The flat, Cornwall and the SWCP

My good friends Ian and Cheryl have bought a beautiful new-build flat near St Austell and easy walking into Charlestown, of tall ships fame. It is on the South West Coast Path and we have walked that stretch. The flat is relaxing and I could just sit and chill out with glorious beaches and coastline enticingly close. There are two balconies with views over a wood and it is lovely to sit and see some wildlife amongst the trees.

I made two visits, one in early August and the other early September. We explored the beach, which is gated and just for the use of the residents of the flats, and the next beach, from where Ian and Cheryl enjoyed kayaking.

We had a lovely in-land walk in the Luxulyan Valley exploring the remains of the clay extraction machinery and the magnificent aqueduct. Ian managed to read the guide book as we went along and gave a very professional commentary. 

The Lost Gardens of Heligan are close and that needs several visits to be appreciated fully. We did not visit the Eden Project but that is certainly on the to-do list.

We managed only a few miles of the SWCP with the highlight being Looe to Polperro. The best feature of Looe is that it has an enormous car park. We were quickly on our way and we were the only people leaving the car park, of any age, that were not carrying a miniature bucket and spade! It is a glorious walk to Polperro,  ascents and descents, great coast line and although only 5 mile we had a sense of achievement reaching Polperro and the Blue Peter Inn. We mentioned cricket and the landlord disappeared for a few minutes and brought us Tribute sponsored white cricket hats and a cricket ball key ring.

Then we had to get back to Looe and the return journey in a boat with a dozen others was a delight and a lot easier than walking!

We had another fabulous walk around Trevose Head on the north coast. So although we only added a few miles towards the 630 needed to complete the SWCP we had made a start from the flat as our new base.

Of course we explored quite a few of the pubs and restaurants in the vicinity. There are a lot of good places to eat these days.

Both visits were blessed with excellent weather, warm and sunny.