Newquay to Mawgan Porth (South West Coast Path 73)

 View across Newquay Bay from Tolcarne Beach

Back on the Coast Path, we set out from Newquay, quickly passing above Tolcarne Beach, with the headland and the Atlantic hotel visible across Newquay Bay. 

A little further on was the wonderfully named Lusty Glaze Cove.

On the cliff road at the back of it a developer was building four rather fine houses. This one put me in mind of the new Whitney Museum we recently saw in New York at the end of the High Line. The house actually seemed more successful to me, although Ange felt that from the side the projecting white room looked more like a portakabin.

At Porth Beach, effectively the final outskirts of Newquay, a narrow bridge linked the mainland to Trevigue Head, once the site of Bronze and Iron Age forts. In the distance, the white column of the Trevose Head lighthouse can just be made out.

The coast now started to become more rocky, with Zacry's Islands just offshore in the middle ground.

Just before Watergate Bay, we enjoyed the unusual sight of a Fulmar hovering just below the cliff edge, but unfortunately my attempt to photograph it was poor. Now Watergate Bay, a major surfing centre, stretched out ahead of us. There were loads of surfers in the sea, but almost none seemed to have found a wave to ride.

We descended to the village and climbed up again past the hotel. Once we were back on the cliff top the view back along the coast was very pleasing.

Now the coast seemed to become a bit wilder and at Griffin Point there was a steady descent and climb to round Beacon Cove.

We saw a new type of Cornish hedge - this one had slates laid on their sides, rather than the more usual stones laid horizontally. 

We finished up at Mawganporth, another narrow cove with a deep sandy beach. Unusually, the main development (Trenance) was not directly behind the beach but up on the hill to one side.This was the view looking into the cove.

And this was the view looking out towards its mouth.

Conditions: cloudy at first, then quite sunny. A high wind throughout.

Grading: Moderate.

Map: Explorer 106 (Newquay & Padstow).

Distance: 5.8 miles. Distance now covered 444.8 miles.

Severity: Moderate.

Rating: Four stars.