Lelant to St Ives (and rest day)

13 May 2024

Distance on Coast Path: 5.7km; ascent: 77m

Total distance: 6km; ascent: 77m

Walking time: 1h 25′

Total time: 1h 42′

Overnight: The Nook, St Ives

The domineering entrance to Tate St Ives

As forecast, the weather was awful when I woke up – dark grey sky, heavy rain and a strong gusty wind thrashing the trees about. I lingered over coffee and a couple of breakfast cereal bars I’d bought yesterday, then washed some clothes and hung them on my expanding travel washing line. By about 11 o’clock the rain and wind had eased enough for me to head for the town and the Tate Gallery, which occupied me for an hour or so before I left to find some lunch. I would have spent longer but several galleries were closed while the Gallery prepared for a new exhibition opening in a few weeks’ time.

A hot dog later I walked up to the bus turn-around, got a bus back to Lelant and rejoined the Coast Path which at first followed a gravel side road and then became a footpath alongside the railway and golf course. I was surprised to find a Camino St Jacques sign pointing westwards towards St Ives, which had me wondering how the trail got from the tip of Cornwall to somewhere on mainland Europe.

Camino Inglés waymark pointing towards St Ives and Land’s End

Soon the Path enters the new development of the Carbis Bay Estate, a hotel and holiday resort. ‘Exclusive’ doesn’t do it justice – the place reeks of wealth and privilege. I found myself once again suspicious of where the money behind both the development and its clients comes from, and enjoyed the experience of tramping through the manicured grounds in booted feet and muddy trousers. How long, I wondered, before the public footpath is diverted.

By the time I got back to St Ives it was dry and sunny, but still with quite a chilly breeze. I wandered round some of the picturesque narrow streets away from the shops and ended up at the harbourside for a glass of wine outside in the late sun, although the cool wind meant I didn’t linger. I had an early meal – fish & chips, for the first time this trip – in the Beach Restaurant overlooking the harbour, then walked back past the Tate, watched the surfers for a while, and finally plodded back up the hill for an early night.

A back lane in St Ives

St Ives harbour