North Walk: Bude to Crackington Haven

Sunday February 15th: Breakfast at the Inn on the Green commenced service at 8:30am - I was there at 8:31am. It was an open plan restaurant and kitchen similar to Hell's Kitchen, and as I stood wondering where to sit ( I was the only one there) - the rather terrifying looking lady chef shouted at the top of her voice "There's a man in" and then more specifically "a man on his own". She was really communicating with the young waitress who suddenly appeared looking a bit embarrassed - I tried to lighten the mood "I'm a man apparently" Anyway, breakfast was good, there were no men in shorts and white socks and it was a lovely sunny morning.

Today's destination was going to be Crackington Haven - another 12 miles of strenuous graded coast. From Crooklets Bay which was busy with surfers - the path went across a pleasant grassy area known as Summerleaze Down before reaching Bude Beach itself and the unique Canal. I hadn't been aware of the Bude Canal - which was opened in 1825. It was quite unique insofar as instead of creating a series of locks - they built ramps on inclined planes and the barges had special wheels attached so that they could be hauled up the ramps to the next level. Commercially - the canal was never a success - but can still be accessed from the sea through a lock and plays a big part in making Bude a bit different.

I crossed behind the large Car Park behind the beach and made my way round to the sea lock from where the path left Bude to head up to Compass Point and Efford Beacon. At Compass Point was a peculiar tower which did contain the points of a compass! Built in 1831 - the builder, Thomas Acland might be a bit upset to learn that because of cliff erosion - the tower has been moved, and rebuilt but is now 8 degrees out of alignment! Polish builders probably. The views from here were superb and far reaching although it was quite hazy.

It was now a clear walk across a wide open grassy cliff to Widemouth Bay - another popular surfing spot, which was quite crowded even in February!
It seemed to consist mostly of a large car park - with people wandering about clutching boards. I didn't stop - and rejoined the cliffs to shortly reach Wanson Mouth from where, due to more erosion, the path had been diverted onto the road until the descent down to Millook Haven. The pebbly beach here was a good place from which to view the amazing geological faults and folds in the cliffs. Tectonic plate shifting approx 300 million years ago - give or take the odd month - had pushed the sandstone and shale rocks beds into spectacular chevron folds. These can be seen right along this stretch of coast to beyond Crackington Haven.
My guidebook now said " the path now stays on the cliff top all the way to Crackington"
Reading that, I may have been mistaken to think that it was a nice stroll in the sun for a few miles, but it failed to mention some very steep climbs up and down across various valleys, although with the sun still shining - the surroundings were lovely and very photogenic. Subsequently, my progress was quite slow - with numerous photo opportunities. I hadn't had such a nice day for awhile as you will have seen from the photos on this blog.
So dismissive was my path guidebook, that at one point, I thought I must have passed Crackington Haven without realising it ! A ridiculous notion - but when I was thinking that I should have reached my destination by now, I kept being faced with more severe drops into places unmentioned.
But finally, I reached Pencannow Point from which there was a tremendous view of Crackington Haven spread out below and the long stretch ahead towards Tintagel, which would be for another day.
Crackington is a very small former port which used to have a water mill and imported limestone and exported the slate from nearby Delabole. It was quite bustling with day trippers and half termers.
Public transport on a Sunday is non-existent in Cornwall at this time of year, so I had arranged to contact the taxi man I had used the day before. Finding a phone that worked was a struggle - but the very nice lady at the Combe Barton Inn let me borrow her phone - so the least I could do was sink a quick pint while I waited.
Mr Taxi man, whose name escapes me - was a mine of information about Bude and the area and I gleaned quite alot of information in a short space of time about the various characters from the Inn on the Green where my car was still parked. My lips are sealed. When we reached the Inn, the eccentric "George" was the centre of attention enjoying a pint in the outside beer garden - yet another extrordinary ornament entwined in his nicotine stained facial hair!
It had been another successful weekends' walking, I was now just 3 miles short of halfway around the whole path!