10th August 2022

 

Zennor to Morvah

To start with, let’s shout out for the Land’s End Coaster.  This is an hourly bus service using lovely blue semi-open-top buses which run hourly right round the coast in both directions as far as Penzance.  Brilliant.  We don’t spend any cash on taxis or use our car.  The Coaster takes us and brings us back every day.  And it accepts our Freedom Passes.  That’s the good news today – bad news follows.  We set out from our front door and follow the lane down to Zennor Head, where we started our ill-fated walk back to St Ives in March.  This time we head in the opposite direction towards Pendeen. It’s very hot and we decide to call it a day at Morvah.  The path is tough here, although not as bad as the St Ives – Zennor section.  We don’t locate the connecting path up to Morvah and cross some fields, climbing gates as we go.  We end up walking though the churchyard and find the Morvah Schoolhouse café, where we buy lovely cold water and tea.  At this point I reach in my pocket for my phone.  It isn’t there.  Frantic search of all pockets and backpacks only confirms that the phone has gone.  Disaster.  I have either left it where we had lunch, or dropped it.  We decide that Chris will get the bus and I will retrace my steps and try to find it.  I refill my water bottle and set off.  The only person I meet is a polite Japanese gent, who has not seen a phone.  It is about 17.00 when I start.  I plan to walk up to the road and have asked Chris to come out after 1800 to see if she can find me.  But it is past seven when I climb up at Porthmeor.  I am exhausted and dehydrated and I haven’t found the phone.  I seem to have missed the lunch stopping place and I have walked more than halfway back to Zennor.  I start limping slowly toward the Gunard’s Head pub.  No sign of Chris. A car stops and a woman calls out.

“Hello. We passed you earlier on the coast.  Are you OK?”

“No”

“What’s happened?”

I tell her the story.  They offer to drive down to Zennor and tell Chris where to find me.  I make it to the pub, order a cooling pint of lager and sit outside.  I finish the pint.  It’s getting dark and I am about to start walking down to Zennor, when a man comes up to me.  I don’t recognise him, but he is the partner of the woman in the car.

“We found your barn, but there was no one there.  We left a message on the door for your wife”

Their little car is loaded up with camping gear, so there is no room for another passenger.  He stays behind at the pub.

“I suppose I will just have to have a beer!” he laughs.

The woman – Jane - drives me down to Zennor.  It turns out that they are from Exeter.  They know Sidmouth well.  We arrive at Gorse Barn seconds after Chris.  I thank Jane profusely.  Really nice couple and I regret not taking a phone number to tell them the end of the phone debacle.

Chris is frantic.  She was literally about to dial 999 for the coast guard.  I cannot understand how we missed each other.  But she has news. 

“There is this app, called ‘find my phone’ on google. I downloaded it and it seemed to say your phone was at the Moomaid Café, so I went there, and of course it was my phone the app had located.  Do you have your Google password? Then I can go Incognito on my phone and it might find yours.”

“No”

Despair.  Then I ask:

“Isn’t James staying at the flat?  He can go into my desktop and find the Google password.”

Chris calls James, and we have the password.

We enter it and the make of phone – Oneplus9.  Bingo!  The phone shows up in the fields between SWCP and Morvah – very close to where we had tea.  We were supposed to be having dinner at Source Café, but without my phone, I can’t call them.  They charge £60 for no show. What a day!