The smell of rotting seaweed

Beach at Gwithian Cornwall
Beach at Gwithian Cornwall

Bank holiday Monday we decided to do a walk from the hut to save having to battle with traffic and parking. We left the hut a a reasonable 09:30, and headed north across the beck towards where the Red River hits the beach an d the Godrevy car park is, twin we headed up the coastal path towards Godrevy Point then on to Navax Point.

There were plenty of flowers to see on the Cornish walls including Shrift or Sea Pink, Spring Squill, and Sheep’s Bit. At Mutton Cove thee is an inaccessible beach where we saw a load of seals hanging out on the beach doing that thing where they lie on their site and lift there heads and tails, it looks very uncomfortable but they seem to do it naturally.

RNLI on duty at Gwithian Cornwall

We were hoping to take a track and footpath to avoid some of an inevitable bit of road but it was not clear that it was a right of way so we ended up taking the road for about half a mile back to the Red River, and a welcome coffee at the cafe on the National Trust car park. It was a short walk across the dunes back to the hut it passed through the local nature reserve where we saw a reed bunting on the small reed bed.

Back at the hut we had a rest and watched the surfers withy Madmen in the background, then we thought we we have a drive to Portreath. An interesting place and apparently the busiest port in Cornwall, however the tide was out and the smell from the seaweed filled harbour was over powering. The town it self was looking a bit worn at the edges like it had seen better days. There were very few shops to service the many holiday homes.

When we got back to the hut our friend the Herring Gull was sat on the wall. I suspect that someone has fed him in the past and he turns up late afternoon in the hope of being fed again.