Today we left leaving Lydford and headed towards Crediton

We were joined today by Gordon, Darren (kindly driving our stuff around), Jonathan and John – their support by joining us is really appreciated.

The original Anglo-Saxon names for the Lydford were Hlidaford or Hlidan, from hlid, meaning a cover or lid, referring to the almost perfect concealment of the river beneath the chasm at the bridge, and ford crossing. Over the years the name mutated via Lyghatford, Lidefort and Lideford to the contemporary spelling. Running south-west from the village is Lydford Gorge, a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) wooded gorge which has been cut through the slate rock by the River Lyd. The gorge is noted for its 30-metre (100 ft) waterfall.

After a brief spell on the A386 we left the road and moved into Dartmoor National Park – this involved some fence climbing to get down to our path – and took a scenic path to Okehampton. Not much to see but plenty of farmland and even more corn.

Lunch (pre-purchased in a great Okehampton bakery) was in the corner of a field as it was the only respite available from the busy road we were walking along. We then passed through the village of Bow – it looked like it had once been a really pretty village but now looked very unloved – such a shame!

Our 200 km milestone came (and went) just before we passed through another pretty village, Coleford, which had retained its “chocolate box” character.

Not too long after that we arrived in Crediton – our hotel is a Motorcycle sales/repair shop with rooms and a coffee bar. Sounds strange but very comfortable but “it works”. Today’s route was mercifully much flatter.

Tomorrow we head for Wellington.

Todays map and elevation profile

Today we left Menheniot and headed towards Lydford in Devon

Menheniot lies in a former mining area and is surrounded by disused shafts and engine houses. Lead seams were discovered in the 1840s and Menheniot became the centre of a mining boom which lasted until the 1870s. During this period the population doubled.

Our hosts at the B&B persuaded us to walk down a narrow path from their property instead of taking our planned route. It was a good shout from them as it cut a nice corner of the planned road piece at the start of the day. We then had a nice walk through the countryside towards Horse Bridge, interspersed with plenty of hills, streams, donkeys and alpacas.

Then we crossed the border from Cornwall into Devon by crossing the bridge at Horse Bridge and meandered through the lovely village of Sydenham before imagining, in awe, the efforts to build St Michaels church on the hill at Brentor.

After the 100 mile mark and with views of Dartmoor on the horizon, we walked down the hill towards Lydford Gorge (some good views of the Devils Cauldron by hanging over the bridge) and up the hill to our resting place for the evening.

Safe to say these 4 days have been quite a brutal introduction to the whole walk – over 3000m of ascent already.

Tomorrow we head to Crediton on what, thankfully, looks to be a much flatter route

Today we left St Austell and headed towards Menheniot.

St Austell is named after the 6th century Cornish saint, St Austoll, a disciple of St Mewan. In a Vatican manuscript there is a 10th-century list of Cornish parish saints. This includes Austoll, which means that the church and village existed at that time, shortly after 900.

The first hour or so out of St Austell was through urban areas, so a little bit hilly and pavements, but on leaving the town we hit our first big hill of the day – pretty steep and over 1km of constant walking upwards! We eventually made it to Fowey (via more hills and steepish descents) to try and find some lunch before taking the chainlink ferry across to Bodinnick. Without a long walk (we didnt need the extra steps today) the only option was a small catering van. Excellent sandwiches though and then a nice short crossing of the River Fowey.

Obviously a long hill back up from the ferry and then a long walk through farmlands and quiet country lanes. We passed the Cornish Gouda Company (made famous by Rick Stein’s cornwall series) and had a brief stop in Penylt for an ice cream before heading back into the woods and fields.

Onwards and upwards (or so it felt), even taking a wet/muddy path for a while, we eventually made our way to Menhiot and our accommodation for the evening. On the back of two tough days this was brutal in terms of hill climbing – thankfully for the afternoon the sun hid behind clouds to make it slightly more bearable.

Map of our route today and the climbs/descents

Today we were joined by Lauren for our journey from Camborne to St Austell.

