Sustrans routes often pass near a railway station or sports centre in a town so the NCN 32 was easy to rejoin in Newquay and we escaped efficiently. Remarkably quiet lanes took us to St Columb Major which had no tea shop but two tattoo parlours. We chose not to continue to Padstow but cut across and meet the River Camel near Bodmin. We found a reasonably sheltered valley route due to the high winds and promise of rain. We joined the Camel trail by crossing a convenient bridge to Grogley Halt (Grid reference: SX 016 683) and were soon joined by hundreds of cyclists enjoying this popular track.
The rain reached it's heaviest downpour just as we arrived at the Camel Trail Tea Garden so we stopped for food before continuing on, rejoining the NCN 3 at Bodmin and to the final climb out of the valley to Tredethy House. This Tudor country house was home to Prince Chula of Thailand until the 1960's and provided us with a very nice night's accommodation.
Marco, the Italian owner, made us a magnificent homemade bread, Italian cured meat and local cheese board which we devoured with a few glasses of red wine. Marco told us a few secrets about this spread that would make Jamie Oliver jealous, one of these is some tasty sweet pickled onions which he can only find in Lidl! He lamented that, although the hotel was full, we were a rarity staying in to enjoy his cold platter. He has owned the hotel for nearly 10 years and enjoys the quiet, although not the 100 miles per day he has to drive to complete his children's school run.
The breakfast spread was as impressive as our evening meal but listening to the morning grumbles about the absence of bacon and eggs, I sense that the English are yet to be convinced about the continental start to the day.
Figures:
Distance:- 40.3 km
Cycle Time:- 3 hours 33 minutes
Average speed:- 11.3 kph
Total Distance:- 6066 km
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