Cornwall; February 2019
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Staying at the Land's End Hotel in February and Ann's Pasties
The forecasters were predicting some unseasonably warm weather for Thursday 22nd February through to the end of that week. Even better, a single room with breakfast thrown in at the Land’s End hotel could be had for £60 on Thursday night. An opportunity for my first ride of the year and I’d always fancied staying at the Land’s End hotel so I booked Thursday night and I was off on the Varadero early on Thursday morning.
What the weather forecast didn’t mention was the thick freezing fog I encountered between Dorchester and Bridport. The fog gradually dispersed as I went further west and it turned into a beautiful day by the time I got to Cornwall. My outbound route followed the south Cornish coast whilst I returned following the north Cornish coast. A clockwise route basically.
On the way to Land’s End I took several ferries. It cost me 30p to cross the river Tamar on the Torpoint ferry, £3 to cross the river Fowey on the Bodinnick ferry and £2 to cross Carrick Roads (otherwise known as the river Fal estuary) on the King Harry ferry.
Coming from Plymouth I took the opportunity to visit some places from my childhood. Just down from Mount Edgcumbe is Maker which is where I went on my first school trip away from home. A bit further down the coast is Downderry beach where I spent many a happy hour as a child scouring the rock pools with my net.
After Downderry I stopped at a few other places as I made my way to my overnight stop at Land’s End. I had planned to visit The Lizard to get one of Ann’s pasties but as I passed by Falmouth the strong sun was getting low and, because I was going west, it made it difficult to see. It was also cooling rapidly so I decided to give The Lizard a miss this time to allow me to arrive at the Land’s End hotel before dark.
I just about made it to the hotel before dark where it was misty and “blowing a hooley“. Definitely had a bit of the Poldark atmosphere about it. My single room was in the eaves and the wind was noisily rattling around outside so I stuck my ear plugs in to get some sleep. I slept OK but the bed was a bit on the small side for me and I never quite managed to get all of me covered by the duvet.
The weather was lovely on Friday morning and breakfast at the hotel was very good. I had a full English whilst looking out at the Atlantic crashing against the rocks. The coastline from St Michael’s Mount around to St Ives and the area it surrounds has lots to see and the road from St Just to St Ives is a favourite of mine. I had a very enjoyable ride from Land’s End through St Just and Pendeen to St Ives. St Ives was very busy but then it was half term. I navigated through its narrow crowded streets to be rewarded by the sight of the RNLI out moving their lifeboat.
Road closures seem to be more common these days and a couple of these caused me to bypass some of the places I was intending to visit. Hell’s Mouth was worth a stop but unfortunately the café there was closed for the winter. After Portreath I headed for Newquay and Padstow. On the way to Padstow I stopped off at the Bedruthan Steps, a very spectacular piece of coastline. Legend says that the huge rocks on the beach are giants’ stepping stones.
After Padstow I headed for Bude so that I could take the A3072 towards Exeter on the way home to Dorset. It was still a lovely day at Bude but by the time I got to around Okehampton a freezing mist had descended. The remainder of the ride home was very chilly.
A good first ride of the year all in all. The weather in Cornwall was lovely and sunny, and, given it was February, I could visit places which would otherwise be mobbed come springtime.