Saturday 27 April

By: Mike

 

Saturday 27 April

We catch the early bus again.  This time there are no kids, being Saturday.  But the bus runs a few minutes late, and does its diversion to the school, even though no one gets on or off.  We get out at Widegates again.  The rain is pouring down and we convince ourselves that we have missed the connection. It is a low moment.  We are in the middle of nowhere, in the rain.  We about to start hunting for a taxi, when the bus appears out of the rain.  Maybe it was also running late. 

At the Portwrinkle turning, the bus stops.  We are the only passengers again.  Lady driver pops her head up to explain why we have stopped.

“Yes, we know” we laugh, “We were on the bus yesterday”.

We get out at the top of Portwrinkle Hill because I am sure the path starts here and we can avoid climbing back up – but I am wrong, and we find ourselves committed to walking along a busy road.  But soon the path comes up the hill and runs alongside the road behind the army firing range.  The sun comes up and we get our first glimpse of the Tamar. The end is in sight!

There’s a lot of road walking in this sector.  But we are way ahead of schedule and we decide to go out to Rame Head.  This part of the path is good and the views are worth it. We eat lunch on a bench overlooking Whitsand Bay and its tourist boats.  We skip the sector from Rame Head and slip down the road to Cawsand.  There is a bus which will take us to Cremyll so that we can walk back and finish at our dinner date in The Bay Bar. We are ambling down the lane when we become aware that our bus is right behind us waiting for us to get out of the way.  We frantically signal that we need to catch it, and the driver obligingly opens the door to let us on.  Not something that would happen on the R70 to Richmond.

                                            Plymouth Royal William Yard with Cremyll Ferry

The bus meanders via Millbrook, which affords us the chance to rest on the top deck.  It is a beautiful evening and the three miles through the Mount Edgecumbe estate are probably the easiest of the entire trip.  In the twin village of Kingsand we get a very welcome cup of tea and finally flop into the Bay at 18.00.  We have walked 12 miles.  OK, we are knackered.  But we have got fitter and we understand the advantage of a two-week stint. We have covered 50 miles since Mevagissey.  It is much more effective than long weekends or even single weeks.  Being retired, we can do it.  So, there are 218 miles from Cremyll to Poole.  That is four two week sessions.  We probably won’t finish this year.

After supper, we wander up to The Square and have a chilly wait for our 20.00 taxi.  It is late.  We had hopes of a comfy limo to carry us gently back to Polperro.  What we get is an old rattle trap kitted out to take a wheel chair.

“This only comes out in emergencies”, the lady driver of a certain age tells us.  She has wild grey hair and we are nervous.  It is extremely uncomfortable and the wheel chair fittings rattle.  I end up sitting next to the driver.  My deafness and her strong Cornish accent  make conversation impossible.  But she is an expert driver.  I gladly pay the £43 and tip her £7.

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