cloudy and cool at first but sunny and hot by the time we reached Bude. There were another 5 valleys to descend and ascend and the first three were just as steep as yesterday but they tapered off a bit as we approached Bude. The last two valleys also had vehicle access and toilets. The first, Duckpool, had a seasonal café in a caravan (The Hedgerow) and the second at Sandymouth had a substantial permanent café. We did all the difficult walking comfortably and the last few kilometres were easy over gently undulating grassy meadows. The high cliffs and jagged rocks stretching out to sea have now given way to vast golden sandy beaches and surfers.

We stopped a couple of kilometres short of Bude at Crooklets Beach to have lunch at Rosie’s Kitchen. It was 1pm and we had time to fill in before we could check in at 3pm. We also stopped here 8 years ago for lunch. For those who want to know Barbara had Moroccan Mezze Salad with falafel, chef’s spiced hummus, toasted ciabatta, pickled pink cabbage, house salad, spiced toasted chick peas and chicken  and I had Taco Salad with crispy cos lettuce, avocado, beef tomatoes, grilled corn, jalapenos, tortilla nacho croutons, paprika ranch dressing and chicken. Delicious and very filling. We will just have some scratch food in our room from the supermarket for dinner. After going to the supermarket we had a couple of items to buy. Barbara wanted some lip balm as walking in the wind is not good on the lips, and the other day I stepped on my sunglasses and broke them. They sort of worked when patched up with dressing tape from the first aid kit but they could no longer be folded flat. Sunglasses vary in price from several hundred pound in upmarket shops, cycle shops etc., down to about 6 pounds in shops that sell all that sea side tat. I bought the latter as chances are I will stand on them as well.

Bude is a compact little seaside town with plenty of charm and character and a wonderful beach – Summerleaze. As well as the beach it has a large sea pool built in 1930, a man-made tidal saltwater swimming pool. It provides a safe place for people to go sea swimming as we have seen a few signs on the beach warning of rips. Bude has a small castle built in 1830 and surrounded by water from the canal.

Bude canal was dug to transport mainly sand inland to be spread on the land to improve the poor soil in North Cornwall. The original scheme was for a 90 mile canal connecting the Bristol Channel with the English Channel. 35 miles of canal were in operation by 1823 but with the coming of the railway, canal use gradually declined. There is a short section that has been prepared and is quite pretty. We will have a close look at it on our way out of Bude tomorrow morning.