Last year, as we emerged from months of a lockdown I walked from St Ives to Land’s End. Just a small section of The Salt Path. It was challenging. The initial few miles had a ‘severe’ grading. My view that a walk along a coastal path would be a leisurely stroll was soon blown out of the water when I needed to use my upper body to navigate over some parts of the path. Over 3 days Jill and I walked nearly 25 miles with our rucksacks. Not for us ‘luggage transfer’.

Our intention this year was to continue on from where we left off. Unfortunately, accommodation was elusive so we decided to go the other way. Hayle to Newquay. A longer walk but no sign of a ‘severe’ grading, just the occasional ‘strenuous’.

So on a glorious Tuesday morning we got the bus from Penzance to Hayle. The next town down from St Ives. We located the coastal path. Sometimes not as straightforward as you would think, often requiring some local intelligence. The first section was along Hayle beach which merges with … beach. What a glorious 3 mile stretch of sand. At 9am in the morning it was nearly deserted. Just a few dog walkers and the occasional jellyfish.

One huge difference in this walk was the abundance of places to eat. We were walking through surfing country. Popular beaches. The route last year took us past isolated beaches which we climbed down to. This year I devoured American Waffles in Hell’s Mouth Cafe.

For most of our first day the walk was unchallenging until about 2 miles from Portreach, our first overnight stop.

What I started to appreciate was that this stretch of Cornwall has its fair share of coves. To get from one side to the other the coastal path either takes you around or down and up. And the latter can be hard on the legs climbing down and the lungs going up.

I always find walking down the most difficult. It is heavy on the knees and it is when I’m more likely to slide over. Unlike last year I had a walking stick with me so that gave me more stability. But my balance is poor. I’m not sure if this is real or imagined. It took a hit last year when I developed an overactive thyroid. Is it taking a while to return or am I just overthinking it? I don’t know. All I know for sure is that when we approached a steep decline I used some choice language.

I prefer the ascents but they require most of my cardiovascular capacity. Another system that hasn’t fully recovered from my thyroid bashing.

All this made the final stretch into Portreath exhausting. We stopped at the first cafe to rest and rehydrate before the final few metres to the pub where we were staying.

Day two was our shortest day in mileage but it felt the most strenuous. A number of descends and ascents. Sally’s Bottom being a fairly memorable one. What makes it a little harder is the erosion of the path. Some of the steps are now much deeper requiring more energy to transcend them.

And yet again we walked past some beautiful beaches.

Our second night was spent at St Agnes where, like Portreath, I half expected to see Dr Martin strolling down the road.

Finally, day 3 dawned. This was going to be our longest day in terms of miles. 16 according to the guidebook. We agree that when we got to Holywell (about half way) we would consider jumping on the bus if it felt the last few miles were a step to far. There were no accessible bus stops after Holywell.

As we set off from St.Agnes we spoke to a couple of walkers that had walked from Newquay. They suggested that we walk along Perranporth Beach and not the coastal path as it would be easier. Was it cheating? I don’t know but we still got the mileage (3 miles) in. Another glorious, practically deserted beach. They did mention the sand dunes as you come off the beach in a not very complimentary way but I didn’t take much notice. I was reminded of their comments as we walked over them. A case of two steps up, one step slide down.

At Holywell we agreed to keep going. It was a great walk. The weather was ideal and Dolly’s Bottom and the sand dunes were a memory. We arrived in Newquay to take the Fern Pit Ferry across the River Gannel to find the tide out and able to walk across ‘at your own risk’. We were in Newquay. Unfortunately, it was another 2 miles to our hotel. The longest 2 miles of my life.

By the time we got to the hotel I was exhausted. It took all my energy reserves to get myself to the pub for a curry and a pint.

A great experience. Glorious beaches, excellent weather. About 40 miles walked. Roll on next year to walk another section of The Salt Path.