June 22, 1994: Polruan to Polperro
Fowey, from Polruan quay
Because we had only seven miles to walk today there was no urgency in our rising. We had breakfast at 9:00 and then Tosh and I went in search of some sandwiches. Tosh took against Polperro because the sandwich shop, which seemed to have been open during an earlier foray, was now closed – and a lady from the next door bakery pretended not to have any knowledge of its hours. In the delicatessen across the street the counter lady claimed not to have the ingredients for making so humble an object as a sandwich. At this point I suggested we try again in Polruan.
Our cab arrived from Looe at precisely 10:00 and we were soon on an adventure along the narrowest of country roads (once even having to back up for a tractor) as our knowledgeable driver took the most direct route back to the River Fowey. Like every other local he spoke of the strenuousness and the isolation of the journey ahead of us. Then he deposited us on the quay at Polruan, just at the spot where the Fowey ferry would have put us off had we chosen to persist yesterday.
The wisdom of not having done this was clearly revealed today. The morning was radiantly beautiful, with only a few clouds in the sunny blue skies. Harold had forgotten to bring the sun blocker so we had to purchase another bottle for £8.00 from a shop at harborside. Then we walked back a block and I lathered up in the shade while the girls went off to have some tuna sandwiches made for us. The café on the corner had both a dog and a cat in residence. The dog, Jeeves, was a black and white Cocker Spaniel who, according to one passerby, was “in love with the whole world.” He certainly seemed a friendly beast and many of the locals paused to pet him as I waited some twenty minutes for the girls to return with sandwiches and water bottles.
The Lees got slightly too far ahead as Margie and I paused to take pictures of Fowey across the water, and I had to call them back so that we could use roads to climb steeply up to the cliff top, where, heading east again, we could resume our usual line of march. There were two double arrow stretches today and one of these, as we climbed up from an old coast guard lookout, soon had us gasping. I wore the only pack we carried this day and – laden with everyone’s liquids and Margie’s extra shoes – it was heavier than my usual pack. At the end of an hour Tosh took the pack and never relinquished it the rest of the day.
In spite of its reputation for remoteness there were plenty of other walkers about, mostly trippers like the young couple who came up behind us – she sporting quite inappropriate sandals that soon had her longing for an end to her day out. “There’s someone with a sensible idea,” Tosh said loudly as the girl passed, “she remembered to bring her towel.” Then Marge, who can see, had to explain that the towel was only a sweater. Naturally we had forgotten our swimwear, which would have been useful on such a warm day – although there weren’t many beaches below us.
We climbed up to the twin paths out to Pencarrow head and chose the higher one out to the nose of this dramatic promontory. Views were outstanding in almost all directions, with many white sails bobbing up and down in the blue sea.
After briefly choosing the wrong route around a derelict watch house at the west end of Lantivet Bay we began to look for a shady spot where we could eat our lunch. This required us to leave the coast path for a bit and to settle down on the grass in the shade of some low trees growing along the banks of a stream. We had a nice repast that I crowned with a few bites of wild watercress, growing rather uninvitingly in a muddy part of the stream where, no doubt, cows had added their fertilizer.
Double black arrow from Broad Cove
We then used a washboard track to return to the beach area at the end of a path down from the village of Lansallos, whose church tower we had been seeing for several miles. Tosh had a chat with a National Trust warden who was here to pick up the litter and we later found another NT vehicle bestriding our path. Another double black arrow ascent opposite Broad Cove included 166 separate steps: no wonder we were getting through the water rapidly. Indeed we were down to my small canteen by the time we began our last, reasonably level mile.
Polperro
By this time it was mid-afternoon and we were tired from the sun and the ascents and we were dreaming of ice cream in Polperro. It wasn’t that easy to discover which path to take down to our village and there were, of course, dozens of trippers about, but eventually – at 4:00 – we wound our way steeply down to the harbor and repaired to Mr. Beddoes home-made ice cream emporium. Tosh also took against Mr. Beddoes, who offered pedantic explanations of his techniques and when someone asked for a clarification added, “As one of your presidents said, ‘Read my lips!’” Tosh first tried a plum ice and then turned to something far less healthy. I had a scoop of tiramisu and a scoop of pineapple. Harold, with dozens of exotic flavors on display, decided he just wanted two scoops of butter pecan.
The others decided to look for a spot to have tea but I decided I wanted a shower and a nap. We had decided not to eat at the hotel again and so after a room temperature lager there at 7:00 we continued our libations at the Ship Inn – our fourth so named in three days – where the others became entranced with Wimbledon on the TV and I disappeared to do a reconnaissance of the local eateries. Then I lead the others on a tour of menu boards near the harbor. At one empty bistro, we were told there would be a thirty-minute wait for a table so we ended up at Nelson’s – surely one of the more posh restaurants to have received our custom during a walk. It was heavily red in decor, with lots of sea kitsch. Three of us had lemon sole. We drank wine and ice water and had a pleasant and leisurely repast. As we departed I pointed out the ominously bobbing fan that had been whirling above the heads of the diners, threatening mass decapitation. Then it was early to bed for we would once again have an early start on the last day of our walk.
To continue with the next stage of our walk you need: