I'd been hoping the weather forecast for today would be incorrect, unfortunately it wasn't. The predicted rain had been lashing down all night and I stepped out of the B&B wearing the full set of waterproofs. For the third day in a row most of my day would be spent heading west on narrow country lanes, though this time it would be in the sort of conditions I haven't seen since I went over the summit of Shap Fell.
To begin my best route was north of the A38, I passed though small villages with typical Cornish names like Doddycross and Menheniot. Liskeard was the only town of any size on my route today. It was only a third of the way to Bodmin and I don't usually like to take a break that early, but considering the foul weather I took the chance to get a cup of tea and a slice of cake. I didn't have the stomach for a proper lunch that early having had the full works for breakfast.
The Ryder Cup teams, playing their match not a million miles away, might have decided to abandon play for the day, but that was never an option for me. Wave after wave of heavy rain blew across as I continued on my way, by now to the south of the A38 after Liskeard. Apart from half an hour on the A390 I managed to stick to quiet country lanes as far as the outskirts of Bodmin. It was fairly hilly going again, some of the lanes looked more like rivers than roads, but at least I was away from the traffic.
As I passed through the centre of Bodmin on my way to the campsite the rain finally ceased. All the hotels and B&Bs I saw in town had signs up saying they had vacancies, I have to admit I was very tempted to wimp out of the camping and pay for a night in the warm and dry, but the sun began to shine just in time for the campsite to win the battle of the scruples and save me a few quid.
Tomorrow I will walk to Padstow on the North Cornwall coast. It had been my intention to make my way from there to Lands End using the scenic coast path. After today's rain all the off-road paths may have turned into quagmires, so it could be that I'll have to reconsider that plan.
GPS track click here
Mileage today; 23.41 miles, walking time 5 hrs 54 mins, average walking speed 4.0 mph
Weather; very wet, windy, max 17C
Cumulative mileage; 915.35 miles
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| You often come across old Celtic crosses in Cornwall |
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| Menheniot on a wet day |
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| I saw this old mile marker by the roadside |
I would like to see more pictures of Cornwall beaches.
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There was a time when these mile markers were all those travelers had. Imagine life without gps.
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