An gentle stroll on the South West Coast path

It may seem a bit of an oxymoron to say that we had a gentle stroll on the SW coast path as most of it (in my experience so far) has been anything but gentle, but this bit was great.  Starting at the Parish Church at Tintagel, if you didn't know how to get to it you would never find it, very tucked away down a narrow lane, then along the cliff to Trebarwith Strand for a well needed pint of Tribute to refresh before walking back.

Tintagel of course is famous for the ruins of what some believe is Camelot, King Arthur's legendary castle.  Others, and to be honest I think this is the correct interpretation, believe that this amazing 'fortress' is the site of an ancient Celtic monastery and what a place for inspiration.  We haven't managed to 'do' the castle yet, but friends tell me it is not for the fainthearted (sheer drops) and not wise to do on a wet day as the place can be slippery.  Because of the links with the Arthurian legend, Tintagel has become rather a tourist trap with lots of tat shops and pasty shops named after the famous Merlin.  Parking in Tintagel is a nightmare and can cost you a small fortune in the summer.

One of the things I like about Tintagel is the other 'castle' a monstrous hotel perched on the cliffs next to the ruin.  It is rather art deco inside and I believe was built as a hotel in the late 1800's, it still has rather an old fashioned feel to it.  The outside of it, in my opinion, is rather an eyesore, but yesterday I noted that it seemed to look at bit better so there must have been some work done on it.  It is well worth a visit just to appreciate the views from it.

Our walk started the other side of the ruin, now run by the National Trust and you need to pay a fee to get in, from the Hotel and followed the very well marked cliff path past a youth hostel with a fantastic view; the picture opposite shows the youth hostel.  The waves were crashing against the rocks but each time I tried to get a picture of the water coming over the cliff top I mistimed it; need to get back there with my proper camera and a tripod, my new blog main picture was the best I could get!  The walk to Trebarwith and the Port William Inn; now owned by St Austell brewery and recently rather done up; we stayed there many many years ago and it seems to have lost some of it's charm but the location is just amazing; is a gentle one and it is only at the end as you descend into Trebarwith Strand that the going becomes a little tricky.

It is an interesting walk with ruins of slate mines created in the 17 and 1800's.  You can still see the remains of tram lines and the working,s and in places exploratory mine workings (like this 'door' in the cliff).  There are fantastic walls built into the sheer cliff and you wonder how anyone could have built these.  At a stage in the walk you turn a corner following the cliff and then can see the Port William in the distance, below you there appears to be a track and this leads to an old quay where ships would have been moored up and the slate loaded on. (you can just make out the track to the left of the picture on the left). The walls and 'ramparts' are all part of the mine workings, quite amazing.

After a beer or cool soft drink at the Port William you could carry on up a VERY steep cliff towards Port Issac but we turned round as this point and went back up the cliff path (bit steep in places, but once you are back on the top it is easy again) and took a bit of a detour off the cliff path to make the walk a circular ones.  You can of course return the way you came. 

A good resource for the South West Coast path is this site, 

http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/index.cfm  it includes planning to do the whole 630 miles, splitting the walk into day long walks, or shows the shorter circular walks including the one we did yesterday.  It details places of interest and history and things to look out for, so if you are thinking of doing any of the SW coast path this site is well worth looking at.