The plan was to get to Coverack over the weekend, leaving me with just one days walk to my final destination, the Lizard. Helford was my original destination on the Saturday, across the Helford River by ferry from Helford Passage. In fact, I struggled to get accommodation and ended up finding someone who had a 4 berth Caravan available for B&B at a place called Gillan - by a small creek - a few miles further on from Helford.
By the time I reached Falmouth Docks by luxury train, it was starting to rain. The path went past the docks and arround Pendennis Point and along Falmouth promenade towards Swanpool Beach.
It was now raining pretty persistently - so I got my head down and upped the pace. The walking was fairly straightforward mostly along low cliffs, reaching firstly Maenporth and then onto Rosemullion Head. As I approached Helford Passage, I met a serious looking walker coming in the opposite direction. I stopped and had a quick chat - he was doing the SW Coast path, but had also walked all the way from Scotland! I wanted to question him further - but he didn't seem too inclined to stand in the pouring rain and chat, - he was camping along the way - so no surprise if he was in a bad mood.
I eventually reached the Ferry Point - for the short trip across to Helford. The Helford River is one of Cornwall's favourite tourist destinations and is a big sailing area. I wasn't seeing it at it's prime as the weather was so foul. I had passed quite alot of well known gardens along the way as well, such as Trebah and Glendurgan, owned by the NT.
At Helford, I stopped at the old Shipwright's Inn to find it closed! - so I used there undercover outdoor tables to eat my sarnies. There were a German family of 4 travelling on Tandems also sheltering from the rain.
A little further on, I passed a lovely Tea House within an old chapel, so stopped again for a cuppa and to dry out a bit. The path followed the estuary edge towards St Anthony in Meneage at the head of the Helford estuary. Gillan, my destination was just across a small creek around the head. At low tide, you could walk across, but the official SW path went down the creek to Flushing, which was a nice walk despite the weather. I saw a Curlew and various Egrets. From Flushing, the path was a bit cross country and rather vaguely signposted. When I reached Gillan, I was pretty tired and didn't have a clue where this caravan was. However, it's a very small place and as it happens, the first person I saw turned out to be the husband of the lady who I had booked through, and the caravan was in their garden.
It was still sheeting it down and I could see no way that I would get anything dry overnight.
The Caravan was very comfortable and in a secluded area of the garden. The deal was that she supplied an evening meal as well - the nearest pub was Helford. We stood in the pouring rain at the door outside the caravan as she explained that she would bring over a lasagne to the caravan at 7:00pm. That was fine by me - one of my favourites. Soaking wet boots were left under the caravan as I gingerly stepped inside trying not to make a mess. All the stuff for breakfast was laid out - bread rolls, jam etc - plus a nice bit of cake - and the best of all - a large can of lager in the fridge! Tried to have a shower - but anyone who has caravanned will know what a palaver that is.
The Lasagne arrived - suitably waterproofed - and boy, did that go down well!
The weather proceeded to go from bad to worse as a big storm passed over - but I crashed out fairly early. The next day, I would head for Coverack and the forecast was for a bit of sun - marvellous.
No comments:
Post a Comment