Tintagle to Port Gaverne, 14.9km, +786, -881
The 95 bus leaves from just up the road, taking us into Tintagel. The bus huffs and puffs up the hills, the bus driver daftly navigating the narrow streets. Tintagel feels big, with lots of people about at this early hour - hikers, tourists and locals alike. We locate the direction to the trail and head down the main street, following the signs to the Tintagel castle. The high street is made up of small buildings, some of them very old looking, with frequent references to King Arthur. Turns out the village, and more so - the castle - are associated with the Arthurian legends. Funny, I never thought of where these take place, always assumed somewhere central, definitely not Cornwall. Among the old and new, a small storefront attracts our attention with a large, old-looking metal device used to make sweets. As we enter the store, the most hipster-looking young guy is busy cleaning the manufacturing area, separated from the store itself with a large window, allowing visitors to see the transitional manufacturing method. We buy a pack of Peanut Brittle, and the nice guy gives us a lemon sherbet to try. Dumbledore's favorite sweet!
It seems that all the tourists are heading towards the castle, or should I say - castle ruins. But we take a left at the end of the main street and join our trail. Ahead on the left is the impressibly large buildings of the St Materiana's Church. We quickly arrive at the small and beautifully positioned YHA and next to it, a huge pile of slates. This is a particularly slate-y stretch, with several quarries just on the cliff's edge, as well as a few wharfs in the bays below, all disused by now. Looking down at the quarries, I wonder reflect again on the hard work humanity puts into sustaining itself. How many lives were lost cutting these slates, getting them into boats, ferrying them across the area?
The ascents and descents from yesterday continue, and are they really harder today or am I imagining it? Looking up from one of the small bays, I see two deers above us, looking at us as if to say "this isn't hard at all, humans", before the gracefully jump up the hill and disappear into the bush. Finding a respite in the wind, the stop to look at the sea and munch on the brittle we bought - a perfect snack for the trail. We should have bought more..
By the time we reach Trebarwith the scenery is drastically different in a lot of small ways. The main one is the bays turning from small, inaccessible and rocky to beaches with a mix of sand and rock. Trebawith is a collection of buildings, now mostly hotels, and a great looking beach. There’s some people around, even some in the water, including some surfers. The cafe overlooking the beach is not open yet, “no staff”, says the women busy setting the place up for lunch.
Trebarwith behind us, the trail continues its ascents and descents into Tregardock. Looking at the map, I read the names of places around us out loud. Tregatte, Trenale, Trewalder, Trethevy. Turns out tre means homestead in Cornish. I like seeing these remnants of the past so alive here. Cornish might not be spoken much around here, but it's still present in some ways.
Port Issac is a small bay away from the larger Port Arthur, a larger harbor villages. Separating them is an uphill promenade. Doc Martin, the English tv show, is based here, and they are actually filming a scene as we arrive. Our hotel has a pub, and sitting outside in the sun with our drinks we watch the world. One our left is a clearly local couple with their beautiful huskies, drawing attention from everyone. The owner is a fisherwomen, stopping for a pint after finishing her day. On our right is an older American couple who choose this location for their yearly vacation because of the show. They are waiting for the cast and crew to finish their day and come into the pub for drinks, as they do often. They are not disappointed, when a few hours later the pub gets busy with some familiar faces from the show.
The room is lovely (we need to share a bad as this was the only room available around), and sounds of an English pub evening are drifting up through the open windows.
THE IMPORTANT STUFF:
Accommodation: Port Gaverne Hotel, right on the trail. Lovely old pub hotel.
Highlight of the day: the slates.
Supply: Tintagle has a Spar as well as some smaller grocery stores, and a Boots pharmacy. Port Issac has a co-op.
Food along the way: Trebarwith has a cafe/restaurant, but everything was closed.
Trail map: https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/hiking-route/united-kingdom/tintagel-to-port-isaac/37805507/
Public Transport: bus 95.
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