A beautiful day and the start of a new adventure - to walk the Cornish Coastal path. Clear roads on a Sunday morning meant I got to Bude in just under an hour. Next to find a taxi to take me to the start. Trev (of Trev's Taxis) told me I was lucky. Taxis don't tend to run on a Sunday morning in Bude because the taxi drivers have been up all night on the busiest night of the week - but he had a pre-arranged booking and so he had his phone on. He took me to the start to Welcombe Mouth where the surfers had been here for a while. I walked down to the car park - huge crashing waves and a very clear day. So off I went up the first of many steep climbs
Looking back down to the start...
...and straight down again to Marsland Mouth and this was to be the story of the walk - giant cliffs followed by deeply incised valleys to go up and then down again and they were all steep!
Down to the little bridge...
...and up again...
...a flatter bit
Gull Rock below Marsland Cliff
Down to Litter Mouth
From the top of Henna Cliff I got my first view of the giant radio station...
...and then down again to St Morwenna's Well.
For the duration of the walk you could hear the power of the waves as they crashed down on the remote beaches.
Down to Tidna Shute
Higher Sharpnose Point
Greenaway Beach
The giant raidio dishes point in every direction - like huge ears on the landscape. This is GCHQ Bude. What and who are they listening to is secret so the vast majority of us will never know! But we hope they are protecting us.
On the way down to Stanbury Beach two surfers stop to admire the view.
The climb up here was probably the longest and the worst!
But, first over the little bridge.
Another slightly flatter bit...
...before going down to Duckpool where there was a beach cafe open. This was most welcome and I felt so much better after some coffee and cookies..
From here on the cliffs are lower and the going gets easier.
At last Bude is in view.
Crooklets Beach
Past the swimming competition...
...and back to the car park complete with the visiting fun fair.
This was a beautiful walk, mainly along the spectacular remote cornish coast and one of the hardest walks I have done - absolutely brilliant. Eleven and half miles in length but the constant steep up and downs take their toll. The guide book describes this walk as 'severe' and 'probably the most arduous' on the whole of the South West Coastal Path. Well that's good to know - after this the rest should be easy!
