We decided on a very fair morning with cloudless skies to take ourselves off to the North Coast to Crackington Haven where we had not been before. A very pleasant drive to get there through some pretty countryside. The tide was in when we arrived so no beach to be seen, and the sky had clouded over, but a very atmospheric cove it was. I had seen a walk on the NT site which indicated it was ‘3 miles moderate’, the IWalkCornwall site said ‘4.3 miles moderate-strenuous’, and a book of walks we have in the car said ‘5 miles moderate-strenuous with some difficult bits’!! I set out on the walk without F. who decided it would be a bit much, and I can confirm now that the latter description fits the bill. With my bad knees it was strenuous, very very up and down.

The compensation however was that the views were amazing….back towards Crackington Haven with gorse framing the picture (always in bloom in Cornwall they say)………

and forwards towards Tintagel where I counted at least 10 headlands in view….

The path was eroded in places and repairs were under way and this necessitated some zigzagging. The path was also quite ‘exposed’ in places, necessitating me to lean inland, as I am not great with heights. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed my walk to what is called ‘The Strangles’.

Some quite spectacular mushrooms were in evidence, and I know from seeing pictures that there are many many wildflowers in evidence in Spring and onwards, so I must return….

Apparently too this is quite a spectacular place for geologists and there were certainly some interesting views of the eroded cliffs. The Soay sheep which live in these parts were nowhere to be seen, however.

My return leg started with a longish downhill stretch to end up in the picturesque Ludon Valley where I followed the stream enjoying various little cataracts along the way through Autumnal splendour back to my starting point.

There, having joined forces with F. again, I was more than ready for my pint and we adjourned to the Coombe Barton Inn, and a very warm welcome we had there. It seemed excellent all round including the ale, the location, the view and the charming lady in charge.

We decided to drive back along the coast and we had a little tour around Tintagel. No time for an exploration of the National Trust Post Office which is famous or the castle which we saved for another time. But we had a very favourable impression indeed of the place itself which was bigger than expected and surprisingly unspoilt>