Morwenstow to Bude

Leg 3, Day 4 - Wednesday 31st August 2011

Path Facts - Length: 7.9 miles, Ascent: 2100 feet (est)

Another great breakfast at 8 am. Very soon it will be necessary to kick the fried breakfast habit as I definitely won’t be burning as many calories as I’m consuming.

Set off at 9.20 am again. There’s about ½ mile of track to pick up with the coast path again & we made a slight detour to visit Hawker’s Hut, made of driftwood, overlooking the sea. This is apparently the smallest property owned by the National Trust.

There were a few ups and downs near the beginning of today’s walk then the skyline becomes dominated by the satellite station.

According to Wikipedia:

~ The activities of GCHQ Bude usually remain classified, however, partly in response to concerns expressed by some EU member states that Morwenstow is responsible for industrial espionage and the interception of civilian communications, a report by the European Parliament was made public in 2001 that provides some details about the station. The 1994 Intelligence Services Act grants GCHQ the power "to monitor or interfere with electromagnetic, acoustic and other emissions and any equipment producing such emissions and to obtain and provide information derived from or related to such emissions or equipment." ~

… which sounds fairly far-reaching to me.

The descent to Duckpool was one of the most interesting sections of path. The path looks like it is heading off towards a cul-de-sac at cliff height before a lower path appears steeply below & overlooking the sea.

 

 Descended to Duckpool where we stopped for a while.

On regaining height, the long stretch of Sandymouth Bay opens up and covers the distance between here and Bude.

A good mixture here of cliff path and beach. Off in the distance to the South a hill could be spotted which was no doubt the famous (no schoolboy sniggering) Brown Willy.

A nearby surfing event was apparently waiting for the after effects of Hurricane Irene to hit Cornwall. An informed sounding chap suggested they were going to be about 2 or 3 days early.

Stopped at a tea shop by the beach. The path was fairly flat from here and according to my map, the stretch to Bude looked like the highest tea shop density on the path.

The photo below shows the next four promontories from L to R: 1) Crackington Haven (tomorrow's walk), 2) Tintagel, 3) Pentire Point (East of the Camel) and 4) Trevose Head.

 
Arrived in Bude about 2pm after a shortish day walking. Cut across the beach on to the old canal. This connects inland waterways with a sea lock and apparently in it’s heyday used to connect North and South coasts via the River Tamar.

We visited the Tourist Info to gen up / stock up for the next stretch of path. Then experienced some of the most crud service in a sandwich bar before taking advantage of end of season sales in Bude. Two Craighoppers shirts for £10 each and apair of reasonable shorts for a fiver. Bargainmongous!

Apart from the bargains, Bude was experienced by both of us as a bit of a disappointment. There were a number of people who were a bit ‘off’ + I think it was a culture shock after the comparative ‘wilderness’ of Hartland.

As we were staying at the same B&B for the next couple of days and departing Bude by bus, it was possible to stash shopping and excess kit in readiness for our final day’s walking.

A few minutes walk from the B&B to local Bude Tandoori and a wander around Bude this evening. There was allegedly a jazz festival on but we didn’t hear too many indications of it. There was a blues band playing in a marquee out front of one of the hotels which sounded like a decent standard. On looking up the programme, the band was headed up by Paul Jones, of Radio 2 and ex-Manfred Mann fame.

Info:

Accommodation – Tee-Side, Bude

Location ***
Room ****
Facilities **** separate lounge area, really useful after sharing a twin room for a few days
Noise *** quite close to town but traffic died down later in the day
Food ****
Ambience ****
Price **** £60 for the room

http://www.tee-side.co.uk/

Food – Bude Tandoori

Quality ***
Price *** avg

Beer

Kingfisher / Cobra in the restaurant. What no real ale!

The Leg 3 Movie Spot!

In the absence of any of my own productions this time, here's a taster of the Bude Jazz Festival, 2011!