I’m gradually completing the South-West coastal path over a series of weekend walks. Last weekend I went with a group to do some walks from Lizard Point. We stayed in the youth hostel there, which is one of the most luxurious I’ve ever seen. It’s the building shown in the picture above, and is next to the lighthouse itself (I’m told this causes some sleepless nights when it’s foggy and the foghorns are going full blast a few metres away, but when we were there it was simply dramatic with the beam of light sweeping off into the distance at regular intervals).

Our first day’s walk took us east from Lizard Point to Coverack, 10 miles away. Here’s a shot looking back shortly after the start of the walk, to see the lighthouse and youth hostel from behind, and the spur of land they sit on.

Although we started out in bright sunshine, we could see a band of heavy rain heading towards us over the sea.

The path was easy going at this stage, through Church Cove, but much of the walk was up steep gradients to clifftops and down to beaches or coves.

There are still quite a few fishing boats that head out each day. We were able to watch this one in action as we walked, and it arrived back in port at Cadgwith just as we got there.

The colours and the light were stunning, with some amazing views of the dramatic coastline.

The path took us past ‘The Devils Frying Pan’, a local landmark.

And then we started to descend into Cadgwith, a small fishing village. Some people live with this view year round.

The small fleet of fishing boats were hauled up on the beach, and were loading their catch into a small truck to be taken to market. The orange boat on the right is the one we saw at sea in the earlier photo.

After spending some time in Cadgwith, it was time to make a move, beginning with a steep climb up to the cliff.

After a little more walking in the rain, we arrived at Kennack Sands where we took a break to eat our packed lunches sitting on the rocks, watching the sea.

We had some time to explore the beach and the rocks before moving off again. As well as the occasional large beach like Kennack Sands, this coastline also boasts lots of little sandy coves.

Finally we neared Coverack, and our destination of the Paris Hotel for some well earned beers. But first, a surprise — the sculptor Terence Coventry has opened a sculpture park on the cliffs.

This walk is shown in green on the map below:

View South-West Coastal Path in a larger map

Originally published at www.steveparks.co.uk.