St Just to Pendeen: we met Bill, Pat, Jean and Don.

Last night my little tent was fully tested by 30mph winds. I'm glad to report it stood up to the elements and i remained warm and dry inside. Sleep was helped by alcohol and medical assistance: a sleeping tablet. Only a pillow would have made it a better night sleep. 

Woke up to ongoing wind (not my own) and persistent drizzle. It took a while for Sarah to surface from her tent: she didn't sleep well. After the morning ablutions we stopped at 'lil's' (Pendeen's take away and centre of village gossip) for a cuppa tea. While at Lil's we were harrassed/stalked again by yesterday evening Mancunian: Gayle. A quick chat and hug, and along with Paul, Dave (see Dave's blog) and Daisy they departed for the long drive back to Manchester. 

Because of the poor weather we decided to catch the bus and head into St Just and wander the shops. There was only one other person waiting at the bus stop: the father, of the father, son combo mentioned in yesterdays blog. Geoff and son Blaine, both Canadians (not America as first thought: sorry), from Ottowa, however Geoffs mother originated from Manchester (a theme is starting here). A combination of the weather, dodgy knee and much needed rest had made Geoff decide to forgo a days walk and catch a bus instead: his son was persevering with the path. We happily chatted for the whole bus journey and when parting felt sure we would probably meet again. 

St Just turned out not to be the metropolis we had thought it to be, we only found a couple of cafes and a co op. We had brunch at a place advertised as the 'best cafe in Cornwall', it was a lovely fry-up. Whilst there Sarah 'the strong' discovered that her contact lens case was empty (left in the tent), so in effect she was blind. Sarah was fully reliant on me to be her eyes/carer for the rest of the day: this would be fun!

As retail therapy was no longer an option and Rather than waiting for the wheather to clear (there had been no let up in the wind and drizzle) we decided to start the walk back to Pendeen. 

Initiallt the path was narrow and over grown, meaning the wet vegetation quickly soaked trousers. Once ascending from the valley the path opened out and easy to walk. The low cloud meant the sea view was obscured, on the high spots the wind almost blew you off you're feet (luckily it was behind us). There was only one section we needed to divert inland from: strong wind and a cliff edge made it like an opening scene from an episode of casualty: an accident waiting to happen! 

This part of the path is scattered with the ruins of discarded tin mines (see photo's), todays dank weather made these more poignant: beautiful, majestic, sad and eerie. 

The walk was only 4 miles, but by the end of it we was soaked. We headed straight to the pub for a cuppa tea, followed by red wine. Much like yesterday evening, the pub became busy and we shared our table with: Bill & Pat from Chelmsford, Jean from Northampton and her partner Don from Bedford. Within minutes we were all great friends. Bill told us that his family had been holidaying in the area since he was 10years (he is now retired), he returns twice a year: once for a holiday and the second to work on a local farm. Don could talk for England, but Jean, Pat and Bill didn't do too badly either! A lovely time was had by all, conversation flowed and we had a good laugh. It was a great evening, the group struggled to drag Don away from the pub. Lovely people, lovely company! (See photo). 

After they left and despite there being plenty of other tables there seemed to be people queuing up to sit with us. Two guys also doing a bit of walking were after a chat, and joined us, but an early start for me and Sarah meant it was a short conversation (and I thought they were creepy) so we made our excuses and went back to the tents. 

Fit bit records: 22,064 steps, 9.68miles and 132 flight of stairs. 

The weather tonights much calmer, forecast from tomorrow onwards is sun: yeh! 

Photo's: 

 

Don,  Jean, Pat, Bill and me.

 

Sarah holding up the chimney!