Monday 16th September

 

Wednesday 14^th July

 

So today, we can start from the hotel front door.  Crackington Haven is the destination and there is a bus. But – last bus 16.30. 

We keep bumping into three intrepid women from Yorkshire whom we first encountered just before Morwenstowe.  Finally, we introduce ourselves.  They are Belinda, Chris and Wendy.  When we say we need to be at Crackington by four thirty, they look pained. 

“You will have to get a move on.  We are not rushing because we are booked into the pub there for the night.

We stop for coffee at Widemouth Bay, a rather scruffy surfing place. Lunch is on the beach at Millook.  A word about lunches.  Nothing is open in the mornings before we set off, apart from one deli, where it’s too early for sandwiches or rolls. In the evening, we would have to rush to Sainsbury’s before it closes at seven.  So, lunches are an odd collection of bits from the deli.

It’s all a bit odd around Millook.  The roads are closed.  There are signs everywhere relating to MMLZ.  They are filming.  We later discover it’s a series on Amazon Prime called Mammals.  Tom Jones stars.  Here, it’s all about a car being filmed coming down the lane at speed.  The people and kit involved is awesome – all for one brief sequence.  After lunch, we come across one of their bases.  They are launching a drone with a camera attached. The vehicles! The canteen! The hordes of techies hanging around. I suppose Amazon can probably afford it.

 This four-thirty deadline becomes a problem.  Chris gets tetchy because she thinks I want to make a run for it.  I eventually convince her that it really doesn’t matter. 

However, when we get to Crackington Haven, having missed the bus by a good hour, we find that there is no mobile signal.  I sit, exhausted, over a larger (or two) outside the Coombe Barton Arms.  Chris leaps into action and persuades the barman to call a taxi for us.  There are none to be had.  Eventually, he tracks down Ed.  We have walked (and climbed) eleven miles, possibly twelve.  It’s the limit of our ability.

 We do have a dinner booking tonight. It’s at a semi-veggie pit stop called Temple.  Slightly posh, so we dress up a bit.  Chris loves it, and so do I.  Chris has fish and I go for a fully veggie option.  Both are delicious.  The restaurant has a nice buzz to it and the food is fresh and healthy.  £92.00 including tip.