Having walked over three hundred miles now we are now feeling tired and a night without much sleep has not helped. We were due to be camping for another two days but with arguably the hardest walk of the whole SWCP coming up (Bude to Hartland Quay) we have decided to modify our plans for the next couple of days. Instead of camping we have made arrangements for accommodation at both Bude and Hartland Quay and, we have arranged luggage transfer for the one day of the walk to Hartland Quay. We do this reluctantly but, taking everything in to consideration, including that we still have another one hundred miles to walk at the end of the SWCP and particularly how tired we feel today, we think these are sensible precautions.
From our campsite we have a long road descent to almost sea level at Crackington Haven where we rise up and descend above Pencannow Point to then walk over rolling countryside to ascend to the highest point of the day (over 160 metres) above Dizzard Point. There is a long drop then to Milook Haven before a steep ascent to above Foxhole Point, then dropping down for the lower level walk across Widemouth Sand and then a meandering walk of rise and fall for a few miles to reach Bude.
Weather wise we expect rain at some point today but the later the better.
Head down and bash on is what Vagabonds are good at!
The walk back down the hill was much easier than the walk up yesterday. Just before you hit the village there is a path that comes off the road and leads up to the side of the beach, walking almost parallel to Black Rock, leading you to above Pencannow Point. The path was slightly overgrown in places, with ferns brushing and dampening the bottom of your legs. The mist was thinner on the hilltop than it had been coming down the valley, so we had a nice view across the harbour to Bray's Point and beyond to Cambeak. Below us on the Strand, a young man who had wild camped emerged from his tent for a first long, slow stretch of the day before standing on the headland, still like a heron standing over the water, no doubt pondering the meaning of life or, more likely, where to have breakfast.
The higher we moved the damper it was, although at this stage it was still just mist providing the moisture and not rain, nonetheless it was necessary to have the cover on the rucksack. Where there were gaps in the wooded section we could see down the sheer cliff face to the beaches and strands below, the cliff face heavily vegetated with little rock actually able to be seen on the face. Exiting the wooded section on to Bynorth Cliff, it was a short, steadily descending walk until we were walking on a short section of road, heading for the rocky bay that is Millook Haven which is known for its zig-zag rock formations.
At the back of the haven there are a couple of small pools that are breeding / growing pools for young bass. It was interesting standing by the sides of the pool watching the small shoals of fish dart about the water. After lunch, we headed back up the beach and on to the road again for a very short section before cutting off for the climb up to the top of Bridwill Point and a cross-country section before rejoining the road at Penhalt Cliff. Sitting on the beach it had been slightly chilly, but on the cliff the heat and mugginess continued making us slightly uncomfortable.
It was not long before we began to see Bude in the distance, certainly much sooner than we expected. Of course, as soon as you see a place you think you have arrived and it is never that easy and there was still a length of walking to do. From a distance we could see the small octagonal tower on the hilltop above Compass Point and pretty soon were passing it by. It is said to have been built in 1835 as refuge for the coastguard but also just as an ornamental building. We came in to the town past the locks and barges on the disused Bude Canal and, walking with the canal on our right and the River Neet on our left, we cut in to town to go across a golf course to reach our accommodation in the district of Flexbury.
Initially conceived in 1774, it was not until 1823 that the first vessels sailed on the Bude Canal and it was to be 1825 before construction was finished. The main purpose of the can was to move mineral rich sands to the agricultal lands of Devon and Cornwalls brder area. The development of the railway into Cornwall was to eventually sound the death knell for the canal and towards the end of the 19th C, business on the canal declined and
over subsequent years, lost all of its original function.