St Ives out of season

I've carried on with my walking (I'm at about 170 "boots on" miles, but the weather has been grey, so blogs wouldn't show places to their best advantage: however I thought this walk was worth showing you)

I know St Ives well from summer holidays but my stay last week gave me a new perspective. 

This short walk could be done in the summer - but the views would be very different

I started from the railway station and followed the narrow street into St Ives

I always prefer to take the seaward route - though later the waves were splashing here, soaking walkers.
The ghost walk looked fun - there are a variety of local story walks advertised.

A ghostly mist hung over the town

Continuing along by the beach, this is the other side of Smeaton's Pier - the view back to Porthminster has almost vanished. This is Bamaluz Beach apparently

 The path round to Porthgwidden Beach

From there I climbed up to St Ives Head, or the Island as it is often known.

At the top is the little Chapel of St Nicholas.

...somewhat shrouded in mist.

The view down to Porthmeor Beach

...and down to the waves crashing onto the rocks below.

No wonder the chapel was needed as a navigation mark.

Down on Porthmeor Beach, the winter storms have piled the beach halfway up the garage doors

Some hardy people braved the sands. Later there were surfers

Tate St Ives was being refurbished

As I took the Coast Path towards Zennor, the mist lifted for a moment, so I could look back at the headland and its chapel

Then it disappeared again

This view through the rocks always intrigues me. I call it the Profiles (I can see four) but that's only my name for it.

Round the next corner, St Ives begins to disappear from view.

The coast here is wild and lonely, yet so near a bustling tourist spot. 

The path is fairly clear, even in the mist

Headlands stretch out in front of me, their heads in the clouds.

On the tops, I could be in Pennine moorland

Deciding that Zennor was too far in poor visibility, I turned back. This is from a little shelter - much needed today!

Back in St Ives, I saw a sign for "The Ultimate Crab Sandwich". It definitely was!!!! I awarded it 11 out of ten (From the Beach Cafe Bar, formerly Al Fresco)

Today's walk. I walked round the edge of St Ives, keeping as close to the sea as I could. Then up to the Island, and down to Portmeor. Following the Coast path, I could have gone to Zennor ,  6 miles away,(in the summer you can catch a bus back) but I felt a round trip of nearly 12 miles would be too far, so I retraced my steps. My walk was about 5 miles in total, but you could extend or reduce it according to whim or weather

Walking 1000 miles in 2016: How I did it

Though I walk regularly anyway, I decided to "up my game" for 2016, and follow Country Walking Magazine's #Walk 1000 Miles Challenge

1000 miles in a year isn't a lot - it's just less than 3 miles per day, so quite achieveable for most people really. I made it a bit tougher, by deciding to only count "boots on" miles - ie. not just ordinary walking round the shops, and round the house.
On January 1st I walked round Wormleighton, Oxfordshire, (link: one-canal-two-deserted-villages) and met this fierce looking Texel sheep standing on the grassy humps of a deserted Medieval village

Later in the month, I met more sheep, on a cold January day on the Sheepwalks- little known hills just outside the Black Country (Link:  sheepwalks-in-late-afternoon.)

In February, we started the Monarch's Way Long distance path (over 600 miles, and I've only covered about 70 so far.)This is White Ladies Priory, where King Charles spent the night after he fled from the defeat at the Battle of Worcester. (Link:  in-footsteps-of-escaping-king)

Stately homes offer good walking in their grounds: this is Blenheim Palace at Easter. (I'd never do it again because of the Bank Holiday crowds, though they thinned out as we started our walk.)( (Link:  blenheim-palace-grounds-celebrating-300.years of Capability Brown)

In May, my husband needed to go to London: I accompanied him and walked from the Thames Barrier to Tower Bridge while he sat in a stuffy meeting. (Link:  stormy-times-and-high-tides-thames)

I discovered a fabulous walk local to me: Habberley Valley, near Kidderminster - one of my new favourites. You climb steeply upwards through some dispiriting woodlands, but at the top there is a fantastic view over the whole of the Black Country as well as parts of Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. (North Worcestershire path on the skyline) (Link:  short-but-superb-habberley-valley-near.Kidderminster)

I love urban canals, especially those round Birmingham - they are so secret. This canal goes right under the M5.(Link:  narrow-boats-pools-and-motorways.html)

June saw me in Gloucestershire: this is an Iron Age Barrow that you can climb right inside - known locally as Hetty Pegler's Tump (Link: climbing-inside-bronze-age-barrow-uley)

I spent much of the summer holiday sailing - at home and in Cornwall, so I got a bit behind on my walking, though I did manage some miles. This is Loe Pool in Cornwall - Cornwall's largest lake. (Link: gentle-walk-round-loe-bar)


Another great local walk: along the Severn Valley....

