It was the 30th Annual Walk for the St Luke’s Hospice this year and we had a group of 87 (including 25 people walking with us for the first time) to celebrate the fact. The start was different this year, no 6:30am at the Hospice to meet the coach – St Ives is a long way away and too far for a comfortable coach journey. Approximately half of our number descended on Paddington Station and boarded the 10:02 GWR service bound for Penzance. Our stop was St Erth where we were met by a very patient coach driver (who had waited patiently as the train was an hour late) who took us to our accommodation which was the Tregenna Castle for 4 nights – wonderful views over St Ives. For the train travellers, the first part of the “challenge” was to survive the train journey where there was no effective buffet service due to a crowded train!! .
The remainder of our party had driven down, some splitting the journey over a couple of days and perhaps visiting one of the National Trust properties on route.
All were united in time for evening dinner and preparation for the following day’s walking.
Day 2 began hazy with sea mists. After a quick breakfast, we boarded the coaches and set off for our various drop off points. By now the mists had cleared. The more energetic (aka the ultras) were dropped off at the edge of Padstow to begin the 16 mile walk to Mawgan Porth. One of our new walkers completed the route in record time as he wanted to get to the pub at the end in time to watch the football!
The remaining two drop offs were hindered by the bank holiday traffic, but we were able to de-coach eventually at Harlyn Bay. Immediately, we headed along the beach for about 400 yards. During this time, the author felt considerably over dressed in his walking boots compared to the other beach occupants – these included swimmers, surfers and paddle boarders. We then ascended to the cliff top and continued along past the lighthouse at Trevose Head and past the aptly named Round Hole before descending to Treyarnon. Then it was across the beach before ascending again for more cliff top walking with clear skies and fantastic views. Another descent into Porthcothan, another popular beach before climbing to cliff top again and following the path round via the NT site at Carnewas before arriving at the Merrymoor Arms at Mawgan Porth for some end of day refreshment. Well, I say end of day, some of our group still had the energy for a nice cooling swim in the sea.
Day 3 dawned warmer with no mist. We started the day south of Newquay, with the ultras being dropped off at Crantock Bay where they made their way along the cliffs before descending to walk through the sand dunes to Holywell Bay, which was the next start point. Having passed Penhale Point and Ligger Point, we arrived at the
“quiet end” of Perran Beach – quiet, because it’s a bit of a way from the car park!! Perran Beach is a lovely beach to walk along for around 2 miles, and it only gets busy as you get close to Perranporth. I say “walk along for around 2 miles” – well that depends on the tide!! Approximately half way along the 2 miles, there are a set of steps which take walkers off the beach and on to the cliff top. It was recommended that the walkers took these steps to avoid any issues with the tide. This recommendation was largely ignored however and whilst many of the walkers cleared the beach with no problem, a few of the later arrivals had wet feet and a couple of walkers had wet knees from the incoming tide!
Up again from Perranporth (are you starting to detect a pattern here?) and around Cligga Head (path a bit narrow here), continuing on the cliff top around St Agnes Head until we reach the remains of the Wheal Coates mine, a former tin mine which opened in 1802 and worked before closure in 1889. Many of the buildings remain including the engine house – this made for an interesting little break. Continuing along, we descended into Chapel Porth where there is a small refreshment hut. The owners were able to sell plenty of ice cream to the St Luke’s faithful!! One last ascent for the day before dropping down into Porthtowan where the walk ended at the Unicorn Inn. Here the author had a refreshing pint of lager as the pub didn’t have any real ale!!
Things hotted up again as we began day 4. For the ultras, the day started at Porthtowan where we had left off the previous day. After a couple of miles of cliff top walking, they arrived at Sally’s Bottom. When the author arrived at this point during the October recce, he was reminded of a novel by John Buchan, ‘The 39 steps’. Except in this case there are a lot more than 39, more like 78!! Many of these are knee high steps, not just your average step. Not only that, first you go down a set of steps, to immediately go up the opposite set of steps. Shortly afterwards, you have another “down and up” of a similar size. No wonder we left it to the ultras!! For the long distance walkers, we had a climb out of Portreath, but after that, the route was relatively flat. We passed the lighthouse at Godrevy Point where keen eyed observers spotted a couple of seals having a nice swim in the sea below. Bird watchers were rewarded with the sight of a pair of choughs and a couple of walkers caught sight of a juvenile adder.
As I said earlier, it was always going to be a hot day. As a result, a number of our stronger walkers opted to walk the shortest distance for the day. This meant that a number of them arrived at the end point by early afternoon. What were they going to do? The party mainly split into 2 groups, those who ordered taxis to return early to the hotel and those who had a nice long swim in the sea. There were also two walkers, who having decided to walk the shortest distance, then decided to walk the 6 miles from the pub to the hotel.
Day 5 dawned a bit cooler and after 3 days of following the coast path, we had an inland walk following St Michael’s Way from St Ives to Marazion. Part of this walk was through shady areas which was much appreciated. We passed Knill’s Monument, built by John Knill, the slightly eccentric mayor of St Ives and collector of customs from 1762 – 1782. We also passed the bowl rock, a large rock which according to Cornish legend was used in a game of bowls between two giants. We were greeted with periodic glimpses of St Michael’s Mount as we got closer to our end point for the day. Now the reputation of the St Luke’s Annual Walk has clearly spread far and wide and there at the end to shake our hands and present us with our medals, was none other than the mayor elect of Marazion. Many thanks to the kind gentleman for giving up his time for us. Anyway, we had time for a quick drink and a visit to the local Cornish pasty shop before departing. One coach took train travellers back to St Erth, the other taking car travellers back to their cars at the hotel, bringing an excellent few days to an end.
We would like to thank the hotel staff who were very friendly (although one confused employee did ask Angela if she was the tour rep) and also coach drivers who drove us safely through narrow and congested roads.
There is a committee of volunteers who recce the walks in advance, all at their own expense. On the walk itself, there are further volunteers who run the checkpoints – this year they dispensed lots of water and suntan location in addition to a supply of jelly babies and flapjacks.
The end goal of this walk is to raise much needed funds for St Luke’s – many thanks to all of our supporters. Monies are still being collected and counted at present, so it is not possible to share the amount raised at this time, but this will be communicated at a later date.
Report by John Harper. Photos Sara Reeves.