Coastwalk , South West Coast Path

Portloe → Mevagissey

Distance: 12.1 miles
Ascent: 899 metres
Duration: 5 hours 6 minutes

Fast foward
« Portscatho | Par »

We've skipped ahead. Instead of starting today where we stopped yesterday in Portscatho, we began in Portloe - the original destination for yesterday's walk. It's a shame to leave a gap, but if this is to be the last walk of the week we wanted to end with a longer section rather than the seven miles or so between Portscatho and Portloe.

The day didn't start too well when we realised that we had left the camera behind, so photographs are courtesy of Emma's iPhone. (Incidentally, the new HDR feature seems to work a treat in improving picture quality.)

The central geographic feature of the walk was Dodman Point, a headland so renowned that it is addressed locally with the definite article. The Dodman has claimed many ships over the years but has neither lighthouse nor daymark. Instead its tip is adorned with a huge stone cross to honour those who strive for safety at sea.

As we rounded the Dodman, the headlands of the Lizard - and our vista of the week's walking - disappeared from view. In their place we could see Gribbin Head and its striped red and white daymark with Fowey and Polperro somewhere in the haze.

The descent into Mevagissey was welcome but ultimately slightly unsatisfactory. It had been a great walk, but was tempered slightly by the knowledge that we had still one segment left to do before we could complete the week's objective of closing the gap between Lizard and Mev.