View Day 7 Treyamon to Port Issac in a larger mapI got up early, skipped breakfast and started the day back tracking last night’s trip to Constantine Bay where I caught the first bus to Padstow. This was not because I want to miss this 10 mile section from Treyarnon to Padstow, I didn’t, but because I had limited time and needed to get to Port Issac tonight. From the Padstow Bus terminus I walked up the dock to the passenger ferry from Padstow to Rock.
I was the only passanger at that early hour as I took the short trip over to Rock. Once in Rock I looked for a good spot to get some breakfast.Well we all make mistakes; everything is on the Padstow side of the river, Rock is little more than a boat-slip and a hand full of bungalows. From the boat-slip, the path to the Right took me into the “heart” of Rock. After 10 minutes I turned tail walked back past the boat-slip and began the true focus of today’s walk.
The path begins along the sand following any one of a multitude of trails through the low sea grass and then continues for a mile or so over some low cliffs into Daymer Bay. The second mile brings you to Polzeath. Now Polzeath it turns out has a decent upstairs outdoor restaurant, it has a great view of the beach, and not only serves a full English, but they have real coffee which comes in a cafetiere.
Two pots later I was ready to move on.
Pentire head first provides wonderful views back to Trevose Head lighthouse as well as Padstow Harbour, and then rounding the head brings you to the Rumps.
Now it is sad to say, but the official coastal path takes a short cut here and simply bypasses the rumps, but by all means, drop your pack for a while here and explore the rumps, it’s a ¾ mile excursion and well worth the effort.
From the rumps the path is plain sailing towards Port Quin with its interesting folly at the port entrance.Now perhaps I was starting to get tired at this point, but it seems to me that the path from Port Quin to Port Issac is made much harder than it needs to be.
I can’t blame the land owner for wanting to grab every available inch of land, while still complying with the requirement to provide a coastal path, but this section of the path, which exists on a thin tread of land between a wooden fence and the cliff top, follows every nook and cranny, up and down and up and down encasing every accessible blade of grass with no consideration for the contour. Granted there are plenty of well constructed steps to help you on your journey, but enough is enough. A couple of stys and a bit of level ground would help out here.Finally rounding the last head into Port Issac tonight’s destination came into view.
Let me take you aside for a minute to explain….
Port Issac had been a hole in my detailed plan, I could not identify a place to stay or a potential campground. I was going to meet my soulmate of 30 years in Tintagal on day 8 when out of the blue she found a place in a small town that she had travelled to the previous year. It was a preserved building rented out weekly, Saturday thru Saturday, by the national trust. If you are following my dates here that is day 6 through day 13. That place was the Birdcage in Port Issac.
I got to the door at 5PM and I could smell the home cooking…..
Distance Hiked today 14.2 miles.
Days 8 and 9, from Port Issac to Tintagel and Tintagel to Boscastle actually took place on days 12 and 10 respectively, but for the sake of this journal and their respective locations, I shall continue.
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