Today is a long day but the first 7.5 miles of it involves going around Mounts Bay and through Penzance on tarmac and cycle path to Marazion. Many people take this by bus but we are too hardcore for that...
We leave our accomodation for the last 5 days - The Old Coastguard Hotel at Mousehole - highly recommended!
Chris has left so we are down to one companion, Martin, but Martin has two friends who live in Penzance who become our tour guides for the morning - Justin and (his dog) Eric! 😀
Newlyn is one of the last actual real working fishing ports in Cornwall. Terrible tales about how the fish gets caught, shipped and generally handled makes me wonder how it is worth it but it is a good place and we see its name in a lot of restaurants and cafes - it couldn’t get much fresher...
The path through Penzance is on pavement and promenade. Penzance doesn’t draw the same crowds as the rest of this part of Cornwall but I don’t find it an unpleasant place - and the people are very friendly.
This is the amazing Jubilee Swimming pool. It was pretty much washed into the sea and closed for the whole of 2015. It is a sea water pool before the harbour at Penzance - also called the Lido (not lilo apparently!). No-one is braving it today yet however but there is a very friendly cafe there too for a quick caffeine and raspberry Bakewell fix.
St Michael’s Mount is the dominant landmark around here which is mentioned in some of the first documentation of Cornwall from a Greek historian in 1st century. It is related to Mont St Michel in Normandy. Today I am loving the two kite surfers you can see in the picture racing backwards and forwards.
The coolest thing about it, IMHO, and what makes it so defensible, is the walkway that makes it accessible only by foot during low tide.
So when we first see it the only way is by boat and then later the causeway reveals itself...
We push on to the low cliffs and away from Marazion. It starts raining with persistent drizzle which, coupled with the 35mph gusts, means it is very difficult to see anything around the bay now.
The coastline here feels lush and much greener.
There are lots of coves with winches and boats. A lot of smuggling went on around here. We make it to Prussia Cove, which is named after the King of Prussia Inn that was here - the family who ran it where called Carter (I think I knew some of their descendants at school), who are famous smugglers in this area. They had operations of such scale that they had a small battery of guns to ward off customs men. In 1979 they busted a smuggling racket worth £3m of marijuana. Seems pretty quiet today...
This is Praa Sands which we walk through - pausing only for a quick sausage butty for lunch. In the summer this is mobbed but that seems like a long way away today. Still an amazing spot...
The views are still great even though the wind it trying its best to make us unwelcome
The coves look nice and the rock is ever fascinating but the rips and the currents are highly treacherous here, even in nice weather.
We make it to Porthleven - a harbour built by the French prisoners from Napolonic wars. It is left over from the pilchard fisherman but it seems to have a load of fantastic culinary outlets which I have no time to explore - I will definitely be back.
Possibly the most elaborate cup of tea I have ever had...
Apparently, sometimes the storms are so big here that the waves make it over the harbour walls and wreck the boats anyway.
Time to say goodby to our last companion for this week and catch the bus back to Marazion and our lodging.
