South Walk: Looe to Fowey

Sunday May 3rd: Woke up to a beautiful morning in Looe - so had a nice early morning pre breakfast stroll along the River. The light was beautiful, but the tide was out so it wasn't quite as scenic as it could have been. The B&B was pretty full, but then it was the May Bank Holiday. The destination for the day was either Par or Fowey and then I would get the train back to Tiverton from the main line station at Par. But the first target was the beautiful and popular village of Polperro - a real tourist hotspot. Only 5 miles from Looe and with a bus service between the two - the path was a popular and well trodden route for the tourists.

Leaving West Looe past Hannafore Point, I got a good view of Looe Island. It used to be owned by two sisters, Evelyn and Babs Atkins, but since their deaths, in 1997 and 2004 respectively, the Island has been owned by the Cornish Wildlife Trust, and you can visit by boat trip.

Passing the small bay of Portnadler - it was a very pleasant few miles to Talland Bay. There were plenty of people on the path. At one point, I passed 2 heavyweight couples, the two women struggling to make headway in nothing but slip-ons - well that's not strictly true - fortunately they did have clothes on - but no socks - their husbands were saying " only 3 miles to Polperro" Madness!

Beyond Talland Bay - I met a woman asking if I had seen a Beagle! She was worried that it would be piling into the Cafe at Talland, have a Cappuccino and dog biscuit and then leaving without paying!

Approaching Polperro, I met a massive group of about 15 ramblers all heading for Looe - it was getting a bit like Piccadilly Circus! The views of Polperro as you approached were lovely and the sailing boat in moored just outside the harbour made it even more photogenic. The path winds through the narrow streets by the harbour towards the bridge passing the well known Shell House. I stocked up on liquid refreshment and homemade fudge before carrying on out of the village by the old well known pub the Blue Peter which stands right at the mouth of the harbour.

As you climb steeply out of the small bay - you get another great view of this wonderfully unspoilt fishing village. I was pleased that it was early May, as opposed to the middle of August when I expect the place is pretty unbearable! although I'm sure the local tourist businesses don't complain.

It was another 7 miles to Fowey and according to the Guide Book - it was the second hardest stretch of the whole Coast Path. In fact, I had met another coast path walker earlier that morning who had said it was pretty tough - with a succession of steps that seemed to go on and on for ever. he was one of many South West Coast path walkers who I have met - doing the path over 6 years or so - and spending a week at a time doing a particular stretch.

As it turned out - the steps didn't seem to be as bad as I had expected and I came to the conclusion that they were probably worse going in the opposite direction. Having said that - after nearly 500 miles of the path already walked - I think I am ready for anything the path has to chuck at me!

For a while - I walked with a local man- out exercising his sheep dog - as we walked towards Pencarrow Head . He seemed quite bemused about my walk - but I thought he must have met loads of people doing similar. All the locals I saw were wearing rainwear - even though it was lovely and sunny - but apparently in this part of the South West - it virtually rains every day - so they know to expect it.

Approaching Pencarrow Head , there seemed to be some confusion about alternative routes, but the obvious one was to climb up to the rocky headland where the views were superb. From here it was a nice walk down and behind the popular beach of Great Lantic Bay. There was a couple more up and down stretches before Polruan was in sight and the mouth of the Fowey river. The path went right past the very small Coastwatch lookout and to the head of the estuary with views across to Fowey. It was then a straightforward path down to the quayside at Polruan where along with several other walkers, I waited for the Ferry across to Fowey. It was a quick trip over, and a chance to view Polruan from the water, it reminded me of Kingswear across from Dartmouth. The Ferry stopped at next to a small beach at a lower point than normal due to the tide. It was still reasonably early, so I could have pressed on to Par, but made the fatal error of going for a cup of tea and ending up with the full Cornish Cream Tea at the splendid Fowey Hotel which had commanding views across the Estuary. I made a mess up of my bus connections - had to wait 50 minutes at Fowey - missed one while scoffing scones! - then at Par station missed a train by 5 minutes and had to wait another 45 minutes - so in hindsight, I should have just carried on walking - but my feet were telling me otherwise!

It was an uneventful train journey back to Tiverton Parkway, by which time I was suitably refreshed to walk on home. Next week it's back to Fowey with walking legend Michael Ricketts!