SWCP Day 45 – 8 Oct 2018

Charlestown – Polruan

The YHA at The Eden Project is a collection of shipping containers converted into sleeping quarters, or Snoozeboxes. My snoozebox could sleep three, but only one person could stand on the floor at any one time. Every now and then solo travel has its advantages 🙂 … Anyway, I had the most amazing sleep in that snoozebox. Totally cocooned. I woke, a bit on the fuzzy side, pondering how I should tackle the day ahead.

Basically, I had to get to Charlestown, walk to Fowey, catch a ferry to Polruan, then a bus to East Looe. The question was – could I do all that AND see a bit of The Eden Project.

Hmmm…a bit tight, methinks.

The bus from Eden to Charlestown would require a transfer and would take over an hour – not saving much time at all. Taking it would save my legs, but after such a fabulous sleep, I was feeling sprightly, so I hoofed it South along country lanes toward the coast. The way was mostly boring roadsides, but I did meet one gentleman who was supervising his gardener in digging a ditch. We got to chatting over his fence and I was most impressed by his robotic, satellite-controlled lawnmower. I want a lawn, just so I can have one of those 😉

If you don’t look too close, Charlestown still looks like it’s the nineteenth century. There are a couple of tall ships in a kind of maritime museum, and all the buildings are true to the time. It’s where Poldark ship scenes are filmed.

I didn’t linger in Charlestown, mostly because I hadn’t even started the official walk for the day, but it’s a sweet place to visit.

The path from there leads up over a suburban hill till it meets Carlyon Bay Golf Club.

For 2 km I dodged golf balls and ladies in buggies, before the path descends down to the seriously ugly China Clay Dries industrial area that looked deserted to me…

…easy walking, but a chore to get through.

I’d heard a lot of good things about Par, but the path was diverted along a busy road and confusing signage meant I got stuck on the sands, somehow missing the route to the low cliffs above the beach. With time marching on, I didn’t want to back track, so it was a mad scramble up the rock-face under the supervision of a local lady and her dogs.

A quick down-up at sweet Polkerris…

…and I felt like I was finally underway! From here it was a lovely rural walk out to the fabulously striped Gribbin Tower…

…and a few picturesque coves till I finally reached St. Catherine’s Castle at the mouth of the Fowey River.

Have any of you fellow lopers seen the Fellowship of the Ring, toward the end, when the fellowship canoe down river to where the great stone kings guard either side of the river? St. Catherine’s Castle, and a corresponding ruined tower on the Polruan side of the river reminded me of that. Not quite so grand, but…

…you’ll have to allow me my fancies 😉

Fowey struck me as a self-consciously picturesque Cornish harbour town. The usual jumble of colourful buildings leading down to the water.

I had a quick look around but, with the gloomy day fast fading, and conscious that there was only one bus from Polruan to Looe, I grabbed a quick pastie for dinner and jumped on the ferry…

…to the more classically practical port of Polruan.

This was, technically the end of my day’s walk, but since I’m sure you’re all invested in this story by now, I will inform you that after a short wait and a cider at the welcoming Russell Inn, I did catch that bus that wound terrifyingly fast along tiny, hedgerowed lanes to East Looe where I very happily found the guest house where I would lay my weary head for two nights (and they’d upgraded me to a gorgeous double ensuite dormer-windowed room overlooking the Looe River – people can be so lovely).

Stats: 35991 steps; 161 floors; 24.98 km