Walk #78: Zennor to Gwithian
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General Data
| Date Walked | 17/04/2000 |
| County | Cornwall |
| Start Location | Zennor |
| End Location | Gwithian |
| Start time | 08.50 |
| End time | 15.35 |
| Distance | 16 miles |
| Description | A very pleasant walk with nice views. |
| Pack | No tent or trangia. |
| Condition | I feel absolutely fine after this walk. The biggest problem is that the undersides of my feet ache. My energy levels were good all day, and my legs did not get tired at all during the day. |
| Weather | I was dreading the weather today as it was forecast to be worse than yesterday. However, it turned out to be a relatively nice day of sunshine and cloud. There were 2 showers, one of rain when leaving St Ives that lasted 15 minutes, and another of hail in Hayle that lasted 5 minutes. I am relieved to say that this was by no stretch of the imagination bad weather. The wind was not too harsh either, except on exposed areas. |
| OS map | Landranger number 203 (Land's End & Isles of Scilly, St Ives & Lizard Point) |
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General Walk Information
| Leg | To | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zennor Hostel | 08.50 |
| 2 | Wicca | 09.30 |
| 3 | St Ives | 10.55 to 11.20 |
| 4 | Hayle Station | 13.25 to 13.40 |
| 5 | Gwithian | 15.35 |
Notes
I started the day by shortcutting the section between Zennor and St Ives across a lovely field walk of about six miles. The highlight of the day was finding an old chapel in the trees between Zennor and Wicca that looked like something out of the Blair Witch Project - very spooky!
The section of the walk from St Ives into Trevant was nice, but a fairly boring road walk along a main road followed this into Hayle. This section included the road called "The Causeway", which was a roadside walk of not much note.
I reached Hayle at 13.25, which was far to early for my 16.00 pick-up. I therefore decided to take advantage of my early finish and walked another 4,5 miles along the coast to Gwithian. This was a very nice walk along the beach and behind the dunes beside a rapidly advancing tide. This was indeed a most attractive stretch of beach.
Because I did some extra walking today I am now ahead of schedule, and if I decide to take the road route tomorrow then I have only six miles to walk to get to Portreath. For this reason I will walk further tomorrow, perhaps as far as St Agnes or even Perranporth. Of course, if the weather is awful then I will not walk as far and may stay at Perranporth. Both of these alternatives leave me able to get to Newquay on the fourth day, which would be a day ahead of schedule.
Although it is still early days in this walk I am feeling very confident about the rest of the walk
I am spending tonight with mum and dad in their caravan, after they picked me up from Gwithian. This was of course much appreciated, and was very kind of them.
Directions
A footpath leads east from next to the church in Zennor through the villages of Tremedda, Tregerthen to Wicca. This path then continues through Trevessa Farm to Trevelgan and Trowan before descending via a road down into St Ives.
From St Ives the coast path can be followed south-eastwards to Lelant, and then around the estuary via The Causeway into Hayle. The path the rounds Hayle Towans before heading north-eastwards on the beach and along the dunes into Gwithian.
For more details of the coast path sections of this walk, please see the National Trail Guidebook "South west coast path - Padstow to Falmouth", which has ISBN 1-85410-387-3.
Accommodation
Since I stayed in my mum and dad's caravan in Relubbus I did not need any accommodation in the Gwithian area.
For more details of suitable accommodation in this area, please see the South West Coast Path Association's Annual handbook.
Disclaimer
Please note that I take no responsibility for anything that may happen when following these directions. If you intend to follow this route, then please use the relevant maps and check the route out before you go out. As always when walking, use common sense and you should be fine.
If you find any information on any of these routes that is inaccurate, or you wish to add anything, then please email me.
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And finally, enjoy your walking!
This walk was mentioned in the following routes:
| My sectional Land's End to John O'Groats walk |
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