...  and back by steam train (Link: severn-stroll-bewdley-to-arley)

In October, I did my favourite walk of the year: climbing Cadair Idris. Fantastic views all the way.

Daughter Ruth accompanied me to the summit


..and photographed me starting the descent. (Link: cader-challenge-could-you-do-it)

I went out in all weathers. Pouring rain on the Malverns, but a lovely rainbow at the end of the walk. If I'd stayed in, I would have missed it. (But I would have been drier!) I didn't blog this walk - too wet!

Most of my walks were local - through fields to get a newspaper, for example,  or, as here, along the Staffs and Worcs Canal to a tearoom in Wolverley

This walk was my most popular blog post this year, and though it looks sunny, this was in late Autumn (Link:  a-tearoom-walk-kinver-to-wolverley)

Two unpublished pictures from December: we went to Barmouth to walk part of the Mawddach Trail, and this was the best view on the whole walk(!) 

 ...but back at the cottage, a late afternoon walk the following day gave us this beautiful sunset

I finished my 1000 miles, boots only walk on 31st December, in the dying light of the old year, on my local walk on Kinver Edge (South Staffs)

It's been a great year - and I have really enjoyed the challenge. 

What about you - could you do this? With a little planning, it's definitely possible - you make up your own rules. Some people counted all their steps, some just did walks of a certain length. Look at the Facebook page to see more. Or get a copy of Country Walking magazine of course. Let me know how you get on.

Enville to Kinver - your big winter walk?

This is a lovely walk in its own right, but combine it with the previous walk (click here) and you can get a 9/10 mile walk which could be done on Boxing Day or New Year's Day.

It passes though the Enville Estate's sweeping parkland, much of it designed by William Shenstone.

I started this section in Enville,  - you can park near this shop

I went up to look at the church - it's one of my favourites, because of this lovely stone work on its tower

Sandstone churches are fairly rare - and sandstone does erode easily, as the worn door decorations showed

I walked past the post office

...and on into Enville Hall's grounds

There's a glimpse of Enville's church through the trees.

Past Enville cricket club's scoreboard 

...and the impressive stables.

A horse dashed up to meet me. Enville is famous for its point to pointers.

Looking back towards the hall

The last of the Autumn leaves were still clinging on

The pool by Home Farm

This walk is mostly on the Staffordshire way, and is easy to follow (and to walk)

There are good open views back across to the Million (the woodland from the previous walk)

It's easy to miss the old ice house.

The higher land aheasd is Kinver Edge

The path continued to the very edge of Kinver, 

...where I turned right along a road for about 100 metres, then left into the next woodland (still on the Staffs Way)

The path brought me to Windsor Crescent, 

...where I looked towards Kinver Edge, with its famous rock houses.  I decided to leave them to another day. (They are worthy of a blog all to themselves)

Instead I followed paths between the houses. (They all lead to the next so it's difficult to go wrong). Here, at Compton Gardens, I turned down Stone Lane and into the village

Kinver's sandstone church is on a rocky outcrop high above the village

The windows were decorated ready for Christmas

This route is very easy, and very worthwhile to walk. It's just over 3.5 miles. You can use two cars and walk it one way, or do it as an out and back route of 7.2 miles
Or you can combine it with this route (click here)  Then all you need to do is walk an extra mile along the canal to the Stewponey Lock. This combination makes a 10 mile round trip. Suitable to walk off the Christmas calories on Boxing Day? Or to walk on January 1st to start a New Year's resolution to get fitter/walk more? Of which, more anon....

Today's walk: 3.5 miles, easy walking. Park in Enville. (Visit the church first - lovely views) Then follow the Staffordshire Way through the Enville estate and on to Kinver. On reaching the road in Kinver, walk in a straight line between the houses, until you reach Compton Gardens and its junction with Stone Lane. Turn left down Stone Lane and right at the bottom onto Kinver High Street. Cafes, restaurants and pubs galore here. My current favourite is the Olde House Tea rooms