St Austell

Is it a coincidence that hill and hell are spelled similarly?  After a good night's sleep in the scenic Treloan campsite, my legs were still empty in the morning.   You would have thought some of that macaroni cheese would have found its way down there.

Campsite with a view

I started the day with a short out-and-back to St Anthony's head, only 6 miles but 158 metres of painful climbing.  I should have left my panniers at the campsite.   The headland itself had great views over the Fal estuary,  The Lizard, and back to Falmouth, only about a mile away as the crow flies.

St Anthony's head,  with Falmouth opposite 

Road out to St Anthony's head 

A giant cruise ship was doing something quite close to the shore, with tugs and the lifeboat in attendance.  Eventually it dropped anchor, the lifeboat left, and passengers started disembarking in small boats, presumably to enjoy the sights of Falmouth.

Back to Gerrans, and Portscatho was just half a mile down the hill, a pretty village with a rocky beach and a good selection of cafes and pubs.  After a sumptuous two course breakfast, I rode on through a succession of beautiful seaside spots, each complete with its own varied points of interest and its own individual mountain.

Sunny Portscatho

I was still just in Roseland (peninsula), but about to be just outside.  Pendower, an uninhabited beach with a walkers' cafe, had a footpath joining two roads and avoiding a climb.  Portloe was a narrow cove with fishing boats on the shingle and a well-kept street of houses including two pubs.  A couple not worth mentioning are Treviskey and Portholland; but then came Porthluney Cove, which had a castle and a beach cafe, just when it was needed.

Dodgy footpath at Pendower

Portloe

 Gatehouse to Caerhays castle, at Porthluney Cove

I rode past a closed-looking YHA Boswinger, only available to hire the whole hostel again, on the way to the worst beach ever. Hemmic beach had nothing there except a hellish nearly vertical climb to get away from it.

 

Hemmic hill hell

But it wasn't all bad. The sun was out, the hedgerows were full of flowers, and there was the odd road that wasn't so steep up or down that I could ride faster than 5mph. I stopped for an ice cream at picturesque Gorran Haven, another place that seems to be impossible for anyone in a car. Just around the corner was Mevagissey, with stunning views as I came down the hill into the village. Going out, I got lost in maze of narrow and steep paths up the side of the town, which appeared on the map as paved roads.

Gorran Haven "dreckly"

 

Looking back at Portmellon

Into Mevagissey 

 

Mevagissey

 

Any one of these places would make an interesting day out or a base for a holiday.  I feel a bit guilty at just passing through with just a passing comment, but the lovely places are so frequent round here.

My legs were nearly done for the day, so I stopped in the next valley, at a campsite in Pentewan Sands, just south of St Austell. Pentewan Sands is dominated by a caravan park across 90% of the beach, so I didn't stop in that one. It was only about 5pm and I've only just done 30 miles, but there was plenty of sightseeing.  Fish & chips for tea in a nice pub. It's been a good day.