Day 2 - Hayle to St Agnes

The day dawned wet and the forecast, for once correct, said that it would stay that way - balancing our beautiful weather yesterday. We set off from outside Jewson's in Hayle where we had stopped yesterday, but this time with over-trousers and anoraks, hoods up instead of shorts and sun hats. However it was a pleasant walk along the estuary with the spring flowers and birds landing on the water and mud. It is always extraordinary to think that this, like much of this coast, was highly industrial until after WW2 with tin, copper, lead, salt, pilchard processing, dynamite and other industries pumping out smoke and effluent. Now it is peaceful and pretty. As we left the town, we entered sand dunes, which spread over several miles Eastward along the sea front. The path winds too and fro through these, skirting two holiday camps on the way to the small village of Godrevy.
The light house at the end of the beach looked bleak in the grey rainy air, with the sea boiling and chafing at its rocky feet. It was too wet and windy to stop, apart from a quick photograph, then we climbed as the cliffs rose from the dunes.
A 5 mile yomp followed along the cliff tops, which could have been delightful if the rain had eased up, but it beat at us from our right incessantly. It was, however, mostly easy walking with only a couple of dips and rises until we rounded a headland and descended to Portreath. A pub welcomed us as we reached the centre, and we enjoyed a badly needed bowl of soup and a drink.
When we set off again, the wind and rain were worse and John felt quite cold for a while, but the steep hill out of the village followed by a steep drop down and steps up warmed us up. This is a lovely piece of coast with lots of views of cliffs, headlands and dramatic rocks harried by the sea. The cliffs are around 200 feet above the sea, so when you do come to a cove, it is a considerable slog down and up again, and the steps tend to be steep, which makes the coast path quite hard work in parts. However, through all this we were able to enjoy some spectacular scenery albeit in a dark mood.
As we climbed up to St Agnes and our walk's end, the rain and wind finally stopped, and Lindsey and Yolanda soon arrived to drive us home after a cup of tea by the fireside of the St Agnes Hotel.
We have learned a few things about rain, wind and keeping dry.