It’s now the day before I am due to start the End to End at Land’s End. This morning we left Devon for Cornwall. As a child we’d take the A30 from Bodmin each summer. Now some of it is even dual carriageway.
We stopped first at St Buryan. This is part of the route tomorrow. The church tower is under repair and the pub won’t be open on Tuesday lunchtime. We had enough time for ice-cream: it’s a holiday ritual with us.
We went onto Porthgwarra, a tiny hamlet near Gwennap Head for a short walk on the coast path. The lanes were full of flowers: violets, alexanders, three-cornered leeks, primrose, bluebell, celandines. This is one of the things I love most about walking in the Spring.
It was a bit cloudy such that rays of sun pierced the cloud layer and played across the grey sea like spotlights. The rocks on the coast were bearded with lichen, covered with a grey green fleece. It was an unexpected part of the South West Coast Path to add to our itinerary.
Later we met Hannah at Penzance from the London train. We are ready, as team Lees Warwicker, to begin our third End to End.
For the jewelled hedgerows
I am thankful.
For the bearded rocks
I am thankful.
For the sun’s spotlight on the sea
I am thankful.
For meeting, greeting and starting again,
I am thankful.
JAL 01.04.2019