Friday 29 May 2026

Day 34 of walking
Polpero to Portwrinkle
Distance: 23.70 km
Total distance: 677.46 km
Climbing: 835 m
Total climb: 22,641 m

Today was a disjointed sort of day from a mental perspective, with a surprising twist at the end. It seemed odd to be going back to where we were two days ago in Polpero and walking to where we were this morning in Looe. It is much more satisfactory each day if you just keep going forward.

Our 9am taxi arrived 10 minutes early, it was a quick trip to Polpero and we were ready to walk at 9.05. Polpero was a different place. Almost deserted, just a few people checking out of their accommodation. Other than in winter, Polpero is a very popular tourist destination. Coach loads of visitors are dropped off at a car park further up the valley and streams of people walk down to the harbour. The village does not disappoint, it is just so picturesque and provides, cafes, inns, shops and a Heritage Museum of Smuggling and Fishing.

We didn’t hang around in Polpero, we were on a mission. After a climb up out of the harbour it was easy walking to the first beach of the day Talland Beach. This was once dubbed the ‘Playground of Plymouth’ in the 19^th century due to its popularity with day tripping Victorian city dwellers. It had a few beach huts for day hire and there was a church high on a hill above the beach where you could learn bell ringing. A further easy walk and St George’s Island (aka Looe Island) came into view. About twice a year at very low tide you can walk across to the island. Then it is Hannafore Point and we are walking past the hotel we left about 2½ hours ago. In Looe we stopped to buy a cold Green Energise Super Smoothie. This stuff is magic, contains kiwi fruit, and is very refreshing.

It was now nearly midday and Looe was filling up so we moved on. This really was an easy walking day. The path was good, no steep climbs, walking across fields, a lot of lush vegetation, about 20° with a slight cooling sea breeze. The down side was that there was quite a lot of walking along public roads. They were all narrow, with no footpath or shoulder, but thankfully little traffic. We passed through Seaton which has a nice beach but no protection from the sun and ate our lunch in the only shade we could find – the bus shelter. At the next beach Downderry we were able to get off the road and walk for a couple of kilometres along the beach. A last climb up a headland beside farmland and we reached our destination, Portwrinkle. It has a tiny beach, a grand hotel, a golf course, a good café, a bus stop and a telephone booth.

Portwrinkle was not to be quite our destination. Our hotel was The Liscawn which was 1½ kilometres up Finnygook Road to Crafthole and then a further ½ kilometre along the B3427, both busy uphill roads with no shoulder. We eventually got to the address about 4.30pm and as we walked down the long drive way we began to recognise the place. We had stayed here in 2018 when it was called ‘The Little Fox’. It is a lovely old manor house, set in a large landscaped estate, parts dating from 1310, and we are in a separate beautiful barn building. We were met by a young man and when we said we had stayed here before, we learned something of the back story. The property, The Liscawn, was owned by his mother who ran it for many years but about 10 years ago decided to lease it out to tenants who called it The Little Fox. There were many problems between the owners and the tenants and after lengthy and expensive court cases the tenants were evicted. It is now run by mother and son again, both delightful people.

When we book our accommodation through Macs we ask for a twin room as a preference but a double is perfectly okay too. At The Liscawn we have a large room with double bed, ensuite, couch and desk, and an upstairs room in the attic with three single beds. A bit of overkill for two people. They have a bar and evening meals. We both had Keralan cauliflower and red pepper curry with white rice, poppadom and chutney. Divine, and nice sized servings. There are only 3 of us staying tonight, us and the young European lady we have met and talked with over the last four days. She finishes her walk in Plymouth tomorrow.

After our rest day in Looe we both felt great today, helped by the cooler temperatures, smooth surface of the path and the relatively easy terrain. Long may it continue.