After an eventful night outside the hotel (domestic disputes, fights, ambulances, police, etc. – none of which were anything to do with us!) it was breakfast as soon as they started serving and then off we set. We ambled through Camborne and the outskirts of Redruth before hitting the quieter roads.

Redruth’s name derives from its older Cornish name, Rhyd-ruth. It means Red Ford (literally ford red). During a boom for copper ore in the 18th century, Redruth (surrounded by copper ore deposits), quickly became one of the largest and richest mining areas in Britain and the town’s population grew markedly, although most miners’ families remained poor.

We then passed through multiple small towns such as St Day, Chacewater and Threemilestone before getting to St Emre (just over half way for the day). We looked for some lunch in St Emre but asking for a sandwich was way too difficult for the staff to understand in the bar so we moved on and agreed our own snacks were the way forward!

Carrying on – btw it was very hot out of the shade, so much so that the caps and hats made an appearance – the hills were also relentless as we made our way into St Austell via an ice cream stop. We also had a good view of the “Cornish Alps” which are really piles of spoil from the local china clay mines.

Safe to say we were pretty shattered at the end – 48km, 900m of climb and heat! Kudos to Lauren who achieved a personal best for distance walked today!

Tomorrow sees us head to Menheniot as we edge towards Devon in a couple of days.

Todays route and a graphic the climbs/descents of the day.

Today we started our walk back from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Today’s destination would be Camborne, some 41 km away and it felt really good to be back on the road.

The weather was lovely as we set out, sunny with a bit of a breeze as we made our way from Land’s End to Penzance. Such a contrast to this route last year which was torrential rain and wind. This is the church at St Buryan last year and today.

A very pleasant walk then ensued, along the coast path from Newlyn through to Marazion with some great views of St Michaels Mount and the causeway across to it as the the was retreating.

We then walked inland and headed northeast towards Camborne. Not a whole lot to report on as the road (mercifully quiet) meandered through farmland and nicely tree lined lanes (kept the sun off) and of course it was hilly

We finally arrived at our hotel in Camborne where a Cornish Cream Tea was our reward for our efforts. Camborne is named after kammbronn in Cornish which means “crooked hill”. It was one of the world richest tin mining areas n the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Todays route and a graphic the climbs/descents of the day.

Tomorrow we head back to the south coast of Cornwall and St Austell.

Please feel free to click on the image on the top right hand side of the page to donate to these great causes.

When I told my children that we are going to walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats, my youngest (Niamh) posted the following on instagram. So apt I thought I’d use it as the title of my first blog entry for this walk

We are now settled into the Land’s End Hotel for a last relax before the big day tomorrow. It seems crazy that only one year ago Paul and I were at Land’s End having finished our walk. We had absolutely no intention of ever doing it again – but here we are. Everything packed – main bag for its’ car journey to Camborne tomorrow (thank you Helen) and backpack also ready for the walk.

There are some stunning views from the hotel:

Breakfast at 8am tomorrow and then we set off the 41km / 26 miles to Camborne, hoping the weather stays nice but not too hot.

Of course this walk is all about raising money for two very deserving Hospices – click on the image to the right of the page to go to the sponsorship page please.

On 28th August, we (Myself, Paul and Mike) will start our walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

This is the reverse of our walk completed in 2020 in support of Haven House Children’s Hospice.

Mike Palfreman has moved from the CEO of Haven House to the CEO of Jersey Hospice Care and as both Hospices celebrate the shared aims of all hospices across the UK we will be raising funds for both Hospices.

“To help bring dignity and choice to those living with dying and to help all, of whatever age, live life to the full.”

All funds raised will be split 50/50 between Jersey Hospice Care and Haven House Children’s Hospice and will be even more critical at this time in enabling both hospices to withstand the impact of the ongoing pandemic.

You can read about the services of both amazing charities by clicking on the Hospice logos at the top of the page.

As last year, this blog will be updated daily (where wifi allows) and we will hopefully joined by 50+ walkers on different legs of our journey.

Please support us, and all the walkers who will join us, in this immense challenge, and through them Jersey Hospice Care and Haven House, by sponsoring for as much as you can afford.

A very big thank you from all of us in advance.