The Lizard (not a reptile in sight)
Tuesday 6 November, 2018
The weather forecast was poor, but didn’t look too bad when I caught the bus in Helston. By the time I reached the harbour, the rain was pattering down and putting on the complete wet weather kit was essential. The wind was pretty brutal and my goal for the day changed, from reaching the Lizard, to getting to Mullion. The former was a seriously challenging 20 kms, whereas Mullion was a much more reasonable 14 kms.
Bed for the night is Cadgwith, an isolated fishing village. Again, I’ve got no idea why I settled on this spot, or why I thought another five kms was a good plan, but the day became dominated by bus times. The path was actually quite easy, but one soon gets tired of water running down your face.
So I never made it to the Lizard, but I’ve got a rest day on Friday, so I may be able to fill in the gaps. I did see some of the main attractions. The Looe is the largest body of fresh water in Cornwall, separated from the sea by the Loe Bar, which you walk across to get back on the path. According to the guide book, bloody Tennyson was describing the Loe as the place where Sir Bedivere threw Excalibur into the water: “On one side lay the ocean, and on one lay a great water” (Idylls of the King, The Passing of Arthur). The bar was having major drainage work done on it today, so the only thing I saw in the water was a bulldozer.
As I’ve noted before, Cornwall is a great place for weird saints, something that heartens back to its role as a centre of Celtic Christianity – its pretty obvious from the Remonstrances that the Cornish weren’t keen to call anyone the boss before, during or after the Reformation. If you are keen, I could go on about the traditional links of this part of the coast to Brittany, but I encourage a dip into Wikipedia. Anyway, the good Saint Winwaloe was a fifth century Abbott in Brittany and has a number of churches dedicated to him in Cornwall. Here he is in the Churchyard at Gunwalloe Church Cove.
The Church is tucked behind a granite outcrop above the beach and really looked like the “Church of Storms” today. Interestingly, the tower is Norman and not attached to the church.
