Mylor Creek - Cornwall

Wet, Wet, Wet -  But Didn't Dampen our Enjoyment

Restonguet Weir

Monday 26th October

Having packed the van over the weekend there shouldn't have been a problem getting off early, as it happened by the time we had had a spot of breakfast it was 9.00am and we still had to get fuel.

We were on the road by 9.30 so not that bad, the traffic on the M5 was quite busy until we had got past Avonmouth, the trip down the M5 was fine and we stopped at Exeter just after 12.00 for a break and a spot of lunch, Cornish pasty which has recently become a tradition.

The rest of the journey was fine apart from the intermittent torrential down pours especially going across the moors, the wipers struggled to clear the screen. By the time we had arrived at Tregunwith the sun had come out, if only briefly.

The site was a CCC cs site, a hedged field with EHU, CDP, water, recycling and waste, there are showers and toilets but these were closed due to covid-19. We parked up after a little levelling with the ramps, plugged in the electric and put the kettle on.

After tea we watched TV for an hour then started our scrabble competition, lets see who comes out on top this trip.

Tuesday 27th October
We woke late this morning, we had quite a bad night with the howling winds and heavy rain, we had expected to hanker down and sit today out but as we sat talking over breakfast the winds eased, the rains got lighter and dare I say, the skies looked a lot brighter.
We left the site about 11.00 for the short drive down to Mylor Bridge, parking was a problem, we found a small car park opposite the village stores but was not really intended for vans, I managed to get into a space at the top end.
We had planned to walk down the side of the Mylor creek to Restonguet Creek, about 4-5 miles which should take about 2 1/2 hours, as we started the sun began to shine so looked like a promising day.

Old Mylor Quay

Restonguet Creek

The walk was a mix of road, footpath and fields, the rain we have had over the last few days made the paths very, very muddy, the walk was great with views over the creek filled with pleasure boats and some small fishing boats, the path took us to some lovely beaches and past some cosy cottages that, at one time, would have been for local fisherman but now looking like holiday homes.

Pandora Inn

The walk was lovely and as we approached the halfway mark the Pandora Inn came into view, the 13th century Inn has flagstone floors, low ceilings and a thatched roof and looked as if it hadn't change over the years, we decided to take a break here and have a bite to eat and drink, we took a table out on the pontoon floating out on the creek, the sun still shining we had a pint of local IPA and a bowl of home made leek and potato soup with artisan bread, at £7.00 was expensive but tasty, we sat in the sun soaking up the views for an hour or so.

Soup & A Pint

Coffee & Cake

The walk back to the van took us up a very steep hill and across the headland back down into Mylor Bridge, we really enjoyed the walk along some lovely scenery, before returning to our site we drove out to Mylor harbour which is full of pleasure boats and the medieval parish church, we decided to return another day to explore.
Back at site we had to wash Izzy down as she was covered in mud, Adele got changed out of her muddy trousers and we relaxed with a cup of tea, where adele promptly dropped soggy rich tea biscuits down her clean trousers, she’s not happy.
Tea tonight would be pan fried salmon with rice and vegetables with a glass or two of wine, as we are both tired it would be an early night.
 

Wednesday 28th October
Woke 8.00 after an interrupted night, heavy rain and strong buffeting winds, it was really grey and wet this morning, we had breakfast and hoped that it would dry up as we wanted to take the walk from Mylor Church out past the marina to the far point, the heavens opened up and we had torrential rain.

Mylor Parish Church

As we were clearing up the clouds starting to break and a hint of blue sky appeared, perhaps we would get our walk after all. We topped up with water and again made the short drive to the Norman Mylor Church, there has been a place of worship on the site since 813AD, in the church yard there was a monument to HMS Ganges, a Royal Naval training ship, where boys aged 15 - 17 years would get seafaring training, the monument was dedicated to those who died whilst there.

We were unable to get inside the church as it was locked, we assume it was due to covid-19, from there we walked down past the marina and out along the creek out towards Flushing just as it started to rain once more, we thought we were going to get soaked but it stopped as quickly as it started, we walked a couple of miles before the SW coastal path became almost impassable due to the amount of rain we have had recently.

