Important Info

Planned kilometres: 18

Kilometres walked: 29 (got lost a few times)

% Completed: 1%

Weather: Sun, Rain, Freezing wind

Pubs visited: Logan Rock Inn, Lands End Hotel

Pints: 1

Blisters: 1

 

Penzance to Lands End

Today was supposed to be an easy day as I was leaving my pack in Penzance and plan was to bus to Land’s End and walk back to Penzance, so only had to carry a day pack.

I had organised a late breakfast at the B&B as wanted to walk to Newline Chandlery in the next town to buy a Personal Locater Beacon (PLB). My mum wanted me to get a PLB as she was worried about something happening to her little boy when walking the country alone. After follow up Whatsapp messages from another mum who keeps an eye on me e.g. “Did you get your emergency beacon” and reminder the next day “Your plan is to get your emergency beacon today..,yes” I thought I had better buy a PLB as I need to keep in both of their good books.

Walked to Newlyn to find that they don’t open at 8am as per website, but probably around 9am (from person in shop next door), so walked back to the B&B for breakfast. Nice 2.5km walk for to nothing was not a good start to the day.

I set off and walked into Penzance to find that the next bus to Land’s End was 90 minutes, so decided to walk the first leg backwards and would go Penzance to Lands End instead. Started walking along the harbour out of town and a local Seagull decided it should shit on me. Everyone tells me its good luck, so I was fortunate I only got part of the Seagull’s luck as it was only on pants leg and boot

I walked back via Newlyn so stopped in as store was now open and got a PLB to make the Mums happy.

The weather was quite overcast, but the sun came out a few times whole walking from Newlyn to Mousehole (pronounced Mousall).

After Mousehole I decided to start using my Ordinance Survey Maps and follow public paths, right of ways and bridleways through farms instead on only staying on the roads. This was big learning experience for me (hopefully most of which I don’t repeat) as I took wrong turns, back tracked and in one section even did a big loop for about 3km to end up at the same place I started. Need to seriously work on my map reading skills otherwise the length of theis trip might double.

Walking along public paths and right of ways through farms meant walking though lots of mud, recently ploughed fields and through livestock. There are limited directions in most area’s so after you have taken steps to get over the fence (see photo below of one of the better ones) you need to try and look across the field to find where the next one is.

In one field I came across a Stone Circle called the ‘Merry Maidens’ and further down the road a Prehistoric entrance grave from the Bronze Age.

I stopped at the Logan Rock Inn for lunch and only had a pint of lemonade. The barman suggested a shandy but I didn’t want to waste good beer.

After walking through more fields and doing a 3km loop to return t the same place I started, I decided to walk to the last 2.5 miles on the road. The weather started getting bad and I had to stop and put on full wet weather gear. By the time I got to Land’s End it was raining with freezing gale force winds.

The sign they have at Lands End that they charge you to take a photo with was closed due to the weather, but they had another sign you could take your own photo with.

 I meet another two End to Enders at the sign. One who had just finished cycling from John O’Groats to Lands End and another walker who was just starting. I celebrated end of day one in the Lands End hotel with a pint of Korev which is a local Cornish lager. Then it was off to wait for the bus standing out in an open car park for 15 minutes in the freezing wind with some other stupid people.

Woke up this morning with a large blister on my toe and heard on the news that ferries from Penzance to Isles of Scilly have been cancelled due to the weather. Looks like it’s going to be a rough day walking from Penzance to Helston