Today would be the last leg of our epic adventure as we walk from Penzance to Land’s End. We are joined today by Gareth, Andy and Chris for the final (glory) leg – Mike is walking instead of driving as well.

The weather was truly awful as we left the hotel in Penzance – heavy rain and strong winds in our faces. Penzance is the base of the pirates in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance. At the time the libretto was written, 1879, Penzance had become popular as a peaceful resort town so the idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing to contemporaries. Penzance—Pennsans; “holy headland” in the Cornish Language —refers to the location of a chapel nowadays called St Anthony’s that is said to have stood over a thousand years ago on the headland to the west of what became Penzance Harbour.

This would be a short walk today (only 18kms) but as usual started with a steep hill out of Penzance in the wind and the rain. A nice church in Saint Buryan and an old gun emplacement in St Levan were the only things of note. Fortunately, within about 5km of Land’s End the rain and wind stopped – even offering glimpses of blue sky as we finally reached the A30, a view of the sea and the Land’s End marker.

Sue had organised some of the visitors to applaud us as we crossed the “finishing line” which was a very nice touch. The Land’s End signpost is privately owned so each photograph costs £11 (unlike John O’Groats where it is free to all). The long queue for photos very generously let us jump the queue – while we wait for the emailed official photo, here are the unofficial iPhone versions.

This has been an epic, once in a lifetime adventure that would not have been possible without the support of Helen & Sue; Mike, Graeme, Mark, Greg, Darren & Louis who drove our bags around the country and generally looked after us and of course the 40 friends and colleagues who joined us for one of more legs.

Tomorrow’s final blog entry for this walk will be some statistics that cover the last 33 days.

Today we would leave Probus and head for Penzance on our last full day of walking.

We left Probus early and headed towards Truro on our way to Penzance. Probus has the tallest church tower in Cornwall at 129 feet (39 m) high and is richly decorated with carvings.The town’s name originates from the church’s dedication to Saint Probus.

A lot of mist in the fields as we set out, but with the sun rising it quickly burnt off the mist.

We walked through Truro taking the opportunity for a coffee and a last photo outside a HSBC branch. Truro is Cornwall’s county town and it’s only city. Truro grew as a centre of trade from its port and then as a stannary town for the tin-mining industry. It became entitled to be called a city in 1876, with the founding of the Diocese of Truro, and thereby became mainland Britain’s southernmost city.

In a welcome deviation from the road we joined the Mines Trail and walked through the Wheal Maid Valley – this was a copper ore mine and produced over one million tonnes during the 18th and 18th centuries from mines that went over 350m deep.

We then took the Great Flat Lode Trail, around Carn Brea, which was covered with old engine houses and ventilation towers. This was so named because the tin-bearing rock was at an unusually shallow gradient of about 10 degrees to the horizontal – in other parts of Cornwall mineral bearing lodes lie at between 60 and 90 degrees to the horizontal – its small gradient allowed for optimal location of the mines.

After a long walk down a tree lined B-road with limited views, we got our first sight of St Michael’s Mount in Penzance Bay. Historically, St Michael’s Mount was a Cornish counterpart of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy (with which it shares the same tidal island characteristics and the same conical shape, though it is much smaller, at 57 acres, than Mont St Michel which covers 247 acres), when it was given to the  Benedictine religious order of Mont Saint-Michel by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century.

Blessed by good weather, today felt a very long day – maybe being the last full walking day added to that feeling.

Tomorrow looks like heavy rain all morning for our walk to Land’s End and the closure of this (very) long and enjoyable adventure.

Today we would leave Menheniot and head cross country to Probus. Mike is walking & driving so this is the first day for a very long while that we have had no company for the whole day.

We left Menheniot early this morning in the mizzle and headed via back roads to Probus. Menheniot (pronounced Men-en-yut) 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.

As we walked up incessant hills the view alternated between mist and not quite so much mist, once allowing us a view of Looe in the distance.

As we reached Pelynt we could see a Spar and an opportunity for an ice-cream (we have missed these for the last few days). The name Pelynt derives from the Cornish pluw (parish) and the name of Saint Non, the mother of St David. The manor of Pelynt is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) when it was valued much higher than Looe.

As we closed in on the Fowey-Bodinnick ferry we entered into “Du Maurier Country”. Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, was an English author and playwight who spent much of her life in Cornwall, where most of her works are set.

We took the ferry across the River Fowey from Bodinnick – some very nice houses along both sides of the river.

Our route from the River Fowey took us through Par (where we met Mike for our lunch) and up towards Carlyon Bay where we had the option of following the South West Coast Path for a bit – it was lovely to walk beside the sea for a while and a welcome change from continually pounding tarmac. The path took us alongside the Carlyon Bay Golf Course – looked beautiful but challenging to play.

