Treyarnon to Newquay

Treyarnon to Newquay

Distance - 19.5Km
Time Taken - Hard to say with tanning breaks
Assent - 450m ish

Day 2 of the South West Coast Path (SWCP) adventure.  Another glorious day, it was hard to imagine that we are still in February.  February is still supposed to be winter?  After day one the only injuries were a slightly burnt face and to the wallet (Hostels with bar and cafe are not cheap...).

View from the hostel.

This section of the walk was much quieter and more 'wild' than the day before.  We only saw a few other walkers (and a couple of runners...) mostly near to the villages on route.  The route is again very easy to follow and should not pose any navigation issues, I carried a map but it was only really used to see how far we had gone (and how far it was to the hotel!). 

Padstow to Treyarnon

Padstow to Treyarnon

Distance - 17.5Km
Time Taken - A few hours
Ascent - 325m ish.

Back to the South West Coast Path (SWCP) to complete the full 3 days that I didn't quite finish last year.  This year I was lighter and came off a full training regime, haha yeah right.  Not sure 3 long walks since Christmas count as a regime...

A walking person

A bus ride from Newquay took us to the tourist trap of Padstow for the first day of our adventures.  Joined by Nic we made a swift start and went straight into a Pasty shop (or bakery as they are known in these parts).  Today's award winning pasties were of the Lamb, Leek and Mint variety, and were pretty tasty.

And Finally...

Great Barford - Tempsford - Blunham Loop.

Distance - 11.4Km
Time Taken - 2Hrs 10mins
Ascent - 22m

After 2 failed attempts (1 due to bad admin, 1 due to plumber!) I finally got this loop out of the way.  Overall the walk is very gentle (a whole 22m of ascent!) and a pleasent walk on the whole.  Lots of wildlife to see along the two rivers, I have seen Kingfishers there in previous years.

The walk is mainly along the Great Ouse and the River Ivel, the Ouse is a slow moving navigationable river (hence the locks and weirs), whilst the Ivel is much smaller but has some flow.  The Ouse on previous days was quite bland and grey, the sun helped bring out a bit of colour and it felt like a spring day.  The walk to Roxton locks is gentle, hardly taxing and like all this route easy to follow.  In a few places the Ouse appears to be a dirty river, with rubbish caught in the reed beds and on some tree branches but mostly it's just a gentle sweeping river.

Deja Vu

Ever get the feeling a walk will never happen?  After the last failed attempt to do a 7 mile loop round Great Barford, Tempsford and the Great Ouse, I attempted the walk yet again.  And yet again events conspired to work against me.  This time a call after 2 and a half miles from the landlords plumber forced the change!   Takes him weeks to come round... and now he calls!

Made it slightly further this time and actually managed to make it over the Great Ouse!  Another overcast day made the surroundings surprisingly dreary with most things appearing beige.

The path is pretty good until the lock, where there was short section of wet claggy clay muddyness on an angle.  Nothing that hardcore walkers can't overcome it just made your boots twice their original weight and size!

Abort Abort

After a few days off doing absolutely nothing I decided to do a short walk along the Great Ouse and the River Ivel, about 7 miles (give or take).  However due to being badly organised I didn't start the walk until 15.50, so I only had an hour before dusk.  In the end I wandered down from Great Barford to Roxton Lock along the Great Ouse.  It was a bit chilly, overcast and a bit miserable.  Snow was on the way and it seemed that everyone and everything had hunkered down for the night.

Saying all that it was a nice 2 and a half miles there and the same back, as opposed to the full 7 mile loop.  It was getting dark before I got back to the car and the snow started 15 mins after.  As walks go it was a bit pathetic in length, but still good to get out and about!