Tuesday 19 May 2026

Day 26 of walking
Porthleven to The Lizard
Distance: 23.85kms
Total distance: 524.75kms
Climbing: 735m
Total climb: 17,007m

Today was a very windy day and by the time we reached The Lizard we were feeling quite battered. At times the wind gusts were up to 60km/hr. Leaving Porthleven there were large swells coming in and smashing against the quay. Going out past the clock tower we had to run the gauntlet of waves crashing over the wall onto the road. This part of the coast is prone to huge seas and there are fantastic videos on line of waves crashing over the clock tower.

A short distance up the coast is Loe Bar. This is a shingle bar that separates a fresh water lake, known as the Loe, from the sea. It is Cornwall’s largest freshwater lake and was formed about 800 years ago when the River Cober was dammed by the shingle bar. We could walk across the bar today but in 2018 we had to walk a diversion as the path was closed. Large earthmoving machinery were digging a trench across the bar to lower the level of the lake. The diversion was 8km around the edge of the lake. A very nice walk in woodland but you don’t want to add 8km to an already demanding day.

Next point of interest was the church of St Winwaloe, also known as The Church of the Storms. St Winwaloe was an abbot who came from Brittany, France in the sixth century and founded the first sacred place on this site. There has been a church here since the 14^th century or earlier although storms have caused havoc and there have been many restorations by the community over the years. The church huddles behind the dunes at Gunwalloe and we huddled behind the church to shelter from the wind while we had our coffee break.

Just beyond Poldhu Cove is a monument to Guglielmo Marconi and his team who transmitted the very first message ever to cross the Atlantic by wireless. In 1901 a morse signal was sent from here and received in Newfoundland Canada. The signal consisted of a repetition of the Morse letter ‘s’ ie dot, dot, dot. The wireless station operated here from 1900 until 1933.

Yet another tiny fishing hamlet at Mullion Cove and a long stretch of very easy flat walking that took us inland away from the cliffs before Kynance Cove. The beach here is always in the list of top 10 beaches in Cornwall and probably England and the UK. It has several small white sand beaches among jagged rocky headlands, caves and stacks. Even on a windy day like today with huge seas on the coast, these beaches were calm. On a sunny day the water is a brilliant turquoise blue but sadly not on the overcast day today. The rocks are made of red and green serpentine stone. This cove is hugely popular in summer even though it is a steep 15 minute walk down from the car park. If you do a Google search of Kynance Cove you will see it at its best.

Between Kynance Cove and Lizard Point we turned off the Coast Path and walked into Lizard village where we are staying for the next two nights at The Caerthillian, a lovely blue and white painted house in the heart of the village. Lizard is not pretty, quaint or historical. It has a Bohemian feel to it with brightly painted houses and home-made sculptures on front lawns. Tomorrow we have a rest day here and will take the short walk down to Lizard Point and the lighthouse.

There aren’t many eating options in Lizard and we have flown half way round the world and walked 500 kilometres around the coast to eat Mexican at Chimichangas Tex Mex Street Food. We had loaded nachos with veggie bean chilli, nacho cheese, cheese, pico de gallo, jalapeno and sour cream. Also loaded burrito bowls with pulled pork and pineapple, rice, guacamole, pico de gallo, sweetcorn, nacho cheese, sour cream and homemade nachos. And it was damn good. Presa bueno.