Day 15 - Cape Cornwall

Beer drunk: 1 pint, Distance walked: 20km, Time taken: 6h 58m (about 6h walking)

Not such a nice day for walking today.  It was cool and overcast in the morning, but no wind or rain, which was not too bad.  However, it started raining at around 2pm and hasn't stopped.  Forecast for tomorrow is more of the same, worst luck.

The walking was relatively easy today (rated "moderate") but there were no villages along the path which was a bit of a nuisance.  I did stop around 1pm in a village (hamlet?) about 1/2 mile inland.  It has all of 1 church and half a dozen houses and a tea shop/gallery/bookshop/jewellers.  These odd little places seem to pop up everywhere.  If you want a painting of a cow staring straight at you I know where you can buy one in your choice of size and colour of cow.

I didn't see as many people out on the path today but the terrain was so undulating there could have been people a few minutes ahead or behind and you'd never see them.  I did meet several coming the other way.

I got to see a rescue being carried out by a helicopter crew with the Royal Naval Rescue service.  The path passes close to a cliff which is popular with climbers and some poor soul had fallen.  The helicopter came just as I reached that point.  It made several approaches before getting properly lined up and letting a rescuer down on the end of a rope.  It then left and flew around in circles for about 5 or 10 minutes.  It obviously is hard to hover in one spot.  It then came back and someone was airlifted into the helicopter.  Again, it looped for a bit before going back and picking up the rescuer.  Not at all like you see on TV shows.  There it would have been all over between ad breaks, but it takes a lot longer in real life.  The pilot was obviously very skilled and the sailor who let himself get lowered down was incredibly brave.

I made it to my B&B by about 5pm.  People who saw me arrive said I was so brave to walk in the rain. Getting mildly soggy is not brave.  Foolish perhaps but at most I'm risking a nasty cold.  Definitely not a brave thing to do.

According to my guide book there is supposed to just be farmland around here with the nearest village being 1 mile further inland.  Fortunately, some of the neighbouring farms have been sold and turned into a dreadfully bourgeois golf course.  However, golf courses have clubhouses which serve meals so I had a 2 minute scamper down the road for dinner.  I had the steak and chips.  It was an RSL quality meal but the main thing was it was close by (and they had 2 sorts of real ale on tap - handpumps too).