Just Around the Corner

Down the river path from St Gluvius towards Flushing sun was glazing the water of the incoming tide as it swilled up the estuary towards Penryn Bridge. Spring, I thought, is just around the corner.

Summer Still October

naturalised red-hot pokers, St Mawes

St Just in Roseland churchyard

Pasco’s boatyard, St Just

view from the fields adjacent to the A3078 between St Just and St Mawes, looking across the Carrick Roaads towards Falmouth, Trefusis and Mylor

Bosloggas leat

Percuil Creek

parasol mushroom

October’s here. Let’s dress for the weather – you’ll need that scarf. Bright is the blue of sky and sea and creek; fat are the clots of cloud like overwhipped cream piled up over the inland sky and far dispersed to the distance over the coast. Too bright the colours; too sharp the shadows. Not yet the autumn glow

Malvern Spring

the north Malvern Hills from Herefordshire Beacon

Travelling northbound on the M5 the long ridge of the Malverns looms close on the westward horizon: a line of undulating peaks like the back of a great geological beast embedded in the land running North-South along the Worcestershire-Herefordshire border. One day, while wandering through the livestock exhibits of the Three Counties Show in Great Malvern right at the feet of the hillss Cee looked up and saw people walking along the top of the ridge and decided she wanted a go. Ok, I said, let’s do it. When do you want to go?

Blue May

St Anthony Head, Fal Estuary

forget-me-nots

Black Hill, Herefordshire

English bluebell

speedwell

ravens and seagulls, Kiberick Cove

spring squill

common violets

Bream Cove, Falmouth

green alkanet

Coastlining 24: Newquay – Porthcothan

Date: Wednesday 25th June 2014     Distance walked: 12 miles      Total distance: 230 miles

Bedruthan Steps

After two weeks of glorious Cornish sunshine, clear skies and temperatures well into the twenties I finally returned to the coast path. I spent five days visiting family, one day back at work, one day at home to do many loads of washing and hoover up the depositional end of my walking boot coastal erosion up off my bedroom floor, then seven days in a row at work in sundresses and sandals being mocked by my colleagues for my ridiculous sock line. Three days off in a row. We all know what that means: the weather’s going to break.

Coastlining 23: Perranporth – Newquay

Date: Tuesday 10th June 2014    Distance walked: 10 miles      Total distance: 218 miles

Perranporth

It rained on the way up to Perranporth from Truro. Annie tried to talk me out of going. She was opting out, her hip still playing up after turning her ankle yesterday on St Agnes Head. She suggested a movie day but I’d got it into my head that I was going to get as far as Newquay during my time off work and I wasn’t feeling too worn out to keep going. I told her to keep Luna at home rather than send her out with me again, the poor beast was looking, well, dog tired for want of a better turn of phrase. And then the heavens opened.

Coastlining 19: Pendeen – St Ives

Date: Thursday 5th June 2014     Distance walked: 14 miles     Total distance: 178.5 miles

 

heath spotted orchid

Chypraze

Down into a stream-cut cleft and over the first footbridge of many, crossing a cascading rock-and-plant-filled rill cutting down from the fields and Penwith moors above me and dropping away to my left and down into Portheras Cove. Once up and out there was a view of what was to be the lay of the land for the day: Gurnard’s Head the furthest visible point of land sticking out into the sea in the distance beyond the nearer bulkhead of Chypraze Cliff. I was heading east, and will be from here on in for the best part of the north coast. Fourteen miles of what was promised to be part of the most severe and least populated stretch of the Cornish coastline lay between me and my destination of St Ives.