Market Lavington to Stoke HIll (Wessex Ridgeway [Wiltshire] 5)

View towards Gibbet Knoll from West Lavington

What better way to pass Referendum day than continuing our walk along the Wessex Ridgeway in Wiltshire. We picked up the route at Gibbet Knoll, just up the road from Market Lavington. It was mild but hazy. We soon became aware of a great profusion of intensely coloured Dove's-foot Crane's-bill (Geranium molle) along the way side.

After walking along the wide track for a while, past some police supervising the recovery of what appeared to be an abandoned vehicle, we turned right into a narrower path towards West Lavington. Here we quickly spotted a few Large Skippers, my first for the year, and this Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet moth (a bit of a mouthful!) on Devil's-bit Scabious.

We arrived at the southern end of the village, passing this lovely house, which I am pretty sure is the late 17th century Parsonage described in Pevsner.

A bit further on along another track we passed the church of All Saints. This 13th century church had its tower added in the 14th century and then extended in the early 15th.

Now we climbed steadily, spotting a couple of Small Tortoiseshells, to reach the wide open grassland of Strawberry Hill. To the left a wide flower margin and to the right a much narrower one; in between, a wide grassy path.

We started to see quite a few orchids - this Common Spotted one and a number of Pyramidal ones too.

Gradually some butterflies revealed themselves from the grass: lots of Meadow Browns,  a few Common Blues, a Small Heath and some Marbled Whites, with this one being very obliging.

Then there was a descent to a valley bottom at 106m and quite a stiff climb to reach the Imber Range Perimeter Road at 192m. This is the view back from about two-thirds of the way up: beautiful grassland, with loads more orchids, but few butterflies.

It remained only to walk a mile or so along the road to where we had parked the car.

Conditions: mild, cloudy, muggy.

Distance: 7 miles.

Map: Explorer 130 (Salisbury & Stonehenge) and 143 (Warminster & Trowbridge)

Rating: four stars.

Passy Plaine-Joux

Passy Plaine-Joux

Still in the Alps and today's weather shows a massive improvement. We cross the valley from St Gervais and climb up to Passy Plaine-Joux at 1600m. Looking back across the valley we can see the pointed summit of Mont Joly at 2525m.

This is a well-known paragliding launch point and here is the spectacular view down into the valley from the edge of the launch zone.

With out backs to the valley we walk back past the car park and uphill towards the rocky massif behind.

Almost immediately I spot an unfamiliar Blue butterfly. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture and off it flew. A hopeful sign though.

Soon afterwards, the first new wildflower of the day presented itself: it seems to be some sort of vetch, but I haven't been able to identify it. A beautiful colour though.

Then we started to see a lot of this yellow flower, Field Mustard (Sinapsis arvensis).

As we continued uphill I thought I had found several examples of another butterfly, perhaps some sort of Checkered Skipper. My butterfly book established that it wasn't - it seems instead to be a moth, the Latticed Heath, or some continental variant of it.

Also flying in the same locality was another creature which was more obviously a moth, a Burnet Companion.

And another orchid to join those we saw yesterday at Le Bettex. I think this is a Military Orchid.

We were gradually getting nearer to the massif, which dramatically loomed over us.

A bit further on we heard the sound of a rock fall and could see some small debris coming over the edge of the massif. We were glad we were well out of the way.

The flowers were starting to become thinner on the ground, but this attractrive red flower stood out. Sadly, I have not been able to identify it.

There was a lovely view back over the winding track with a couple of other walkers kindly providing a sense of scale.

Finally, with the cloud growing and the temperature falling I spotted this pretty Matted Globularia (Globularia cordifolia).

It remained only to retrace our steps. Here is a final view of Mont Joly.

Conditions: clear and bright at first, becoming cloudier.

Distance:a couple of miles, but 1500m of ascent.

Rating: four stars.

Trebarwith Strand - Tintagel - Boscastle (South West Coast Path 80)

Trebarwith Strand

We set out from Trebarwith Strand: the tide was in and no beach was visible, just a large slab of rock. Gull Rock continued to dominate the horizon. We then made the steep climb up to the cliff-top, seeing our first Painted Ladies of the day, and soon had an impressive view back.

The route now continued at a comfortable cliff top level and we continued to see more Painted Ladies. At the end of this section we passed above a series of quarries, one of which had left behind an impressive column of rock. But why? 

We passed behind the two Penhallic Points (Lower and Higher), noticing the white sails of some boats out to sea, the first we have seen on this trip. Approaching Tintagel, we saw the imposing spire of the isolated church of St Materiana. Pevsner calls it the best small Norman church in Cornwall.

Soon after that we had our first view of the great rocky island, linked to the mainland by a narrow footbridge. 

We made a visit and learned that the great castle of Richard Earl of Cornwall from 1233 was in fact in two parts, one on the mainland and the larger on the island. The association with King Arthur is even older and goes back to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the English kings of 1133. 

