2 walks - Moderate 9, 10 and 11 miles
It is fast becoming a tradition that each year at the end of August, we head down to the seaside in South West England for a weekend of wonderful coastal walking along the South West Coast Path. We also enjoy socialising on the camp site and around the village, and enjoying the sea and local beaches. Last year we went to Ilfracombe in North Devon, andthis year we went to Tintagel in Cornwall. Its wonderful castle is the stuff of myths, and legend has it that this was the fortress of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table. The walking was spectacular but quite demanding, as the coast path has numerous steps as it repeatedly dips down to secluded coves and then rises to clifftops.
The walk on the Saturday was a 9 mile walk from Tintagel to Boscastle along inland paths and then back along the coast path. The coast changed in character to valleys, waterfalls and meadows as we walked along the St Nectan’s Glen with glimpses of the river. We could not view the waterfalls as we would have needed to pay to enter but it whetted our appetite for another visit sometime. We continued to walk along the river eventually making a climb through fields. As we reached Paradise we came out onto the road which took us to Boscastle, givingus fantastic views of the village and the harbour. We stopped there for lunch. After lunch we returned to Tintagel along the coast path, passing Willapark Headland with its whitewashed lookout station. There were a number of steep descents and ascents along this stretch (375m of ascent in all) in particular at Grower Gut, but we had excellent views over the many offshore rocky islands. We continued past Firebeacon Hill and descended steeply into Rocky Valley. Our final headland was Barras Nose and from here we finally reached Tintagel Haven, where we stopped for coffee and cake before making the climb back to the village.
The walk on the Sunday was about 8 miles long and was southwards from Tintagel along an inland route, returning along the coast path. After leaving the campsite again, we retrace our steps from Saturday out to Bossiney but this time we walked south through fields, climbing over many stiles to reach the Trebarwith nature reserve. From here we made our way back out to the coast at Backways Cove, climbing up to Dennis Point and then down to Trebarwith Strand – a wonderful beach - for lunch. Our return was along the coast path, passing the youth hostel and Tintagel Church and once again down to Tintagel Haven where we glimpsed the ruined castle.