Monday 25 May 2026

Day 31 of walking
Portloe to Mevagissey
Distance: 21.48 km
Total distance: 620.76 km
Climbing: 866 m
Total climb: 20, 473 m

Today was another hot day, ‘23°feels like 24°’. We handled the whole day a lot better than yesterday. Energiser bunny Shane obviously knew Coast Path walkers. She had breakfast ready at 7.30am and us delivered back down to the coast by 8.10am. A nice early start compared to 10am yesterday. It helped that today all the steep climbs on uneven boulder strewn paths were in the morning and the path got flatter and easier all day. I had my water better organised and got through 2½ bottles today compared to 1 yesterday. We also spaced out our stops more evenly and made sure they were in the shade.

Two other better things today. At Gorran Haven for lunch, we bought ham sandwiches, more water and large smoothies (Barbara: green vigour, Paul: berry crush). We sat in the shade of a very  crowded beach. The tide was coming in and the beach was getting smaller and smaller as the beach goer numbers got larger and larger. The smoothies absolutely hit the spot for two hot sweaty walkers. We had our swimming togs with us today and had been looking for a place to swim. Gorran Haven was just too busy.

We had seen many beaches today and in the afternoon were looking for one not too crowded. At Chapel Cove we found our beach. No public vehicle access so almost empty. A sheltered little cove, a bit stoney getting in and out of the water but sandy further out. The water temperature was okay and it was so refreshing, kept us cool for the last 5 kilometres into Mevagissey.

The first two hamlets today were the tiny West and East Portholland. We were hoping to buy a cold drink but neither had a café. The next hamlet Porthluney Cove did have a café but it didn’t open

until 11am. We did make use of their tables and shade to have our Kleen Kanteen and some bananas Shane had given us for the day. Portluney Cove has the estate of Caerhays Castle which is supposed to be gorgeous with fabulous gardens and daily guided tours. It was designed by architect John Nash who designed Buckingham Palace and much of Regency London. There was then the biggest and hottest climb of the day to Dodman Point which has a large stone cross erected in 1896 as a navigation aid.

After our swim as we neared Mevagissey the walk was on sealed roads. Mevagissey is the archetypal Cornish fishing village. It is a bustling working harbour and is named after two saints, Meva and Issey. It is one of the highlights of the whole Cornish Coast and today being a bank holiday was teaming with people. It is a very sheltered harbour but thank goodness cruise ships can’t get anywhere near the place.

Our accommodation tonight is The Mandalay Hotel. You know it’s going to be a tiring end to the day when the hotel is located 1 to 2 kilometres from the centre of the village and the directions are to go up Church Hill Road and then up School Hill Road. Be wary of any address with Hill or Cliff in it! This hotel gets the award so far, for being the least charming we have stayed at. No one in reception, just a sign to phone Tina at such and such a number. Tina will say: you are in room 11, your bags are in the foyer, breakfast is at 8am. Our room would normally be quite nice with a large glazed curved bay window, but it faces the afternoon sun, has only two small opening sashes, soaks up all the sun’s heat and is unbearably hot. A call to Tina elicited the information that there was a fan in the corridor we could use. In fact the fan was under the stairs in the foyer but at least it is now making the room almost liveable.