We saw a seal in Tintagel Haven …

 … and several Scarlet Tiger moths flying around on the hillside.

There was also a great view of the next headland, Barras Nose, notable for being the first piece of coast to be owned by the National Trust. From this angle you can begin to see why it might be called Barras Nose.

After we finished our exploration of Tintagel, we resumed the Coast Path, passing behind Barras Nose and following the cliff round to the next headland Willapark, with the Two Sisters rocks just off it (the smaller sister is hidden behind the larger one). Beyond this a pleasant bay opened up with Firebeacon Hill and a large rock (Long Island!) at its end. The coast here was quite indented and we wondered what it would be like.

Soon we descended a little, but still passed high above the exquisite Bosinney Cove.

After a short climb we followed a broad grassy path towards Rocky Valley. This turned out to a well-named and absolutely beautiful winding river valley flowing into the sea. as it wound its way inland the valley opened and became picturesque rather than dramatic.

After a long steep climb up from the valley bottom, we continued at a high level. Soon a view towards a second headland called Willapool opened up. The white lookout station was clearly visible on top of the headland. I liked the large rock on the right, which seemed to me to suggest a dog or bear sitting upright. It appears that no-one else has spotted this.

A wide grassy path descended to another inlet and after a steep climb we passed inland of the second Willapool and its lookout station. I loved the pony to the right and imagined that the lookout had ridden to work. A notice explained that ponies were being grazed on the headland, so perhaps that was the explanation.

I had thought the Boscastle lay just beyond this headland but the path continued relentlessly onwards towards a sort of inlet. What could it be?

As we turned the corner, we discovered the good news: it was the mouth of the long, narrow harbour.

As the harbour ended a river began. It was as though we had suddenly been transported to the Cotswolds. Boscastle of course suffered terrible flash flooding in 2004 as the result of heavy rain. Happily, physically at least, it is now restored.

Conditions: Warm and sunny - a beautiful day to on the coast. Others clearly thought so too and this was the most crowded section of the coast path we have yet walked on.

Grading: Moderate.

Map: Explorer 111 (Bude, Boscastle and Tintagel).

Distance: 6.8 miles. Distance now covered 489.1 miles.

Rating: Five stars. One of the best and most varied sections.

Praa Sands to Penzance (South West Coast Path 59)

We rejoin the Coast Path at the lovely Praa Sands. (We pronounce the name as Pra, but our taxi driver, Ian, tells us the locals pronounce it Pray.) As we climb up away from the beach there is a nice view back which includes one of last time's surprises, Pengersick Castle. The RNLI lifeguards can also be seen on the beach getting ready for another day's work.

We pass round the back of Hoe Point and the wide sweep of Kenneggy Sand lies before us.

On the left is what seems to be a large private house, unusually positioned right on the shoreline. We walked around the back of the cove, past some holiday cottages and behind the large house to then pass Bessy Cove. A little further on we were delighted to see Fulmars nesting in the cliffs above Piskies Cove.

We were now seeing lots of Gatekeeper butterflies: the first of the year. We also saw five or six examples of the rather splendid Magpie Moth.

Soon we reached Cudden Point which offered a good view back along the rocky coastline. 

The next section followed a cliff top path with the same sort of rocky ledges below and as we approached Perranuthnoe we had our first clear view of St Michael's Mount under increasingly cloudy skies.

We paused for an early lunch at the excellent Victoria pub in Perranuthnoe and continued, now in drizzle, towards Marazion. St Michael's Mount and its causeway became progressively clearer, but the weather showed no sign of improving.

Probably the most interesting view was from Marazion, with the tide coming in and the narrow causeway mostly under water. St Michael's Mount was given to the Benedictines, the same order as had possession of Mont Saint Michel in France by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century. There are still remnants of a 12th abbey and castle. The abbey was sold after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, passing into the hands of the St Aubyn family in 1657. The family still live there, although the property is now owned by the National Trust. 

It remained only to walk the 2.5 miles to Penzance along the footpath at the back of the wide sandy beach. This was not enhanced by the poor state of the footpath or by the increasing gloom and drizzle.

We passed the Jubilee Pool on the way to our B&B. It dates from 1935 and is in restrained art deco style. From the outside the white painted concrete seems excessively functional and rather ugly.

But the internal view has a kind of stern elegance. The pool is currently shut because of storm damage, so of which can be seen in the picture and there is doubt about whether it will reopen. It is Britain's largest remaining lido.

Opposite is the art deco Yacht Inn.

It's not on the coast, but I can't leave this post about Penzance without mentioning the Egyptian House in Chapel St.

This extraordinary building dates from 1835-6 and was built for John Lavin as a showroom for his mineral and fossil dealership. (Why this required an Egyptian theme is less obvious, although Pevsner implies it was something of a fashion at the time.)

Conditions: mild but grey, later on drizzle then rain.

Grading: Moderate.

Distance: 8.9 miles (distance now covered 356.6 miles.

Map: Explorer 102 (Land's End).

Rating: four stars.