CRACKINGTON HAVEN TO TINTAGEL Stage 19 (8th June 2008)

We caught the #595 bus to . The walk starts on a gently rising cliff from the beach, towards , staying on the highest path. We saw a flock of feral brown Soay sheep on the headland and some (farmed) Cheviot goats. Dramatic spider webs covered large areas of bracken and grass, each with an apparent funnel where the spider lurks. The path rises steadily through a hummocky region towards High Cliff, the highest sea cliff in Cornwall, quite a gentle climb. A lizard was basking on the path and one or two seals out near the rocks. The path follows the cliff edge round . We saw another large raptor event with groups of gulls seeming to follow it and give warning cries. A stiff climb around the bay & waterfall at due to a cliff fall, is followed by a relatively flat section until with a steep zig-zag path down to . Here we took a break at our self catering cottage before taking the 15.05 bus to , then walking down to the castle entrance and following the acorn signs up the east side of the valley. This is a moderately strenuous 2.5 hour walk back to Boscastle. After the saddle point close to the path follows the cliff top to the promontory fort at then turns back around , with its Elephant Stone. More climbing takes you through Rocky Valley then another reasonably flat cliff top stretch to . Looking across we could see many fluffy gull chicks roaming the flat slabs at its top and lower down some guillemots in rock crevices. After another undulating section brought us to another Willapark fort just before the descent to Harbour.

Distance walked 13.5 miles (21.6km) Time 7.5 hours. Ascent 1875m

The South West Coast Path is the longest of the official UK National Trails, running from Minehead in Somerset round the English south west peninsula coast to Poole in Dorset. The total length is just over 1000 kilometres or, more precisely, 630 miles. Only very dedicated walkers could contemplate completing the whole walk in one go, although plenty of people have done just this. Received opinion is that it would take around 6 weeks, even for the most dedicated.

Get Ordnance Survey maps on your website to enhance the service and customer experience.