SWCP: Hayle to St Ives

 Up early for the 9am train from Paddington. All quite uneventful, changed trains at Plymouth and they squeezed everyone into two carriages. The young girl sitting next to me got her cat out of its carrier and fondly poked and manhandled it non-stop for about an hour but it didn’t seem to mind. Apparently they’d given it some practice riding trains on short journeys.

“Kitty”, also occasionally known as Cucumber
because she’s scared of cucumbers

I had planned for arrival in Penzance shortly after 2 o’clock and then a 40-minute wait for a train to my starting point, Hayle. However, it dawned on me that Hayle was actually on the Plymouth to Penzance line, so I got off there and gained an hour of time, hurrah for me! Hayle itself didn’t seem to hold any interest but it’s on an estuary with wetlands full of birds. Several ornithologists were lurking around with their telescopic lenses.

 The first part of the walk from Hayle was posh suburban, and then I came over the brow of a hill and had a sudden view of the magnificent Carbis beach through a tunnel of trees shadowing the paths. The tide was out and the beach was spectacularly huge. Walked beside the railway line to the Carbis Bay Hotel with its planting and its deli. It was heaving with people, lots of families with kids. It was warm and I was tempted to go in the sea but decided to press on to St Ives, just a couple of miles further.  By the time I got there, a cold wind had got up so I didn’t do it. Maybe tomorrow, although the forecast is for rain. 

In St Ives I bought fish and chips and ate them with a great view of St Ives and a less great view of this parent-and-child gull duo. The parent kept approaching and eyeing my chips. The child complained constantly and loudly that it was hungry.

Then off to get the 6pm train to Camborne, where I’m staying for 2 nights.  Very welcoming hostess. Getting the 8am bus to Portreath in the morning. Day one a success.