This was to be a single day’s walk around one of the estuaries that I used a ferry for while walking the South West Coastal Path back in 2015. I have been slowly ‘plugging’ away at these ‘gaps’ to ensure that I have a continuous record of walking around the coastline of Great Britain. As I have mentioned before it’s about joining up the footprints! Because I have three of these ‘gaps’ to finish, all in Cornwall, I decided that I would do a single trip today and complete the remaing ‘gaps’ over two days in a months’ time.
This really was a long way to drive (534 miles) for just 15 miles of walking! But it needed to be done. The walk would be very straight forward, I would park in Wadebridge, which is the first walkable bridging point over the River Camel, I would then walk towards Rock to use the ferry to cross over The Camel to Padstow. I would then follow the Camel Trail back to Wadebridge. The trouble was the first few miles of the walk from Wadebridge to Rock was along the B3314, which had no verge in many places and subject regular and high speed traffic. There was no way I was walking along that road – at any time of the day! I opted instead to take a wider route out towards the village of Chapel Amber using footpaths, green lanes and minor lanes.
I had driven through the night from Shropshire and set off at 06:15. It was a lovely summer Sunday morning when I set off from a small industrial park in Wadebridge. The amount of dew on the grass ensured that I would have very wet feet after a few miles of walking. I continued through the small farm at Tregorden following a green lane. As I approached Chapel Amble I was confronted by a small herd of cows. They appeared very curious with me and started following me. I managed to cross a small bridge and soon realised that the path I had been following had disappeared – I would have to walk back through the cattle who had gathered at the bridge. There was no way around these animals so I decided to walk straight at them! They gave way, but were still very frisky! I managed to find a gap in the hedge and jumped through. The footpath here was really overgrown, so I suspect that the cattle did not see many walkers.
I continued through the small village of Chapel Amble, then taking a narrow lane out to Middle and Lower Amble. I arrived on the B3314 at Gutt Bridge, where I would try and find a footpath which was marked on my OS map. My suspicions about the road where confirmed by the volume and speed of the vehicles using this road. I found a hole in the hedge and climbed a small stile. I emerged into a field full of cattle…again! They were also very curious and made towards me. I ensured I stayed to the side of the field enabling a place to bolt to – if needed. Seeing that they were getting too close to me, I told them to “bugger off” which they did!
I was now close to the River Camel, but now had to climb onto higher ground. I emerged on another quiet lane and passed through the farms at Tregenna, Trevelver and Carlyon. I could now see down onto the Camel and ahead to Padstow. From Carlyon I tried to follow another footpath. Like many of the footpaths in this part of Cornwall, the paths have a start point but once you are on them tend to disappear. I set off across a field of waist-high barley. I did not have a clue where the path would emerge on the road whic I was aiming for. I stumbled through a hedge onto a lane and should have left it at that, but I could see a footpath marked which would take me into Rock. I set off along a footpath, which dumped into …………another field of cattle, who were enclosed by an electric fence. The cattle appeared not interested in me, but the footpath signs had disappeared. I wandered around a couple of fields and pushed through onto what appeared to be a well-used footpath. I walked into the small hamlet of Porthilly, on the banks of the Camel. The tide was out so I could walk across Porthilly Cove towards the main road into Rock.
Rock was busy when I arrived at the ferry point. A few people were already waiting for the ferry, which I could I see was still tied up across the river at Padstow. I donned my gloves and mask, as did the other passengers when the ferry arrived. I could see that the ferry was selling face masks at 50p each. I paid the £3 charge using a contactless card. I spoke to another walker who was walking the SWCP, he was hoping to reach Newquay that night.
I set off through Padstow, which was not as busy the last time I walked through it – certainly different times and a different world! I would now follow the Camel Trail back to Wadebridge. This Trail was constructed on the route of the old London and South Western railway line which last carried passengers back in 1967. Today, it is mostly used by walkers and cyclists and continues on past Wadebridge towards Bodmin. Because the route is very flat and wide, it is heavily used by bicycles and a flourishing range of bicycle hire shops have sprung up in Wadebridge. I only counted a couple of other walkers along the route but hundreds of cyclists. The walk along the trail became a bit tedious, with its constant flow of cyclists and linear route, but the occasional glimpse of the Camel Estuary was very enjoyable. As I neared Wadebridge I could look across The Camel and see the opposite bank. It confirmed what I indeed suspected – that, although no path was marked on the map, I could have walked along the high water mark of the Camel for just 2km and bypassed the B3314 and the fields of many cows.
Distance today = 15 miles
Total distance = 5,945 miles
Walking the Coast of Great Britain 
Glad I’m not the only one who drives miles for a “short walk”. Hopefully you aren’t driving a V12 gas guzzler. I did 4 hours extra driving yesterday (on top of my work route) in order to do 5.5 miles, but it was worth it.
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Hi Snowgood, the Toyota Avensis is a very frugal beast and can return circa 52mpg. My shortest was walk was about 9 years ago. I drove all the top of the Drumochter Pass in Perthshire (about 370 miles) to realise i’d left all my walking gear back in Shropshire! Needless to say i’ve only ever done that once. LOL.
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