Cornish coast, Devon & Dorset countryside

Sat 1 Apr

Drove down to St Ives using the GPS to locate a parking area away from the town centre. More steep paths but the town around the harbour is another of those picture-postcard places. It is a prettier, but busier, town than Newquay; perhaps because it's Saturday in school holidays. There were people everywhere. We headed through the winding small streets with signs saying, "Road narrows to 6'. Not suitable for motor vehicles!"

The beach on the southern side of the headland was the surfing and patrolled beach, but no one in the water. We followed the path around the headland, noticing a stone chapel on one bluff and a coastguard tower on the next. Further on to the harbour cob (stone wall) which was stacked with hundreds of lobster pots. Came across a group of boys, and their fathers; the boys were enjoying jumping into the harbour water, climbing up the stone steps and jumping again. Of course they had their thick wetsuits, booties, gloves and headgear. As the tide was going out and the water getting shallower, the dads persuaded them to head over to the surf with their bodyboards.

 Scenes around St Ives

We wandered around the harbour area for a couple of hours taking photos before climbing the hill back to the car and driving back to Newquay. 10.3 km walking - app says 37 floors! Those hills.

Sun 2 Apr

Packed up and loaded the car to drive to Lyme Regis. A drive of a bit over 2 hours to the south coast. This is another pretty coastal fishing village with a working harbour and a wide beach. One end of the beach is all stony gravel about 2 - 3 cm in size. Then about three quarters of the way along the beach it changes to coarse sand suitable for the many sandcastles that were being built. The promenade here is lined with pastel-coloured beach huts.

Street light designs reflect the ammonites found in the plentiful
fossils found around Lyme Regis.

The ocean here was absolutely flat, the sun was out and so were the people. Lining up for fish and chips or ice creams, stretching out on the sand and walking out along the harbour cob. This cob was featured in the film, "The French Lieutenant's Woman", and it encloses a harbour full of fishing and pleasure boats. We had lunch in a small café in a back street that had many surfboards around the walls. The owner there even pointed out an old kneeboard in the corner. He also assured me that this was a great surfing beach.

Our very comfortable Audi A3 rental

Back in the car we headed off to find Wyke Farm - our next B&B. Situated in the very narrow Wyke Lane, the farm raises sheep, produces hay and silage and has beautifully designed and renovated buildings for accommodation. Our hosts, John and Kathryn are lovely people - very chatty and welcoming - another great find for us. Only walked 5.8 km today.