Log No 262. Mon 3rd Mar 2014 - Newquay to St Agnes, 19 miles (3992 miles walked)

I had laid up in a car park in Newquay last night so I got an early start at 07.30, it was overcast and showery and not a good forecast for today but I am prepared for a lot of rain.


Walking round the sea front repairs were still underway on damaged sections of the sea wall.

Going past the harbour the Huer's Hut is up on the small headland overlooking Newquay Bay.
The Huer used the hut as a lookout when shoals of pilchards were due to arrive in the bay. On sighting them he would blow his horn to alert the fishermen and then use hand signals to enable the boats to encircle the shoals with their nets.

I continued by Fistral Beach then round East Pentire to the river The Gannel.

My luck was out with the tide today, at low water a footbridge is accessible over the river to Penpol but I could see no sign of it. I had to go further up stream to the next one.

A footpath went along the bank on the other side right round to Crantock Beach.

The rain had started in earnest now and the westerly wind had picked up again.

I was taking no chances today and wore 2 waterproof jackets.

The path went along the clifftop round the two headlands of Pentire Point West and Kelsey Head before dropping down to Holywell Beach.

The shortcut across the beach didn't come off because I couldn't get across the stream coming out of Holywell so I had to come inland a bit to use the footbridge.

After eating a sandwich in the shelter of some high dunes I climbed up again to get round Penhale and Ligger Points then right back down again to the long Perran Beach.

I stayed on the beach all the way into Perranporth, it was 12.35 and it had been raining constantly now for nearly 3 hours.

The walking had been easy again and with my destination of St Agnes only an hour or so away I decided to have an hours break in a cafe and had an All Day Breakfast and a pot of tea.

Up on the clifftops from Perranporth I was coming into the tin mining areas, the rocks of the cliff faces being full of colour.

I dropped down into Trevellas Coombe and went upstream past old mining chimneys and buildings before going up and over the final hill of the day into St Agnes.

It was 3 o'clock and it was 20 minutes before the bus came.

I got chatting to two men who were digging up the pavement at the bus stop, the one was from Paisley, Renfrewshire where we had lived for a few months and the other was a Cornishman who was living permanently in his camper on a piece of ground, he was saying some mice had moved in and he needed to get some traps set.

19 wet and easy miles.