NEWQUAY TO PERRANPORTH. Stage 25 (27th September 2008)

Even better weather today, cloudless sky, a bit cold waiting for an 8.15 bus to . From the bus station a short road walk comes out above the harbour then R down a path which rises to a headland with the Huer's hut before the surfers' . After a brief walk between houses the path is suddenly in countryside above the Gannel estuary. Crossing the tidal bridge at Penpol we turned R to follow the S edge of the estuary past . It’s a pleasant walk around and before descending massive dunes to the village of Holywell. We went inland to the Treguth Inn for lunch. The path then leaves to the seaward side of an army camp. The path is heath like here & we saw a small coppery snake which quickly slithered away. After and there is a gradual descent to a long wide beach of Perran Sands which we walked on to avoid the dunes but the tide forced us onto the cliffs at , descending again to beach.

Total time including stops 7h 45m total distance 13 miles 21km. Ascent 510m

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.

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