Hellandbridge

5/8/15

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

Newquay

4/8/15

Another day and another National Trust property. The Elizabethan manor at Trerice was near the end of our day of up hill and down dale so cream tea first before the house and garden. The lady at the gate cheerily gave us a £1 token each for arriving by bike informing us that this should be the case for all properties in England and Wales. We now need to convince NT that they owe us about £30 for our visits!

With the wind behind us and good quiet lanes we made our way to Zelah where we picked up the NCN 32.

Newquay is what it is but the Quies hotel was very welcoming and had excellent facilities.

Figures:

Distance:- 37.9 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 8 minutes

Average speed:- 12.1 kph

Total Distance:- 6026 km

Redruth

3/8/15

Continuing in the spirit of this lawless journey, we have no real intention of sticking to the north coast of either Cornwall or Devon. Our return will mainly be on the Sustrans link from Land's End to Bristol and remain predominantly inland with an occasional excursion to the coast.

This morning, with the wind behind us, we headed to St Just and on to the Levant Mine museum which the National Trust labels the real Poldark. The site has extracted copper for thousands of years digging great shafts under the sea up to a mile and a half out. The lovingly restored beam engine which helped extract the ore and transport miners was the main attraction and great to see it working.

Skirting around the north of Penzance, with views of St Michael's Mount again, we stumbled upon Tremenheere Sculpture gardens which were opened with contributions from David Nash in 2012. With a long day ahead, we only had time for the restaurant but I had a perfectly cooked bowl of steamed mussels in cider and cream.

An awkward traversal of Cambourne on the NCN 3 brought us to Tricky's hotel, the name being a cruel play on how difficult it was to find.

Figures:

Distance:- 61.9 km

Cycle Time:- 4 hours 40 minutes

Average speed:- 13.2 kph

Total Distance:- 5988 km

Land's End

2/8/15

Get ready for bed or you won't be growing to Flambards tomorrow bellowed the angry father in an adjacent tent- Sue and I spoke in whispers after that, what is Falmbards?

Keen to keep off the main roads, Sue devised another off-road route which skirted around the RAF Culdrose airfield. We have been up-close to so many military establishments now that I feel sure we are on a suspicious list. The rough track pitched Sue off her bike but it eventually ended in a farm yard. A nice man got out of his tracter and with had a chat with us, ending every sentence with aaaahy. Once back on Tarmac and approaching Helston there were unfamiliar sounds from behind the high hedge, mechanical but not agricultural. Reaching a gap and a gate revealed a field full of fun fair- it was Flambards!

Signs of Cornwall's mining past were dotted across the landscape and we paid a visit to Godolphin House, once home to a mineral wealthy family, now owned by National Trust and an exclusive holiday let.

On, up and over to Marazion and a fine view of St Michael's Mount. The tide was out so we cycled across the causeway where the sand was preferable to the newly repaired cobbles.

A quick march up and through the castle then on a great off road approach track in to Penzance.

Another tea shop in Moushole refreshed us for the final push to Land's End where most visitors had left and, thankfully, the theme-park that marks this corner of Britain was closed. After the obligitary picture it was on to our luxury twin room in the Land's End Hostel. We had a swift drink in the First and Last but being packed there was no hope of food so it was on to the chippy in Sennen.

This is our last corner of Britain. Durness was the first, then John O'Groats, somewhere around Margate must have been South East's turning point and now Land's End, tomorrow will be our home straight back to Cheltenham.

Figures:

Distance:- 58.0 km

Cycle Time:- 4 hours 45 minutes

Average speed:- 12.2 kph

Total Distance:- 5926 km

Lizard Point

1/8/15

We lingered over breakfast and Sue completed the last accommodation bookings that would see us back home. This has been a monumental task that has given us nights in a lighthouse, castle and cool camp sites. So with an end date now fixed we raced down the busy main road to Lizard Point and shared crab cakes and whitebait in the Polpeor Cafe.

I have been pondering about an alternative challenge to the LEJOG- it could could be named ArDuLoLi (Ardnnamurchan, Dunnet Head, Lowerstoft, Lizard) this doesn't roll off the tongue quite so easily but then it is not a journey that should be taken lightly, it is probably about 5 times the did trance if Land's End to John O'Groats.

Visiting all four extremes of Britain in one trip may not be to everyon's taste but it has been a great journey and with the end in sight there is part of me that wants to just keep on going. The reality of unpacking the loft, fixing the washing machine and going back to work do not appeal as much as the daily routine of cycle touring!

Leaving Lizard Point armed with an Annie's Cornish pasty and a dozen quail's eggs we returned to our camp site on quieter roads via Goonhilly Earth Station to enjoy the evening sun and view with some good food.

Figures:

Distance:- 36.4 km

Cycle Time:- 2 hours 13 minutes

Average speed:- 16.3 kph

Total Distance:- 5868 km

Gweek, Lizard

31/7/15

Our task today was to put ourselves in pole position for mainland's most southerly place and thus completing the fourth and final cardinal point in our journey. Although we were now off Sustrans routes, we found reasonably quiet lanes and were delighted to stumble upon Waymarker, a Restaurant just north of Constantine. We settled down to an excellent sea food platter and completed some more accommodation booking over a 2 hour lunch! Our camp for the night was a strong contender for Cool Camping, a field with a great view, composting toilets, chickens for your egg supply and even a small salad garden  - I am not sure what compost they use on the lettuce but it tasted good! This is a real family site with not a caravan in sight. 

Figures:

Distance:- 25.1 km

Cycle Time:- 2 hours 23 minutes

Average speed:- 10.5 kph

Total Distance:- 5832 km

Trelissick

30/7/15

An excellent off-road track took us all the way to Mevagissey. It is the perfect fishing village but popular so with hardly a harbour bench or cafe table available we only paused briefly before the climb over to a quieter Portmellon.

Decending to Porthluney Cove and Caerhays Castle, we found a food shack selling posh pasties and slow cooked pork in a roll so we stopped to eat! This style of good fast food is becoming much more prevalent in Britain.

Getting through Pendower Beach was disconcerting with a steep decent and a no-through road sign but a short walk across the sand and a small foot bridge put us on the other side of the cove and back on to Tarmac.

The up and down pattern continued but the Post office and stores in Veryan cheered us up considerably. Thoughts about our evening meal hadn't got much further than pasta until we discovered scallops, Cornish creme fraiche, a bag of frozen berries (which we used as a fridge in our bags) and local beer in this little village shop. With a feast stashed away in any available pannier space we made haste for the historic King Harry Ferry to Trelissick.

This is our second ferry using submerged chains to move across the narrow stretch of the river Fal and will be the last ferry of our journey. Once across we just got into Trelissick house and garden with enough time for a National Trust visit. This house was home to Ronald Copland who was chairman of Spode, the Staffordshore bone china company. The most recent resident auctioned off much of the contents so the building was strangely empty save a few flowery plates! The views and garden position are unique and the large conservatory gave Sue ideas about our own home improvement possibilities!

We completed both house and gardens in a ridiculously fast time before hitting the tea shop!

Our camp site was a small farm curiously named Come to Good and a beautiful evening with a fine meal could convince you that camping in Britain is always a pleasure.

Figures:

Distance:- 43.7 km

Cycle Time:- 3 hours 51 minutes

Average speed:- 11.3 kph

Total Distance:- 5807 km