South West Coast Path Day 10 - 15 March 2020 Tintagel to Port Isaac

Walking 8.30am to 3.30pm
Distance walked today 9 miles
Total distance walked 130 miles
Distance remaining 476 miles

Heavy rain in the early hours although it was easing off as I packed up. I was only a minute from the coast path. I spoke to a local fellow walking his dog. He was younger than me. He said he'd never walked any of the coast path, citing a bad back and knee as his excuse.

I saw no-one else till Trebarwith Strand. Here, the public loos were permanently shut and the Strand Café was closed. I was looking forward to a coffee. It was a long pull up from here. A dog walker here told me there were just a couple of ups and downs and then an easy walk into Port Isaac - he was wrong. There proved to be five.

I caught sight of the village from afar as I came around to Port Isaac Bay. It never seemed to get any nearer. There were stretches of mud on the path. Here and on descents, I became aware that my boots weren't gripping enough and I was slipping a bit. They are by no means new but clearly aren't up to it. I'd hoped they would last a little longer but they don't feel safe.

I think the combe at Lower Hendra was the most challenging. I timed my ascent at 9 minutes. If you zoom in on the second photo you will make out the path. A couple of areas were under water but my ageing boots didn't let water in. The weather is improving and the sea is changing to that lovely greenish blue. The sun came out for a while although at one point I saw rain approaching from across the water but that didn't last.

Eventually, I arrived in Port Isaac after a very long 9 miles. I bought a pasty and had just sat down to eat it when Amanda texted to say that she was quite nearby in the car. There was no way she should have tried to drive into the village so I stuffed my part eaten pasty into my backpack and began the long haul up Church Hill to meet her.