Trelissick Gardens

On returning to the van we moved on to the NT Trelissick for a walk around the exotic gardens and parkland, as we were getting out of the van we were caught in another torrential down pour so quickly got back in the van and waited it out with a cup of tea.
After about 15 minutes it had dried up so we wrapped up and ventured out, it was a good job we didn't give in as the walk was great, the gardens, although very wet were a treat, the colours of the leaves were spectacular and the views out over the estuary showed its wide beauty.
Time was ticking away, we returned to the van for the 20 minute drive back to the site, we pitched up, plugged in and sat chatting with a G&T before tea as the clouds started to roll back in again  

Thursday 29th October
Woke after a good nights sleep, its still very windy with grey skies but its dry. Over breakfast we decided to go Falmouth for a walk, the town was very busy so found a car park next to the Queen Mary Gardens, full of what looked like sub tropical plants, we walked through the gardens to Gyllyngvase beach and on to the South West Coastal path which had some landslip problems so came back to the beach, as it was so windy there were many windsurfers enjoying the waves, we returned to the van to check out Pendennis Head, we pasted the Castle and parked at the Head car park, still blowing a gale we went to check out Little Dennis Fort, the remains of a Tudor fort built in 1539 to defend the entrance to Falmouth harbour.

Little Dennis Fort

After a quick cup of tea we decided as we so close we would go to The Lizard, owned by the National Trust its the most southerly point in England, we called at the car park but was turned away as they didn’t have space for US, meaning a MoHo even though there were clearly spaces available, Adele was fuming, we drove into the village of Lizard where there was amble parking, we had a Cornish cream tea then walked back down to the point.

Lizard Harbour

The force 6-7 winds were whipping up some serious waves that were breaking along the cliffs and down by the old lifeboat station, we probably had the best weather to see this part of the coast in all its wild and fierce glory, it was pretty spectacular, I don’t think the photos will give power of the seas justice, we sat and watched the heavy seas crashing for sometime before returning to the van, it was starting to get dusk by now so made the 20 mile or so journey back to Tregunwith arriving just as it was getting dark, we levelled the van, closed all the blinds and sat down with a G&T whilst tea cooked, tonight we had pork chops with cheesy croquet potatoes and sugar-snap peas.

After clearing away we continued our scrabble championship with Adele taking the glory tonight.   
We have had a great day today, especially as it started so grey.
 
Friday 30th October.
I don’t know what really happened this morning, we didn’t wake until 9.15! we did have some very strong winds in the night so I’ll use that as an excuse. It was very grey this morning with low cloud and that heavy mist where you get soaked just by looking at it.

We had a leisurely breakfast, so leisurely that it was lunchtime by the time we left Tregunwith.

The weather had not improved in fact it had got worse, we called into Lidl to get to groceries then in to Falmouth to get a pasty from a local shop where they are made on the counter in front of you, pasties still hot were drove out to Pendennis Point where we were able to park right on the cliff top, the pasty was great however, the weather was now like a fog, Adele took Izzy for a walk as I finished off editing the photos for our next YouTube slideshow, it was gone 4.15pm by the time we packed up to return to site.
As its Halloween tomorrow Adele dressed the van in some spooky decorations. I finished off our diary blog as we both relaxed with a G&T and talked over this trip, considering the weather forecast had been so appalling we have had a great time, the weather has not been any where near as bad as forecast, we have walked miles, laughed lots and seen some great sights, we must return to this part of Cornwall again soon, tomorrow we will have to return home.
 
Saturday 31st October.

Aiden kept us awake on and off all night, or at least Storm Aiden did with heavy rain and gale force winds, we had breakfast and as it was still very windy and wet we decided to go home rather than going out first. we packed the van and as we left the site the sun came out, typical.

As we left the site we said that we would have expected more branches on the road than there was, on the road towards Truro we came across Police blocking the road due to, well yes, a tree down, well done to the PCs of Devon & Cornwall Police as three guys and one woman heaved the tree off the road by brute strength.

Traffic along the A30 was horrendous, stop start almost all the way to the motorway, the M5 was not much better, very busy, when we got to Gloucester there was an accident that had blocked the motorway, the sat-nav took us via Dursley and the George pub where we had our first stopover in the caravan some 20 years ago, once back on the motorway it was all clear until we got home.

We have had a great week in this part of Cornwall, the weather was bad but not as bad as we were expecting, we have not been here before but will return hopefully when this pandemic is just a memory.

Trip Details:

Miles: 593

Ave MPG: 31.6
Fuel Cost: £ 98.67

Car Parking: £ 7.20

Nights: 5

Camp Fees: £ 60.00

Camp Ave per night: £ 12.00

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We put our holiday photos in to small slideshows and are uploaded on to our YouTube Channel, benivanadventures, they are not professionally produced but give a feeling of the area and places we visit - Click on the link below:

Mylor Creek, Cornwall - October 2020 (slideshow)

Mylor Creek - An Autumn Walk - October 2020 (video)