Padstow to Porthcothan

7 May 2024

Distance on Coast Path: 21.6km; ascent: 228m

Total distance: 21.8km; ascent: 228m

Walking time: 5h 06′

Total time: 6h 29′

Overnight: The Old Ship, Padstow

Today marked a definite change of terrain. There were no more steep ups and downs; instead the Path followed gently undulating terrain with long easy gradients, passing by several sandy beaches. I hadn’t been able to find anywhere to stay near my destination for the day, Porthcothan, so I was going to get the bus back to Padstow and out again in the morning. There were three possible bus times for the return to Padstow. I mentally labelled them ‘optimistic’, ‘probable’ and ‘desperate’.

Feeling good after last night’s cottage pie I thought perhaps I hadn’t been eating enough during the day so I decided I’d buy a Cornish pasty to take with me. Google Maps showed a Spar not far from the Old Ship but walking out onto the street I found a bakery right opposite with an array of fragrant pasties and other goodies on display. In fact there were three shops in a row selling pasties, but the one opposite was easily the most tempting. I bought a bacon, leek and potato pasty – not traditional, but it sounded good.

Butter Hole cove

The first part of the walk followed the sands of the Camel estuary past The Doom Bar^* to Stepper Point. I don’t have a strong memory of most of the rest of the day. It was a succession of sandy beaches, small coves, black cliffs and large rocks where lumps of Cornwall had fallen into the sea or onto the beach. The weather was dry and fairly warm with light winds – t-shirt walking weather – but the sun never quite managed to burn off the low cloud.

Collapsed cave near Trevone Bay

Along the way I passed two ‘Round Holes’, the result of caves collapsing. They are connected to the open sea and can can be quite dramatic if the tide is high enough for the waves to rush in, but it was too far out today. I took photos but it’s hard to get a sense of scale and perspective.

I ate my pasty sitting on a bench beyond the village of Harlyn next to a large concrete slab which had been a wartime gun emplacement. The cove below is named Big Guns Cove. The pasty was good though the curved crust was a bit heavy for my taste, so as an experiment I broke it into several pieces and threw them in different directions into the surrounding scrub. I turned round just a few minutes later and as expected the first seagull had arrived. It was looking guilty with a large bulge in its throat.

Mother Ivy’s Bay with lifeboat slipway

Trevose Head lighthouse

With only about two kilometres to go I was overtaken by a couple in a hurry. They excused themselves for not stopping, saying they didn’t want to miss the bus. I checked the time and was happy to see that I would get to Porthcothan in time for the earliest bus – my ‘optimistic’ one.

There’s not much in Porthcothan – a few houses and a car park. The bus was on time.

Back in Padstow and washed and changed, it was early enough to look around the town. It had a good vibe; I would think it would be a pleasant place to stay for a few days in that part of Cornwall. I had an early evening drink in the Old Custom House pub then enjoyed an Afghan chicken curry at a casual eatery on the harbour front called Reggies. Yet again I was wondering where all the SWCP walkers were – I’d hardly seen any all week.

* Read about the Doom Bar here, and the beer named after it here.