West Cornwall Coast Path

Leg 3- Zennor to Pendeen

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The third leg of our route was one of the largest, covering a distance of over 10 miles. Following the coastline religiously, the coast path is once again rather demanding, often dropping to sea level from the 100m cliffsides, to traverse inlets and gullies. However, the route isn't quite as tough as the St Ives to Zennor leg, whilst still retaining stunning scenery. After several miles of challenging cliff walking, the route happens across the mesmerising Portheras Cove, with it's golden sandy beach only accessible by a steep cliff drop. Lastly, the village of Pendeen has a small number of shops and pubs, and is very much the first major civilisation one meets since leaving St Ives. Our route finished at a campsite just south of Pendeen.

The shelf at Portheras Cove was very steep, and the waves broke right onto the beach. Here, and incoming wave sucks back the sand before racing beachwards.

Despite wanting to stay at the beach all day, it was time to move on, starting with the steep climb out of the cove.

One last view, looking back at Portheras. In the background in the distance, is Gurnard's Head, where we started the morning's walk.

From Portheras Cove, it was inland to Pendeen. The village had a number of small shops, as well as an award winning pub. It's not hard to see why the North Inn is well-known, and a few cold drinks here was the order of the day, as temperatures moved into the low 20's Celsius!

From Pendeen, we continued southwards, slightly inland from the coast, reaching our final camping destination by mid-afternoon.

..and finally pitched up, we could settle in at our temporary home for a third night.

Yum! Well, after carrying 3 of these BBQ's in my rucksack, we felt that we really should use one ;-)

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