Mullion to Lizard Saturday 18th April

 

 

                                                                    Mullion Cove

So – Mullion to Lizard.  This is the third missing section which we decided we have to go back for.  Our consciences wouldn’t let us claim our completers certificates without picking them up.  It's about eight miles and not too hard.

It’s a long way to Mullion – in fact you can’t really go much further without getting your feet wet.  So local accommodation is required.  We booked an Airbnb in Mullion Cove. 

                                                     Our snug Airbnb at Mullion Cove

Becky is coming with us.  She has definitely got the walking bug.  And the forecast is mega.  Blue sky and gentle breeze.  You don’t get that often in West Cornwall. We have the benefit of two cars, so no faffing around with taxis or buses.  We drive our two cars to The Lizard.  It’s an NT car park, so we leave our car – free all day as members.  It only takes 13 minutes to drive back to Mullion Cove, and we are on the path soon after ten.  The climb out of the cove looks steep, but is actually not bad, and it is a relatively easy walk along the tops to Kynance Cove. 

A neighbouring couple in the bungalow complex where we are staying follow us and soon overtake.  They look sturdy and professional. They tell us they are planning to walk to Kynance and back. Ambitious.  The famous Kynance Cove is more than half way and they are looking at a 9 to 10 mile hike.

After a while we come across them again.

“I can’t believe these distance markers,” he says. “We have been going for two hours and it seems we have only done a mile and a half.”

We don’t see them again.  Later they tell us they gave up and turned back.

Kynance Cove became fashionable in Victorian times after Prince Albert brought the royal children there. He chose well.  Of all Cornwall’s many beautiful coves and beaches, Kynance is right up there.  We arrive for a late lunch and overdue pee stop.  We flop on the benches outside the NT café.  Each table sternly warns that only food bought at the café may be consumed.  We buy coffees and decide that they qualify us to eat our own picnics.  Besides, the staff are too busy to bother us.  The place is crowded in the warm spring sunshine.

Oh – choughs!  Sorry, forgot to mention, just before descending we spot a pair feeding on the grassy slope above the cove.  It makes my day – and even more, Becky’s.  She was brought up in Cornwall, and it was the first time she had seen the rare Cornish mascot.

It’s a well-trodden and busy path on to The Lizard.  There’s a café at the point.  They are advertising the ice creams called Roskilly’s Organic which Becky says are Cornwall’s best – which is quite a claim. 

The ices are delicious and we also order pots of tea.  We high five our achievement.

On Friday night, we had a nice meal at the Old Mullion Inn.  However, there’s another pub listed in our Airbnb notes: The Mounts Bay Inn.  We decide to book it.  Oh dear.  Chavy doesn’t begin to describe it.  The menu is mainly burgers.  There is a loud telly with sport.  An even louder table near where we sit consists of some very large ladies and a man with pink hair.  The gap-toothed barmaid tells us we are the only booking and we can sit anywhere.  Ominous.

“I’m not sure about this” I say.

“I am” says Becky.  “We are leaving”.

We scamper out without saying anything and run down the hill to the Old Inn.  I gave the waitress a handsome tip last night, and she quickly finds us a table even thought they are busy and we haven’t booked.  Another good meal.  Well done, The Old Inn.  Five gold stars.

We were hoping for a leisurely Sunday morning, but is not to be.  Becky has to host a parents party at one of her nurseries.  She has to be there by 10.30.

“Shame.  I was planning a scrambled egg breakfast.”

“Well…”

“Oh, all right I will get up early and have it with you.”

She is on the road by 7.30 and later texts that she loved her Mullion mini-break.

We are staying another night, so what to do to enjoy a sunny April Sunday in West Cornwall?

Answer – a visit to Trewidden Gardens near Penzance.  This is Chris’s idea and it is a corker.  The gardens are famous for their rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias.  They don’t disappoint.  In mid-April, they are in their glory. We spend a happy hour following the signed route round the garden and then indulge in a cream tea on the lawn.   Bliss.

                                                    Rhododendron at Trewidden Gardens

We had planned to motor on to Newlyn for supper at the Mackerel Sky, but we decide it’s too early, and drive back to Mullion Cove. Our Airbnb is  behind the Mullion Cove hotel. We decide to push the boat out and give it a try.  Posh.  We aren’t dressed for the dining room, so choose to eat in the bar.  The food is absolutely delicious.  Michelin star with a price tag to match.  I start with fish soup which could have come from Marseilles and Chris has a prawn cocktail which could have come from the 1950s.  Then we both have a splendid mackerel fillet dish.  It’s a rule of thumb on the SWCP that however far you walk, you never lose weight.  And this time, I haven’t even had a Cornish pasty.

On Monday morning, we are back on the road.  This time, we stop at Becky’s for lunch.  Readers of earlier blog posts will remember that she and John live conveniently close to the A30 near Honiton.  We have lunch.  Becky runs two businesses – a glamping site on their farm, and nursery schools.  The glamping season opens next weekend, and they are fully booked with a hen party.  The bigger news is that she is about to open a third nursery on a farm near Budleigh Salterton.  She is quite the entrepreneur.

“So, we’ve done it.  Now for our completers' certificates, we say over lunch.

“Portland?”   says Becky.

“Portland doesn’t count,” we chorus.

“Are you sure about that?”