Sunday 17 May 2026

Day 24 of walking
Porthcurno to Penzance
Distance: 20.71km
Total distance: 482.09km
Climbing: 642m
Total climbing: 15,688m

Now that we have rounded Land’s End the climate and flora have changed. We are now walking in an easterly direction and not exposed to the weather coming across the Atlantic Ocean. It could be described as sub-tropical. There are still exposed rocky headlands to cross, small sandy coves below and areas of huge boulders but mostly we were walking through vegetation so lush it sometimes formed a tunnel, woodland of stunted oaks, and the wild flowers are back after having gone awol for at least a week.The first place of interest was the tiny fishing village of Penberth which is entirely free of tourists and it seems we are an intrusion on the fishermen living and working there. There is a now disused 19^th century capstan which was used to haul boats up onto the beach.

After climbing another headland it was a descent to the forested valley of St Loy. This would be the greenest, lushest valley we have seen so far. The path goes right to the beach and there is about 100 metres of walking over large stones. Off shore was a Coast Guard boat that seemed to come and check out a fishing boat. The fishing boat was back and forward across the bay with a flock of sea birds in tow. Next was the lighthouse of Tater-Du. This is a fairly new structure built in 1965 and has never been manned, it was automated from the start, and so there are no adjacent keepers accommodation or support buildings. Tater-Du is Cornish for ”black loaf”, after the rocks below.

After the lighthouse is the privately owned hamlet of Lamorna. There is a café serving ice creams, coffees, teas, cakes, pasties, toasties and soup. It is a popular place as a lot of day walkers come over the headlands from the nearby Mousehole. We each bought an apple pie with Cornish clotted cream, to go. At the top of the next headland we sat on the grass in the shelter of a boulder and that was our lunch. Earlier we had stopped for our “coffee from a flask” at a memorial to a tragedy in 1981 when the cargo ship Union Star and the lifeboat Solomon Browne were wrecked on the cliff below in hurricane force winds. All the crew on both ships perished, a total of 16 men. North Devon and Cornwall have always been dangerous waters for seamen. In the area around Land’s End alone there are 149 recorded wrecks.

Mousehole (pronounced “mowzell”) is exactly the romantic notion of what a Cornish fishing village should look like. The name possibly comes from the Cornish mouz hel, or Maiden’s Brook, or maybe because the entrance to the harbour is so narrow that getting through it is like trying to sail through a mouse hole. Whatever, it is perfectly picturesque with a high quay wall, sheltered harbour full of small boats, surrounding stone cottages, narrow winding streets, old inns and tiny shops. It was a former pilchard fishing village but now has an overwhelming influx of tourists.

Just along the road is the real working fishing village of Newlyn which refuses to turn itself into a nostalgia trip for the benefit of tourists. It is gritty and grimey and is the largest fishing port in England. When we were in Lisbon two years ago we learnt a lot about the earthquake of 1755 that destroyed most of the city. The earthquake caused a tsunami to strike the Cornish coast, 970km from the epicentre. In Newlyn the sea rose 3 metres in 10 minutes and ebbed at the same rate. More trivia: Newlyn was the last port of call in England (for water and supplies) for the Mayflower before setting off for America.

Tonight we are in Penzance at The Longboat Inn, another nice old pub and hotel. Walking into Penzance there was a shower of rain and as we didn’t want to go out again tonight, we went into an Aldi superstore and each bought a super processed factory meal. They each have over 60 ingredients, most of which you have never heard of, and a best by date in about 2 years. Barbara’s was a Raku Smoky Chicken Salad and mine was a Raku Chicken Shawarma Salad. You can see the ingredients list in the photo.

Last time we were in Penzance we had an extra day and went out to St Michael’s Mount in Mount Bay. This is a great place to visit. At high tide you go out or back in a little ferry, at low tide you can walk across a stone causeway. This time however we move on tomorrow, so no time to go out there again.

PS we haven’t seen any pirates in Penzance yet. Penzance must hate Gilbert and Sullivan.