Day 42  - Pendoggett to Crantock

 

Date: Tuesday 15^th June 2010   Distance: 30.91 Miles

 

After a lovely breakfast we had quite a sociable time talking to other guests from the Netherlands who loved the idea of our “project” as they called our ongoing cycling trip.

 

We left for Port Isaac famous for its role in the “Doc Martin” series on TV. We didn’t recognise anywhere except for the beach. This was used by cars as a paying car park surprisingly and the tide was quite well in.

 

Lovely lanes took us by Port Quin where it was quiet and no parking. Several rented cottages maybe National Trust looked very nice, especially one right on the bay.

Up to Doyden Point(NT) still few visitors, then honeysuckle strewn lanes to Polzeath where it was very busy. Many people were surfing and a local café owner was making the most of this. He looked and sounded like the plumber/ restaurateur in Doc Martin, very focused on money making. We think he might own the car parking rights to the beach, which must be a lucrative form of income with little outlay.

 

At Rock we caught the ferry for Padstow. It was £4.50 in total and we got soaked backs when the boat changed direction to avoid the sand banks and the wind sent up high waves. As always the views are lovely.

At Padstow there was a Lobster Hatchery that encouraged visitors and many ways of buying fish and chips both down and up market.

We found a bike hire place that sold bike bits at the start of the Camel Trail. This was necessary for new brake pads as old ones were destroyed yesterday. The tread on the tyre was worn down too by the naff brake blocks so we bought a new one of those too. Have to say that the absence of burning rubber smells meant that the hills had evened out a bit for a little while at least.

At a pub in Padstow we had cheese and onion sandwiches, chips and Doombar! Best of the trip so far.

It was a long hill out of Padstow, then magnificent coastal views on three sides as we ride the lanes across to and beyond Newquay to our B and B at Crantock. From the lounge there was a lovely view of the sea but our room was rather small and pokey, It was called Crantock Cottage.

It was a short walk to the Cornishman Inn, which we chose for our meal though the pub a few yards away was more characterful. I have been missing vegetables and they were serving some with meals so that was preferred.

We walked through the churchyard, where the last man to be put in stocks there had escaped. This

beautiful village is full of interesting alleys and buildings. The beach is backed by sanddunes and research tells us we  missed a lovely old cave carving of a local woman who got cut off by the tide and drowned.