My inaugural walk for my new ambition to travel the length of the South West Coast Path in England started in the old village of Perranuthnoe, in the middle of the southern coast of Cornwall on Christmas Eve Day.
Why Perranuthnoe? No particular reason other than it was close to the B&B. No long analysis about being in the middle of the area, about what segment I intend to cover. I went in quite blind, with very little planning other than hearing of the existence of the hiking trail and being 630 miles long.
Highlights:
– Perranuthnoe is a charming tiny village. Visited the church while someone was practicing the organ, presumably for the Christmas mass that night. Victoria Inn is supposedly one of the oldest inns.
– An unexpected highlight in Perranuthnow is the Cabin Cafe, on the road down to the beach. The cabin is literally that, a rectangular building that is two-thirds kitchen, one third dining space. Orders are made on the outside, the side of the building with an open counter, not unlike the beach food stalls. The cabin is surrounded by a large lawn picnic space for the larger fair weather crowds. It’s a family-run enterprise, focused on simple fare such as sandwiches, pudding, soups and drinks. Service is extra friendly and it feels like a community gathering place with people greeting each other and catching up for the holidays.
– The view of St Michael’s Mount as I approached Trebarvah Cliff. I happened to look back down at the beach as the clouds separated and the sun shined down. As mentioned, I had not read up any background and had no idea it was the St Michael Mount at that time. Just awestruck.
-At the same time, the view of Perranuthnoe with its hilltop church standing out in the same view.
– The caves in Piskies and Little Cudden. I was *so* tempted to clamber down and check them out. I almost missed them.. it wasn’t until I climbed out to Little Cudden point that I saw the huge caves on both sides. The cliffs were so steep it would be easy to miss them if not looking at the right angle. This is home to one of the famous smuggling operations led by John Cater, “King of Prussia”, active in the late 1700s.
– The old fishing huts in Prussia Cove. My question is how and why the hell did they build fishing huts on the top of a cliff?
The walk to the west of Perranuthnoe curved around a beautiful rocky point that offers a nice sunset view, weather providing, but otherwise was a easy but dull stroll between fields with an approaching view of St. Michael Mount.
Tally:
Miles walked: 8.6, two loops, with Perranuthnoe as base.
End points of SWCP reached:
– N50 06.105 W5 24.949 and
– N50 07.164 W5 27.468
Weather: Cloudy, gusty winds on occasion, sun breaking out
Conditions: Oi. So muddy… I now see why wellies are so common
2011-12-24 SWCP: Perranuthnoe
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