16/6/2021 - St Ives to Gurnards Head (8.6mls)

This was the leg of the walk that we were not looking forward to as the SWCP brochure had billed it as severe and although we had split the walk at the start of the week we still expected that this would be a major challenge. Whilst there were some tricky bits in terms of scrambling up and down boulders the path was very well marked and we came to the conclusion at the end that the severe rating was probably more influenced by the Gurnards Head to Pendeen Watch stretch that we had done at the start of the week.

Fiona was finally able to park near the Tate Gallery which was where we started walking.

The start of the day was cloudy and a bit misty with a bit of dampness in the air such that tops were on and then off for the first few miles. When we got near Carn Noun Point we realised that Strava had not triggered to record from St Ives but this did not matter as it was clear from the maps the distance that we had covered.

By the time we got to The Carracks (Seal Island) the weather had got a bit brighter and from the video it is possible to just make out a tourist boat visiting the island and also see that the sea was more active than earlier in the week.

Further down the coast near Tregerthan Cliff we stopped for lunch in a quiet spot between a bouldery path down and a bouldery path up. Just when we were planning to move on we noticed a group of women coming down from the top of the cliff followed by an even bigger group further back and they kept coming!

On talking to the lead group we established that it was a charity walk organised by the Coppafeel! breast cancer charity. There were about 60 women involved and they should have been going to the Sahara before Covid struck but were now walking 100K over a week in various parts of Cornwall. One of the organisers said that they were on line to raise about £200K. That day they had started at Pendeen and were planning to reach St Ives by the end of the day. Well done to them all.

By now the sun was shining again and we were well on our way to Zennor Head. We had got the impression when walking from St Ives to Zennor that this was a popular route for walkers as there is a bus service between the two. However, in speaking to one group who had just looked on a map and thought it was an easy coastal stroll, that they had been surprised that instead of the 5miles easy walking that it was more like 7.5miles tricky walking especially as Zennor Head itself is probably about half a mile from the main road.

It wasn't far from here to Gurnards Head but, as we got near, the sun disappeared and a thick mist descended. We were glad that we were nearly home as we met people going in the opposite direction who still had a long way to go. How quickly weather can change.

Fiona met us at the Gurnards Head Hotel on the main road where we had a very enjoyable end of day drink. The hotel looked a very nice place to stay and in fact Justine subsequently told us that her dad often stayed there when doing some of his climbing instructor activities.