I’ve finished the trip!!!!
Simply amazing seems to some up Tuesday to Friday....not least the weather, with temperatures staying well into the mid 20’s each day and not a hint of rain. A nice change to previous years!

Tuesday St. Ives to St. Agnes Beacon – From here on I’d decided to pack a bit heavier, taking the tent and air bed etc. However with the heat, carrying the minimum of 5 litres of water I needed per day meant my ‘light weight’ rucksack now tipped the scales at 32 lbs. This began to show with my running speeds considerably hampered......so 4 days to Hartland Point was looking questionable. The stunning coastal views however easily compensated for the lack of speed and helped me pass away the hours on foot effortlessly. Plus towards the end of the day, the generous donation of dinner at a great little fish and chips in Porthtowan really lifted spirits ready for the morning.

St. Agnes Beacon to Mawgan Porth- Possibly my favourite day in terms of stunning scenery and hints of times gone by. The coastline and cliffs from St Agnes to Perranporth I would thoroughly recommend to everyone. On the cliff edged you pass through considerable old mine workings with shafts scattered everywhere and addits peppering the cliff faces. The path also meanders through one of the best preserved WWII Spitfire airfields I’ve ever seen, at RAF Perranporth (now still used as a civilian airfield). It was great fun wandering through command buildings and grass covered bunkers, marvelling at a time gone by. From here the dunes of Penhale sands dominated the walk for many miles, before revealing a very picturesque Crantock beach and then the sprawl of Newquay. With an England match just finishing I didn’t spend long in Newquay, although did receive a few bewildered looks from the many inebriated people celebrating. In full walking/running gear, covered in dust with an over-packed rucksack, map case and collection pot I looked a little out of place! I finally settled at Mawgan Porth beach and camped amongst the dunes. Not before being given possibly the best meal of the whole trip by the owner of the fantastic Fire Bar Bistro and Grill right on the beach at Mawgan Porth. The blood red melting sunset over the beach and sea ended the night perfectly.

Mawgan Porth to Boscastle Lookout – This was a tough day with some of the year’s highest temperatures. I can’t remember much of it to be honest, but do remember a fair few donation to the Help for Heroes charity pot on the Padstow to Rock ferry which boosted spirits. Also thanks to the Rock Bakery for lunch and the various Kelly’s ice cream vans for donating Clippo ice lollies that helped keep me cool. I managed to meet up with my grandparents at Port Isaac briefly (or was that Portwenn....) to update my set of OS maps and supplies. I finished the day at sunset, camping in the rocks beside the Boscastle National Coastwatch Institution lookout building.

Boscastle Lookout to Hartland Point – This was a really long day! However it started in a magical way, watching a large pod of dolphins fishing a mile offshore. The awesome high powered spotting scope in the NCW lookout let me see right in on the action as they leapt out of the water and chased the fish around. I could have stayed there all day, but had set my heart of finishing by Friday night (I had no time limits, but always like a challenge...), so spent much of the day on the A39 covering the miles. Even getting there was hard enough, with the endless Boscastle hill to contend with first. Breakfast was donated by a roadside grill with supper coming from the friendly little Gilletts chippy in Kilkhampton, for which I’m eternally grateful! I never thought I’d still be hungry after eating two double cheeseburgers and two sausage rolls in one day, but that day my body needed every bit of energy going! I finally reached Hartland Point by 10.30 pm having run the last 6miles to make it there before dark. I was treated to the remains of the sunset silhouetting Lundy across the water in vivid colours as I pitched my tent feet from the cliff edge. While I had no one to greet me to the finish (lift not due till the morning), this was the perfect end to a truly fantastic trip.

As for the final total donations to Help for Heroes, money is still coming in and it looks like it may well exceed £1,000. Not too bad really, consider we set out aiming for £200!!

I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way and for donating so generously.

I feel this may not be my last little trip for Help for Heroes, but for now I’m signing off.

Tiff