Quite a busy and complex day today, due to the timings of public transport. Although I have this section titled Hayle to Gurnards Head, my first section will be Carbis Bay to Hayle. I leave the hotel very early and join the SWCP at the bottom of the garden from the hotel. I walk in the early morning light behind the large houses and cross the railway line via a footbridge onto the seaward side.
I enter a small dune system, Port Kidney Sands as the shoreline swings around and enters the Hayle estuary. I recross the railway line and walk alongside a golf course to a small church. I notice some new way signs that point to St. Michaels Way, a footpath that runs all the way to St. Michaels Mount on the south coast. The road rejoins the railway running alongside the estuary. I pass by the small railway halt of Lelant. I join the busy BB3301 all the way to Hayle. At the head of the Estuary I am walking along a well-trodden grass verge, where I pass a granite stone that tells me I am entering Hayle District. I stop close to the new Asda store in Hayle and get a bus back to Carbis Bay.
At Carbis Bay, I walk into the centre of St. Ives with the intention of getting a bus out to Zennor. The bus is not going for a few hours so I opt to start walking to Zennor instead. The path is along low clifs and is fairly level with easy walking. I am soon at Zennor and the sun is very bright, amazing for late November! I walk into the village and find I have about one and a half hours to wait until the next bus back to St. Ives. So I opt to walk along the B3306 as far as Treen. At Treen is the Gurnards Head Pub, as I have made good time I decide to nip in for a pint. I order a pint of shandy which costs £3.62!!! I did not order a second. I drop down onto the SWCP and make my way back along the cost to Zennor, passing a few ruined engine Houses on the way.
I joined other walkers on the #14 bus back to St. Ives
Distance today = 14.5 miles
Total distance = 648 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 
Hi Alan, I think this is a lovely section of coast, but transport is a real problem once you get west of St Ives. The branch train from St Ives to St Erth is useful for coastal walking, and stops at some of the prettiest stations in the UK, in my opinion.
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Hi Ruth, I don’t think I used the train at all when doing the Cornish section of the SWCP. The only time I was due to take a train, a replacement bus service was laid on for the Hayle to Redruth journey.
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I took the branch line from St Ives to St Erth, but mainline trains had stopped running, due to a signal failure. Ended up sharing a taxi back to Penzance, where I was staying! Perhaps the bus would have been more reliable 😀
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