South Walk: Pendeen to Lands End

Sunday May 24th : Breakfast at The Glenleigh Hotel in Marazion provided some amusement. This rather genteel family hotel is rather "old school" so to speak. The, shall we say, mature waitress whose probably been there since 1950 was a little on the deaf side - and unfortunately, so was one of the guests, so one conversation went...
Waitress: " Would you like brown or white toast?"
Deaf Guest: "Tea please"

I made a quick exit - the plan originally had been to try and catch the bus back up to Pendeen, but I would have had to curtail breakfast, so I drove back up there and re-joined the path at Pendeen Watch. It was about 9:30am - and I kept an eye out for Ann and Tara who I had met the day previous, and who were going to walk to Porthcurno from Pendeen. It was a lovely day again, and the sea looked superb. My ankle was really bothering me - so progress was a bit slow and painful.

Almost immediately, I was faced with the siight of a large old mine - Levant, which has been restored. Further inland, is the well known Geevor Tin Mine, which is now a Museum and popular tourist spot. I had visited it previously, and it was a fascinating insight into the Cornish Mining industry. Apparently, the Levant mine had tunnels which went out under the sea for over a mile - and workers could hear the sea crashing above them.

Once past all the mine workings - the next point of interest was Cape Cornwall which soon came into view and was approached through a lovely valley. This landmark is the second most westerly point in England and is a great vantage point. The coast path takes you straight past it - but it is worth the diversion to climb up to the top of the headland where there is an old chimney taken from an old Cornish Mine. Unfortunately it was covered in scaffolding, due to structural problems. At the foot of the headland were some interesting buildings including a Chapel, but at the top, there were fantastic views in both directions and the lighthouse at Lands End was clearly visible

From Cape Cornwall - the views were dominated by Lands End ahead and the various rocky islands off the coast. Most prominent was the Brisons Rocks which have put paid to many a ship in the past. Apparently - the locals refer to the rocks as "Charles de Gaulle lying in the bath" due to nose and stomach shaped rocks. Another series of rocks which were also prominent were Longships with it's tall thin lighthouse sticking up proudly - and it did occur to me, that perhaps the younger generation of locals might be tempted to rename them as "Sylvio Berlusconi in the Bath" !

Soon I was approaching the glorious sands of Whitesand Bay and Sennen. The sea was a beautiful sight rolling into this bay with various breaking points. It was on this stretch of the path that I was accosted by a gentleman who suddenly said " You just missed a Chough singing at you" Well as it happened, I had just heard an unusual bird song - and apparently it had been a Chough. The Chough is known as the Cornwall Chough - but in fact has been mostly absent from Cornwall for many years.

There is an ongoing project to re-introduce it, and there are now two breeding pairs in Cornwall. Black with some iridescent plumage and bright red beak and legs - it should be quite distinctive - so my eyes are now peeled. There is a breeding pair at the Lizard - so hopefully they will sing for me on my arrival!
Sennen Cove at the far end of Whitesand Bay was packed with day trippers enjoying the beach and sea. It's a dangerous place to swim - so lifeguards were out in force - but it's a popular place, rightly so. Briefly, Lands End has disappeared from view as there is the headland of the Irish Lady with it's coatguard lookout imbetween. I ignored the temptaion of the numerous Sennen Cove tea houses and climbed out of Sennen towards the headland and then towards Lands End itself.

Of course, Lands End itself has been touristified for the mass moron market - and Northeners in their thousands descend en masse to stuff a pasty down their throats and have their picture taken at the "First and Last" Gift Shop and visit the Dr Who Adventure centre . Not many will bother to walk very far in either direction - but it is the seascape which is most impressive and the noticeable difference in the sea around the area which seemed to be in constant turmoil.

Lands End was my final destination for the day. It had been a lovely days walk - one which I had done before - but still spectacular.
I was heading for Thurlestone that evening to spend the Bank Holiday Monday with the parents. During the Summer - there is an excellent Bus Service which goes in both directions from Lands End on a circular loop throughout the day - the No 300 - open top as well if you can brave it. You just have to make sure that you get on the right one! Mine was 30 minutes late!