It had reached the middle of February and we had still not ventured to the coast for a walk. In fact we hadn’t done any coastal walk since 8th December at Brixham (here) and before that a proper walk from Holywell to Crantock near Newquay (here), it was well overdue. We put this right with a stunning walk along a lovely undulating coastal trail in some glorious sunshine. After a couple of days of heavy rain, the clouds cleared as we completed the first mile, and then blue skies and sun dominated our skies. Inland the cloud hung heavily over both Dartmoor and Bodmin moor, never properly moving away, but for us it was perfect. This walk picks up one of the sections I have left on the north coast of Cornwall, between Newquay and Bude. I have a small area around Polzeath to do, plus two longer walks at Mawgan Porth to Porthcothan and a monster of Port Quin to Dannonchapel. The last of these may need to be split, if I can work out how, as it comes in around 14 miles with some steep up and down parts. That’s for the future though, and we were driving on our way to Padstow through rain, my fingers were crossed that the forecast was right, with better weather by the coast. It was, and this walk will likely be a strong competitor for my top walks of the year and has certainly been the best walk we have had so far in 2024. The section around Gunver Head is superb with some spectacular rock stacks at Middle Metrop Island. You then round Stepper Point, passing the daymark and coastguard lookout before the longer return along the estuary into Padstow. We passed the point where the boat crosses to Rock heading into Padstow, we will visit there when we do the short Polzeath section. Such a superb walk, and I was pleased we got such good weather, as Linda loves these coastal walks in these conditions.

Start – Padstow

Route – Prideaux Place – Trethillick – Trevone – Harlyn – South West Coastal Path – St Cadoc’s Point – Trevone Bay – Round Hole – Gunver Head – Stepper Point – Harbour Cove – Padstow

Distance – 10 miles    Start time – 11.25am   Time taken – 5hrs 30mins Highest Point – Stepper Point 74 metres

Weather – Cloudy for the first mile or so then lovely sunshine