Port Isaac to Padstow

 

Port Isaac to Padstow- Tuesday 24th April 2012

Path Facts - Length: 12 miles, Ascent: 1800 feet

Tuesday morning and would you Adam and Eve it, sunshine! A good breakfast at Hathaway and being halfway up the hill on the right side of town seemed like a good head start on the day's venture. If there's one disadvantage to moving on every day, it's that it sometimes feels like we're only skimming the surface of the places on route. By the time you arrive anywhere after a day's walking, the thought of going on too much exploration in the evening is not uppermost in the mind.

Port Isaac looked quite impressive in the morning sun and the views back improved as we headed off further uphill.

It was still fairly cool today but nothing to complain about. In the sun, the coastline takes on a different quality again. A fantastic winding stretch of path can be seen following the fence in the pictures below.

 

 

 
First stop today was the tiny village of Port Quin.

 

On the hill was a small building known as Doyden Castle. This was built by one Samuel Symons in 1830 for wild drinking parties apparently. It's possible to stay there through the National Trust.

The path continues around a headland to Pentire point where views open up back along the River Camel to Polzeath.

 

From the same spot there are views across to Stepper Point and Trevose Head which would be tomorrow's walk. The first of these images shows Trevose Head in the far right distance. This is approx 5 miles as the crow flies and quite a bit longer than that the way we went! The lower two pics are showing off the awesome zoom on my camera from the same location.

 

 

Stopped at the seaside town of Polzeath for some lunch at the Galleon Beach Cafe for an "ok" toasted sandwich...

... which nonetheless needed to be guarded from beady-eyed wildlife.

The path now ran along the side of the Camel from Polzeath right down to Rock where we would catch the ferry to Padstow - hence the walking was fairly easy going.

A quick stop for a cold one in Rock then we caught the ferry (£1.50 for a single) and arrived in Padstow about 4.45pm.

 

Padstow is a place I've been to so many times on holiday that it was almost instantly like I'd never been away. Not a lot had changed. We had a brief wander around before checking in at our stop for the night, The Golden Lion Hotel... a free house with Betty Stoggs on tap... 

 ...luckily they had an interior map.

Local Interesting Fact!

The Golden Lion Hotel is the starting place of the annual May Day 'Obby 'Oss Festival, which is said to date from Celtic times and celebrates the coming of summer. The earliest mention of the festival in Padstow was 1803. Coincidentally, an early film of the festival was made by the American folklorist, Alan Lomax who's book "Land Where The Blues Began" I had been reading on the trip. The film is from 1953 and the Golden Lion is even mentioned in it. Here is a short excerpt:

A short jaunt around Padstow in the evening was followed by a top notch pizza from Rojanos followed by a pint of Betty and a Doom Bar for Andy, sadly not overlooking the actual Doom Bar itself as planned. The bitter, brewed by Sharps at Rock, gets it's name from the the sand back in the Camel estuary which is responsible for 600-ish ship wrecks.

Info:

Accommodation – Golden Lion Hotel

Location ****
Room ****
Facilities **** good mod cons
Noise ****
Food ****
Ambience **** not promising at first but the history is interesting
Price ** £90 for the room

http://www.goldenlionpadstow.co.uk

Food - Rojanos

Quality ***** "The pizza to measure all other pizzas by" ~ A Tebbutt (2012)
Price **** good value for excellent food

http://www.rojanos.co.uk/

Beer
Betty Stoggs ****
Doom Bar ***