St Agnes – Porthtowan back to to the pub

Walk from Holywell via Crantock and Poly Joke beach
Walk from Holywell via Crantock and Poly Joke beach

We had a plan to walk from Porthtowan back to the pub for a half, but the buses were not convenient either a early start or a late start. Then I remember that there is a museum in St Agnes and the bus stop was near by. So the plan emerged, we would walk up to the museum for the 10:30 opening time then we would have an hour before the 11:30 bus. That mean a leisurely start, we left the house at 10:00.

We walked up through the village which thus far we had only seen from the car. There is the St Agnes Hotel signs that the place was once and important town. Then we cam across the Railway Inn yet more evidence that the place was important. The museum would reveal all.

Walk from Holywell via Crantock and Poly Joke beach

We got to the museum just as it opened and a friendly man welcomed us in. The museum is very interesting and very well done. It gives you a great insight into the history of the area right up to current days with a cabinet showing a multi-generation of doctors who have served in the village. We were early for the bus so I bought a paper and we sat at the bust stop and caught up with the news.

Walk through village hill There were quite a few people at the bus stop but when the 315 arrived we were the only ones to get on. I guess the rest were waiting for the 87 to Newquay or Truro. The bus takes a rurtal route and takes a least one detour to visit villages. Eventually we were dropped off near the beach at Porthtowan. We headed straight for the coat path and the hard slog of getting out of the river valley. Just before Porthchapel we came across a bench with a view where we had our sandwiches and did some sea watching. Helen spotted something which we took a while to figure out what it was, but eventually we realised that it was a Sunfish a rare but increasingly more common sighting in Cornwall.

Walk from Holywell via Crantock and Poly Joke beach

It was a pretty short walk down to Porthchapel where we had a coffee at the National Trust coffee shack. We headed the beach to enjoy our beverages and the view. I took a timelapse set. We then headed on again up the steep hill towards St Agnes. On out left was the beacomn the man in the museum had explained about and Helen was interested in because of the arrow heads found there and on display, however after the slog up the coast path Heln declined the offer to walk to the top of the beacon.

Near the coat watch car park there the local radio control club were flying gliders, the steady breeze from the sea made it a great location, however I guess mistakes can be costly with the sea and the cliffs. As we left the coat watch I noticed a man on the floor ahead, in my binoculars they were not moving but then he started to get up slowly. I rushed ahead and check that he was OK, he was I think he was just embarassed at having fallen over.

The final mile or two was on familiar territory with great views as the sun dipped lower. Back in the village we used the excuse to book a table to eat to buy a sneaky half. We had had a lovely day in perfect weather.