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
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
