Cornish Coastal Path - Penzance to Land's End

Statistics:
Start:	Penzance	Estimated Time:	7 hours
Start (OS ref):	SW476299	Difficulty:	Very Hard
Finish:	Land's End	Total Climbing:	1,154 metres
Finish (OS ref):	SW341254	Longest Climb:	68 metres
Maps:	OS 103, 102 (see above for details)	Longest Descent:	54 metres
	OS 103, 102 (see above for details)	Hazards:	Some roadside walking
Distance:	15.3 miles (24.7 km)	Refreshments:	Lamorna Cove

Part 8 - Penzance to Land's End (15.3 miles)


The coastline between Mousehole and Lamorna	The inlet at Lamorna Cove

After a fairly average breakfast in the Yacht Inn we set off on our final leg to Lands End. We left without rucksacks as we had agreed with the hotel to leave them there and pick up later. I set the pace walking out through Newlyn and Mousehole. The pace was set for two reasons. One as to make time as we had to get back to Somerset tonight and the other because my Vindaloo was telling me so. After leaving civilisation I hastily retreated to a secluded area and paused, leaving the boys to soldier on. After my respite I caught them and we continued to Lamorna Cove where I stopped for a drink at the cafe and listened to 'Smoke in the Water' on the radio. We walked the coast path to Treen, all at pace to meet or deadline of 1.00pm to catch a bus back to Penzance. At Treen we followed roads to Trethewey and then followed farm tracks and bridleways until rejoining the coastal path about a mile from Land's End. For nostalgia I took the boys through the last bit of scrub path although I don't think they appreciated it.


Where is Land's End?	There it is, Land's End

We slowed on the last mile to our goal but I was determined to go to the actual Lands End point. Steve and Dave held back and after a break I think they went to the bus stop. I took in the moment for ten minutes or so on Land's End itself. It was a magic moment. It probably was the reason we missed the bus! The bus when it did arrive was one of those that visited every remote corner of the peninsular and got us to Penzance just too late to catch the train. So what, we waited for the train, relaxed and eventually got back to Somerset around 8.00pm. Steve had to entertain the wife while Dave and I managed to sneak out for a celebratory drink. It had been a fantastic eight days walking and we felt we deserved it. Until the next long distance walk.....

And finally, some statistics on the eight days walking. We covered 132.2 miles. We climbed (and also went down) 9,211 metres, almost 400 metres over the height of Everest. That is 5.7 miles up and 5.7 miles back down! No wondered we were all knackered at the end of it all. But we were all exhilarated too. We had completed eight days of fantastic walking in superb British summer weather. We will never forget our experience on the Cornish Coastal Path.

That's it, we've completed our walk on the Cornish Coastal Path