Yorkshire Walks

Crackington Haven seen from our cottage at Flanders Farm

Friday 13 June 2003

We had a good clear drive of seven hours from home to the cottage at Flanders Farm near Crackington Haven and arrived at about 4.30pm. The farmer's wife was very nice and showed us round the cottage. After we had unpacked and had some home made soup and crusty bread, we followed the footpath down two steep fields to the valley bottom and then walked along a path through the woods to the sea at Crackington Haven about three quarters of a mile from the cottage. The cottage window looks directly down the valley to the sea. We could watch the waves breaking as we ate our meals! There was a good pub at the sea front where we had a drink and noticed some good appetising meals being served.

Route No. 81a - Saturday 14 June 2003
Bude to Crackington Haven via Widemouth Bay
on the South West Coastal Path - 10 miles
Cornwall . . .

Route map from Ordnance Survey Open Space service.

Map: OS Explorer 111 Bude, Boscastle & Tintagel at 1:25000

Bude from accross the harbour

Headlands south of Widemouth Bay

Looking north over Milook

Looking north over Widemouth Bay

We passed a lovely beach at Widemouth Bay and had a snack at the beach cafe. It was a very strenuous day and we were very glad to reach the pub at Crackington Haven after over six hours from Bude. The wild flowers were amazing today all the way along the coast path - almost every variety that I know and as many more that I couldn't name. No photos today because we forgot to take a camera with us, but I took some on Sunday as we drove up the coast road to Widemouth Bay and then on to Bude.

This morning the weather was hot and sunny and we planned to get a taxi to Bude and walk back on the coastal path. There is no mobile phone signal at the cottage so I went out to drive to the top of the hill to ring the taxi firm. I met the farmer's wife in the yard and she insisted in taking us to Bude herself. She took us to the tourist information office in Bude on the sea front next to the canal. The scenery along the coastal path was spectacular with high rocky headlands, clear blue sky aqnd sea, and the white surf crashing on the rocks. The coast path of course went up and down the many headlands. The route from Bude to Crackington Haven is about 10 miles, but when I checked it on my mapping program it turned out that we had climbed a total of around 2000 feet in the day.

The Tower on the headland at Bude

Looking north up the coast from the headland at Bude

Looking towards Bude from south of Milook

Sunday 15 June 2003
Widemouth Bay
Cornwall . . .

Another lovely hot sunny day so we decided to go to Widemouth Bay for a day on the beach. Along the way we stopped to take a few photos of the route we walked yesterday. The tide was well out and I had a great time in the surf. Vi spent the time sunbathing and reading. We called at the same beach cafe as yesterday for our lunch. The whole day just slipped away with swimming, sun bathing and rock pooling. It was brilliant! At about 4.00pm we drove into Bude to have a look around to town centre and get a few things from the shops.

(Top of Page)

Monday 16 June 2003
The Eden Project - St Austell
Cornwall . . .

Another hot sunny day. We drove to the Eden Project near St. Austell. What a fantastic place. We arrived at about 10.30am and spent about four hours looking round. Then we drove to Padstow to have a look around and got some lovely Cornish pasties. It's a very pretty harbour that faces across a bay with a broad sandbar in the middle and rolling hills on the other side.

Route No. 81b - Tuesday 17 June 2003
Crackington Haven to Boscastle
along the South West Coastal path - 6 miles
Cornwall . . .

Route map from Ordnance Survey Open Space service.

Map: OS Explorer 111 Bude, Boscastle & Tintagel at 1:25000

This morning the weather had changed to mist and showers but it was forecast to improve so we decided to walk to Boscastle on the coast path. At first it rained quite hard but after about an hour it cleared and continued to improve for the rest of the day. The scenery was even better than the section from Bude but there were even more headlands. The route was only six miles but it took us five hours and when I checked the route we had climed a total of 2300 feet up the many headlands. The highest one is almost 800 feet high and the path goes down to sea level at either side. About a mile before we reached Boscastle we saw a young Peregrin Falcon on the cliff edge below us. It was fully fledged but still had a fawnish speckled breast, although its dark face patches were quite evident. There were just as many wild flowers again and so many that I just couldn't put a name to. Boscastle was very pretty and we managed to catch a bus back to Crackington Haven in time to get changed and go for a meal at the pub.

Pony on the cliffs south of Crackington Haven

The coastguard lookout on the headland at Boscastle

The first hour was rather showery

View north from the highest point on the coast path at almost 800ft above sea level

Mist on the headlands as the rain began to clear

(Top of Page)

Wednesday 18 June 2003
A visit to Bude . . .

The weather was poor again today. We went to Bude and walked along the canal for a couple of miles. There is a marshland nature reserve alongside the canal for part of the way. When we reached the main coast road there were signs to a "Woodland" tea rooms. It turned out to be in a very pleasant setting with a sheltered patio overlooking a large garden. We had a nice lunch before strolling back into Bude. We came back to the cottage early as the weather had got worse. Back at the cottage we began the job of writing our wedding invitations. Such hard work meant we just had to go to the local pub for a lovely evening meal. The pub overlooks the sea and we had our very own entertainment of a surfer doing a very good job challenging the enormous waves.

(Top of Page)

Thursday 19 June 2003
A visit to Tintagel . . .

King Arthur's castle at Tintagel - very eirie in the mist

King Arthur's castle at Tintagel

We walked down to the harbour and had a look at the fish market where we had some fantastic crayfish tails, so fresh and full of flavour. After a visit to another tea shop we drove to Rock, a little village opposite Padstow and we took the ferry across the bay to Padstow. We got some pasties for tomorrow before getting the ferry back. Then we drove to Boscastle for a good fishy evening meal before going back to the cottage. The weather had picked up now ready for the fine day forecast for our journey home tomorrow.

The weather was peculiar today. Thick mist and drizzle on the headlands and the high coast road, and broken cloud out to sea with sunny patches on the coast. We drove to Tintagel and walked up to the castle - what an amazing place, especially with the mist drifting round the headland and the sun on the sea. A seal even put in a appearance in the inlet next to the castle. From Tintagel we drove to Port Isaac - a really pretty place.

Port Isaac

The ferry from Rock to Padstow

Looking down from the battlements of King Arthur's castle at Tintagel

(Top of Page)