Post AGM blues meant only one
thing, a spontaneous trip to North Cornwall! We stayed in Tintagel campsite
near the famous castle, which we didn’t visit in the end. Nevertheless we made
the most of the sunniest weekend to date in 2014.
Saturday saw James, Tom and I
walk from Tintagel to Rock along the stunningly beautiful South West Coast Path,
the boating to Padstow, renamed Ladstow forevermore. The day started cloudy but
improved dramatically as we made swift progress along the surprisingly
undulating cliff path. The only interruptions were small, out-on-a-limb, inlet
villages with a typical Cornish atmosphere, selling pasties and
Cornish ice cream. The latter of the two we simply could not resist. The 20
mile walk was a mixture of flat, cliff top bimbling and steep
climbing/descending, usually on steps. This added up to over 1600m of total
ascent, which although confirmed by UKH and the footpath website, is still very
dubious. As we neared the final headland, we picked up the pace in the hope of
reaching Rock by 5.30 as this was the last ferry crossing time to Padstow. We
ended up sprinting along the beach (no mean feat in walking boots) the final
few hundred yards to the boat which, to our horror, began to pull away as we
were a mere few metres away. The captain was nice though and we managed to get
to Padstow for a wonderful but frightfully expensive portion of Rick Stein’s
fish and chips; for this price I’d expect the man to squeeze the lemon
and salt the chips himself! The day was by no means over however, as we had
to find a way back to Tintagel. This involved getting a bus 1/3 of the way and
attempting to hitch-hike the rest. After a good 40 minutes of arm knackering
thumbs upping, our faith in humanity was restored when a very generous lady
picked us up and drove us a large part of the way.
Helen and Errol ran to Polzeath
and got the bus back and the climbers had a great day in Roches, which
apparently has a building incorporated into the rock-face. Lots of people got some good leads done and Hugo managed a coastal, circular run in the Ladstow area.
The next day was even more
stunning weather-wise and we decided to pack up and walk from Widemouth Bay up
the coast to Bude and back along Bude canal. This gentle 8km walk provided a
nice bit of rest bite from the previous day, with the sun kissed beaches and emerald
green fields inland providing the perfect backdrop for some picture postcard
photos. The afternoon was spent relaxing on the beach, cooking, swimming and
generally being battered by the tall and subtly overpowering Atlantic surf.
After much smash, couscous and pate we reluctantly headed back to Bristol with superb views of Dartmoor.
Thanks a lot to everything who
made this trip so amazing: The two Emilys, Helen, Tom, Hugo, James, Thom, Errol
and Pippa!
The Rock to Padstow ferry
Coastal path to Bude
The gang!
Relaxing on Widemouth Beach
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