Despite leaving London at 2 pm, our plan to beat the traffic is proving a failure. With temperatures nearing 30 degrees Celsius, we’re sweating away in the car while we’re stop-and-going on our way down to Cornwall. By the time we get to our campsite near Lands End, it’s almost midnight instead of 8 pm as predicted originally by the sat nav when we set off. Equipped with head torches, Amy, Pete and I are setting up our tents hastily and as quietly as possible so we don’t wake up our fellow campers. We cannot wait to crawl into the tents and get a good night’s sleep with two days of rock climbing or hiking ahead of us. And we did well to hurry up for as soon as I’m ready for my sleeping bag, the first rain drops fall from the sky: The English summer has struck once again.

Safety first for the climbers

In the morning, the entire campsite is covered by a dense fog and temperatures have dropped significantly. I’m glad that I packed layers and waterproofs despite the abundant sunshine in London as I get ready for the day and crawl out of my little tent to find other hikers. My friend Amy, who I met years ago during a photography hike in London, has invited me to join her weekend away with the Rockhoppers, a mountaineering club in the UK that organises a multitude of trips every year for rock climbing and hiking. On the Treen Farm Campsite, offering ocean-views on a sunnier day than this, we’re about sixty rockhoppers this weekend and we have been assigned a dedicated space.

I really haven’t done a good job with planning my food supplies this time around, but luckily, this must be the best-equipped campsite I have ever been to, offering a camp shop with everything the hungry camper can dream off: Coffee, tea, freshly baked croissants and even bacon & egg rolls are being sold inside the shop as well as out front. And after a hearty breakfast, I’m ready to join the day hike.

We’re starting in St. Just and heading through the village to Cape Cornwall. This takes us to the South West Coast Path, running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. The total length is 630 miles, making it England’s longest marked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. Through the persistent haziness, we’re following the path through the Kenidjack Valley and up the hill, which is covered entirely with foxglove. On top of the hill, the ruins of Kenidjack Castle are overlooking Cape Cornwall now retreating further into the distance as we are making our way north-east, towards another village called Treen, our final destination for the day. We’re passing the Crowns Engine Houses, part of the former tin and copper mine in Botallack, and before long, we find a scenic lunch spot which is perfectly suited to consume the traditional Cornish pasties which were also freshly baked in the morning in our miraculous camp shop.

Cape Cornwall
Kenidjack Castle
Crowns Engine Houses
Cornish pasty (with bite marks)

A scenic lunch spot

With a fully belly and fresh energy, we keep following the windy path to the boat cove Port Eras and Bosigran Castle, where some of our brave climbers are conquering the rock despite the improvable climbing weather. Our final stop for the day is the Gunnard’s Head – first the rock, then the pub – near the other village called Treen, where I treat myself to a Skinners Extra Gold Lager whilst we’re waiting for the bus to take us back to St. Just.

The Gunnard’s Head

It’s not quite the season in Cornwall yet so busses are very infrequent. By the time the bus turns up an hour later, it turns out that it’s a 19-seater, which perfectly suits our group of 19 filling up the entire mini-bus. On the way to St. Just, we’re only joined by another two Cornish passengers and a dog, and we conclude from their astounded looks that they’ve never seen the bus this full before. It’s now getting late and with the little pub – the Logan Rock close to the campsite – usually being very busy in the evenings for dinner, we decide it’s safer to eat in the fish and chips shop in St. Just and just head to the pub for drinks after. I think it’s safe to say that this is the best fish and chips I have had in England so far (and believe me, I have had lots. When in Cornwall, have fish and chips at Jeremy’s in St. Just. You will not regret it!).

Our route for the next day starts from our campsite and this time, we’re planning to hike up to Cape Cornwall, thus making the connection between Treen and the part of the coastal path that we have hiked the day before – ending in the other Treen. We’re hiking at a more leisurely pace than the day before, past the Minack Theatre, a beautifully crafted outdoors theatre right next to the sea featuring a number of top-notch plays during summertime (this summer Pride and Prejudice will be one of them, which I’d love to see there). Only an hour into the hike, during which we managed to lose half of the group, we find them again in Porthcurno Café. Despite the fact that it’s still morning, I can’t resist the option of having a cream tea (a scone with very rich clotted cream and raspberry jam, usually served with a little can of tea) before we head further along the path, this time picking up speed slightly to make up for the time we lost.

The Minack Theatre
Cream Tea

Enys Dodnan is a mayor viewpoint en-route. During our break facing the massive rock with an arch, which makes it look like an elephant lying in the water, a canoer decides to paddle his way through the arch – or underneath the elephant’s trunk, if you like. We’re now not far away from Lands End and the wind is getting chillier and makes it uncomfortable to sit down for longer periods of time so we get a move on again fast. I have been to Lands End before so I’m not as shocked as others to see it. I don’t know who had the idea to build some sort of amusement park here but I have yet to meet one person who thought it was a great one. We don’t spend a long time at the scenic, most Western point in England-turned-tourist trap and continue our hike instead.

Enys Dodnan

Just as we get to Sennen, the sky opens up and a persistent drizzle sets in. That in itself is not a problem, as I have my waterproofs with me, however it’s still very humid. The next couple of hours are spent hiking in high-speed in my waterproofs, sweating and panting along the narrow and now slippery path. When the rain clears, I deem it safe to take off the waterproofs, which seems just the sign for a massive rain shower to set in as we’re about to hike the final stretch into the village of St. Just, where The Wellington Pub just next to Jeremy’s Fish and Chips shop has room for our group of wet hikers – and a lot of the good Korev Cornish lager.

Above and below – more Cornish Impressions
A Cornish horse
Scrambling up the coastal path
Mind the gap

Our route

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