To a Long Steep Hill

 Monday 29th April Our train tickets are returns from Par - which seems a long way away now.  I am in a panic that we won't be able to get through the automatic gates at Plymouth.  This will lead to a visit to the ticket office and trouble because I have lost my Senior Railcard.  I make Derek and Maggie drive us ridiculously early to the station.  There is no problem and the gates click open.  We have a cold half-hour wait for the London train.

 Sunday 28th April We are not due to leave Polperro until tomorrow, but we have been invited to stay the night with our friends Derek and Maggie in Plymouth.  There's a bus which takes us directly to the centre of Plymouth, so yet again, we trundle our bags up to the bus stop at The Crumplehorn.  We quit our Airbnb a day early.  We pause to buy a gift box of fudge for Robert our allotment neighbour who has been watering for us.

  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 ...

  The weather has worsened.   We have worked out a bus route to our next destination which is Portwrinkle.   Once again, we are walking backwards. So we catch an 08.40 bus which is ram-packed with school kids who all get off at a big secondary above Looe.   The empty bus takes us on to Whitegates where we wait for a connection.   In a couple of minutes it appears and swoops back down to the coast at Seaton, then threads its way through Downderry.   At the turning to Portwrinkle, the bus halts.   We are the only passengers.   We are sitting on the top deck wondering what is happening, when the driver’s head pops up at the top of the stairs.   Us: “What’s happened?” Driver: “ I’m waiting for the other bus to come up.   If we meet in the narrows, we are doomed”. Sure enough a few minutes later, another big red double-decker eases along the tiny road.   It is completely empty.   Why do they run these huge buses on these trick...

  Today it’s a short walk to Looe.   Just four miles.   The weather is changing.   It’s cold and there is rain.   We stop for coffee at Seaton.   The café has little cabins and we shelter in one for our coffee break.   This is a good moment to shout out for the way coffee culture has penetrated Cornwall.   Me: “We’d like two coffees please”. Café lady: “What coffees?” Me (seeing list on wall): “Oh, can you do Americanos?” Café lady (OK, barrista): “Black or with milk?” Me: “Milk, please” Barrista: “Hot or cold milk” Me:   “Hot if you can do it”. Barrista (with contemptuous look): “Of course. Large Americanos or small?” Me:   “Small, please”. Barrista:   “£7.00 please, cash or card?”. We are on the edge of West Looe by lunch time and find a table with benches.   It is cold.   We are right opposite Looe Island.   I wish I had brought my binoculars. An old geezer comes passed with his dog, which p...

                                                           View of the harbour from our Polperro Airbnb                                                     It’s goodbye to Fowey today. We are moving base to Polperro.   I assumed we could repeat yesterday’s journey, but it would mean an early start again, because the next bus after 09.29 was so late.   So we booked a taxi to pick us up at The Ship.   Driver got us a mile past the Bodinnick ferry when I realised I had left my sticks propped against the pub.   We turned back.   They were still there.   But it did mean we did the ferry three times and doubled the fare to £80. Each ferry ...

  We are over the river on the 08.35 ferry where we wait for the 9.29 bus to Polperro. The plan is to walk from Polperro back to Fowey, thus avoiding bus anxiety.                                                                                  Ferry to Polruan I have another nostalgic moment.   In 1964 I spent a summer holiday here with Nigel (Humphrey) Morrison and his family.   When the bus arrives, it is a minibus, and instead of turning the bus round, the driver reverses all the way up Polruan Fore Street. We are on the path in Polruan by 10.30.   We are unaware that we have walked right past our next Airbnb. The guide books talk up this section as being hard – but we found it quite OK.   Of course there are ups and downs. ...