To the Lighthouse

Godrevy Lighthouse



Last year after a major operation I could just walk around my garden once, very slowly. Each day I did a bit more, and today I managed a coastal walk of nearly 10 miles.  I'm chuffed to bits.

On my 60 by 60 list I have included 'walk the coastal path all around Cornwall'. We started to walk it a few years ago, we were all enthusiastic for one summer then it fizzled out, other things got in the way as they do.  So now it's on my list and you are all witness to this so I have to do it, and I'll be sharing it with you.  It might take a few years, it's a long way around, but it is absolutely beautiful and worth every aching muscle.

Today we walked along the north coast path between Portreath and Godrevy.  It is an easy walk, some parts of the coastal path are really tough and involve steep coves, but this one is fairly flat (for Cornwall) with just a couple of stiles to climb over, so it is suitable for those of us who need to ease into this.  There were some diversions because of cliff falls after the huge winter storms, but the path still stays close to the rugged cliffs giving us amazing views.

We met quite a few other walkers on the way, all say hello, we're a friendly bunch us coast walkers.

Looking back towards Portreath, there are a few car parks near the path where you can park for free.

There are plenty of wildflowers along the way

As well as wildlife

Inquisitive cattle

Our destination

Shetland ponies grazing on the cliff top

Gwithian beach in St Ives bay.

Seals doing a bit of sunbathing

Godrevy lighthouse, said to be the inspiration for Virginia Wolfs book  To the Lighthouse.  For me it will always be the home of Shooster the dog.  When I was little my dad used to tell me tales of a little dog who lived on the lighthouse called Shooster.  He got up to all sorts of adventures and was always saving people who were in trouble at sea.  We would walk along the beach and dad would point to dog tracks and say that they were Shoosters, who used to swim across to the beach to play at night when we had all gone home.  Happy memories.

This was our view as we ate our packed lunch, pretty perfect!  There are toilets and a cafe at Godrevy, and usually an ice cream van.  We headed back to the car and stopped at Hells Mouth cafe, which is near the path for some Cornish ice cream.

You can see why I love Cornwall