Neither here nor there: A Stroll along the beach.

The weather forecast for Wednesday didn’t hold much promise. Rain was forecast and so we decided that we wouldn’t set off further afield but instead enjoy a cooked breakfast in the Bluff Inn and take it from there as to what we would do next. After breakfast, we decided to walk along the cliff top path and down to the beach, where we continued walking towards Hayle. It wasn’t easy going for either of us, the sand was very dry to walk on and we made slow progress.

As far as the weather was concerned, it was overcast but we did keep spying glimpses of some blue sky as you can plainly see from my panoramic shot above. It was beginning to look as if the weather forecasters had got it wrong. Note How far Kerri is on the left, I had walked back along the beach to get this shot.

We did end up having to do some sand dune climbing, no easy task when accompanied by Kerri, as you have to help her over every obstacle which meant that we made slow progress, but eventually we arrived at Hayle. The only glimpse we had had previously of Hayle was when we arrived at the railway station, and from our bus rides to St Ives previously. We had spied some interesting looking caves from across the estuary as we approached Hayle from the sands, but I wasn’t sure how you reached the other side from the town. We set off up the road, not quite sure of where we were heading and came across an archway and a board that announced the Millpond Trail. It looked very interesting and so we entered and began a walk that I consider to be one of the most enjoyable I have ever done.

Old ruins littered the walk, covered with ivy and climbing plants, there was what appeared to be an old amphitheatre amongst all the greenery and plant life, and I have since discovered that there is a rope walkway there, though we never saw it as we ventured along. It did say that we would see numerous bird life and a Heron, but all that we saw during our walk was a family of ducks and some swans. Nevertheless, I do recommend that if you find yourself ever in Hayle, you take a walk past the White Hart Hotel and find the beginning of the Millpond Trail, its well worth it.

Kerri was rewarded at the end of the walk by a lady who was just setting off for a ride on her horse. She had just brought the horse out of the gate where he was stabled and was busy mounting him from a set of steps. We stopped for a chat and then she disappeared down the path whilst we went off in the other direction to make our way back to town.

By the time we reached the town again, it was not far off lunch time, and so we decided that as we were near the White Hart Hotel, we might as well try there. The only occupants apart from the young person behind the bar, were two old salts who looked for all the world like your typical Cornish fishermen, weathered faces full of wrinkles, caps placed atop heads all asunder, beards etc, discussing the time of day at a table near the window.

We parked ourselves at a table and I enquired of the girl behind the bar about lunch. We had chosen our food, I intended to have the ‘roast of the day’ but as I seem to be easily overfaced these days, I asked her if I could have a ‘children’s portion’ and she said yes. When it came it was a huge plateful but quite delicious. Roast beef with all the trimmings, I really enjoyed it and Kerri enjoyed hers as well. If ever you are in Hayle, do try the White Hart for a meal, I thoroughly recommend it.

After our delicious lunch it was time to make our way to the bus stop for our bus back to the holiday park. The rain had kept away and we had enjoyed a wonderful day out. Enjoy the many photos we took of our day.