When stood on the shore on the Gower or sat, tied in, on the edge of a cliff belaying a second I always looked across the sea to the hills on the other side and wondered, what’s there?
With rain hitting the tent and only a very short day of walking left ahead, we didn’t hurry with breakfast. The rain would pause and start up again, slowing our decisions further. At some point we used the rambler’s hut to pack our dry gear and took the wet tent down for the last time. After the rain swifts put on aerobatic displays inches from the grass around my ankles. I’m sure I saw at least one barrel roll. A farm path for the campsite took us back to Maenporth beach and the South West Coast Path.
The path was easy all the way around. Near the town of Falmouth it was well used, wide and gravelled or tarmac’d. The rain put in regular appearances and we got the hang of spotting it behind us. We dallied at cafes when not raining and hid under trees when it fell heavily. Through Swanpool and around Pendennis point we skipped around puddles and streams forming on paths with other strollers.
Returning from the point took us high past Falmouth docks and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships Cardigan Bay and Mounts Bay in dock. The estuary was filled with boats in mooring fields and at pontoons.
Surely what you get out of life is related to what you put into it. Walking all day every day for 21 days has been tough but the amount that we have seen and experienced has been incredible. I feel my bullshit meter resetting with stepping so far away from typical British life. I feel different. It’s going to be weird when my feet don’t hurt every night.
Again we slowed, wandering the harbour, looking for lunch and studying the boats. Kim found a wool shop and picked some and crochet hooks to keep her entertained on tomorrow’s long train journey home. Falmouth has succeeded in keeping major commercial chains from the southern end of the high street giving local shops a chance to thrive and making the area far more interesting to the visitor. Pubs hide down alleyways.
We flowed around to the Prince of Wales pier looking for that final acorn sign that would show us the last part of the SWCP before the ferry but found none. The OS map showed us the path to the pier, and this was as far as we could go. To continue the SWCP we would need to take the ferry across to St Mawes and St Anthony (yes, another St Anthony ferry if you’ve really been paying attention). This will have to wait for another year, but I don’t know when. I will have shiny new students to tell fascinating anatomy facts to later this week.
We have walked more than half of the South West Coast Path from Minehead to Falmouth. We have walked 620km (385 miles), officially 538km (334 miles) of the SWCP, with 20,500m of ascent in 20.5 days. That’s quite a lot. Today was a short day.
We discovered why the Jacob’s Ladder Inn, our home for the night, was called the Jacob’s Ladder Inn. It was at the top of 112 steps. Of course it bloody was. I thought we had finished with steps. So many steps on the SWCP.
11km with 193m of ascent.