Day 47 Camborne to Newlyn

Tuesday 5th October 2010

My morning started today with a wonderful reception from all the team at the Milk & More depot in Camborne. Manager John, his assistant Jackie and all the other staff were a very friendly bunch and their good humour had me in stitches. After we'd all posed for pictures and while I was preparing to leave John handed me an envelope, it contained a good luck card and a whopping £150 donation for MacMillan. The donation was the total raised by a whip-round among the staff, it was a wonderful surprise and I'd like to thank everybody who contributed at Camborne for their amazing generosity.

Camborne and the surrounding areas used to be the richest place in the world for mining, there are still many ruins of chimney stacks and engine houses. You can't help wondering how it all must have looked in its hey day 150 years ago. After leaving town I headed southwest through the undulating countryside using quiet single-track lanes. There wasnt much too see, in part due to the tall hedgerows that are typical around here. At Barripper there is a cannon in the middle of the village, it was retrieved from the wreck of HMS Association that sunk off the Scilly Isles in 1707.

Giving my legs a rest wasn't the only reason I hadn't headed back to continue along the North Cornwall coast. When I arrived on the other side of the peninsula at Marazion I was treated to great views of St.Michael's Mount. This spectacular tidal island with its impressive castle is only connected to the mainland by a causeway that's exposed at low tide. I bought lunch in town and relaxed on a bench for an hour watching small boats going to and fro in the sunshine. From Marazion I continued west around Mounts Bay. The path goes past Penzance railway station. This really is the end of the line, being both the most southerly and the most westerly railway station in England. As I walked along the promenade at Penzance I was sprayed a few times with seawater being thrown up by waves crashing on the seawall, it was quite refreshing in the afternoon sun. While here I noticed a road sign directing traffic to Lands End for the first time.

At Newlyn I passed the harbour which was packed with fishing vessels. Fishing is clearly big business here and there were many shops selling fresh catches. From there I climbed up through some steep narrow lanes to the B3315 which heads out of town to the west. That will be my final route to Lands End, I've left myself around 10 miles to do tomorrow.

GPS track click here

Mileage today 18.83 miles, walking time 4 hrs 54 mins, average walking speed 3.8 mph

Weather; Overcast in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, breezy, max 18C


Cumulative mileage; 997.20 miles

The cannon at Barripper



St.Michaels Mount in Mounts Bay



The fishing fleet in Newlyn harbour with Penzance in the background