We then walked past St Austell and to our B&B in Probus. As ever at the end of a long day’s walk, focus turns to completing the day rather than considering photographic options, especially with busy roads to navigate.

Tomorrow is our final “full” day of walking (a 50+ km day) as we head to Penzance.

Today is our final rest day

Today we would leave Devon and head into Cornwall – the last county in our epic walk. We are joined by Lynn, Ant, Gordon and Liz for our walk to Menheniot (Liskeard). Mike is back as driver/walker now until the very end.

We left Oakhampton, with the promise of a sunny but cool day (and no rain), and headed around the edge of Dartmoor towards Menheniot. Okehampton was founded by the Saxons and the earliest written record of the settlement is from 980 AD as Ocmundtune, meaning settlement by the Ockment, a river which runs through the town. It was recorded as a place for slaves to be freed at cross roads.

Quite a long and steep hill up out of Okehampton and then some good views of Dartmoor as we made our way onto a cycle/foot path on a disused railway line.

We walked into Sourton, home of thatched houses and The Highwayman Inn – originally built as an inn in 1282 and later became dual purpose as an inn and a farm making use of the 20 acres at the rear.   In the 17th century it was called the Golden Fleece.  Plymouth Breweries later renamed it the New Inn to give it a more contemporary image.  The the old Launceston to Tavistock coach is the entrance porchin it’s original colour of maroon/purple.

We rejoined the old railway path (via a detour down a wet grassy path as google maps would have us jump down from the main road) and enjoyed the chat and scenery as we continued southwest.

Lydford was next and we walked down the hill to the bottom of the Lydford Gorge – the deepest river gorge in the South West, with a 30m high waterfall with the whole area now managed by the National Trust. At the top of the hill, climbing up from the gorge, was Brent Tor (330m) which is is surmounted by the Church of St Michael, the parish church of the village of  Brentor, which lies below the TorChurch.

Finally another big moment – we crossed the River Tamar in Horsebridge and entered Cornwall. Horsebridge grew up around the bridge over the River Tamar, also known as the Horse Bridge, which was built in 1437. Until the completion of the New Bridge at Gunnislake around 1520 the Horse Bridge was the lowest bridge on the Tamar, and after the New Bridge was built still no road bridge was built downstream of these two until 1961. Horsebridge has one pub, the Royal Inn, so named since King Charles I stopped here during the Civil War.

Onwards and upwards (and upwards again it seemed) through a lovely afternoon until we passed the 800 mile mark at St. Ive and then the last few miles always seems to take for ever – but we eventually arrived in Menheniot – tired and sore but nowhere near as wet and miserable as yesterday! Still, it was another long day, 53km, 982m of climbing and 67,000 steps.

Thanks again to Lynn, Ant, Gordon and Liz for taking time to be with us and providing great company and chat.

Tomorrow is a much needed rest day and then we start the week with only 74 miles to go.

Today we would be walking to Okehampton on the edge of Dartmoor. Harpal is still with us and we are joined by Jonathon. No official driver today but Mike will pick up our bags later on.

We left Sampford Peverell in the bright sunshine for our long trek to Okehampton. Sampford Peverell is an old Saxon settlement, called Sanforda in the 1086 Doomsday Book. Its current name reflects its inclusion in the Honour of Peverel, the lands of William Peverel and his family. In 1810 it was reported that the house of a John Chave in the village was experiencing dramatic poltergeist activity. The case was discussed in the national press of the time, and Chave’s house gained such notoriety that in 1811 it was besieged by a mob of rowdy workmen known as Navies. The paranormal activity turned out to be noises made by smugglers behind a false wall.

A lovely start to the day, weather wise, as we walked towards Tiverton, quite a bit of “rush hour” and school traffic to contend with.

As we walked into Tiverton we passed by Blundell’s School – an independent school founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the time, and moved to its present site on the outskirts of the town in 1882. While the full boarding fees are £36,960 per year, the school offers several scholarships and bursaries, and provides flexi-boarding. The school has 350 boys and 225 girls. Tiverton’s name is conjectured to derive from “Twy-ford-ton” or “Twyverton”, meaning “the town on two fords”, and was historically referred to as “Twyford”. The town stands at the confluence of the rivers Exe and Lowman. Lord Palmerston (1784–1865) was MP for Tiverton (1835–65) and twice prime minister .

We passed the HSBC branch so took the obligatory photo and then crossed over the River Exe on the way out of town. Chris had joined us with Sasha (her dog) for the walkthrough Tiverton and a while further out of town.

As we meandered through the Devon countryside we passed through several small villages, all pretty and quaintly named, especially Puddington with its churches and thatched houses. Then our route took us down a steep hill, described as unmetalled, luckily the hill on the way up was properly “metalled”.

1200 kilometers walked by now as we passed though more villages with large churches and thatched houses as we found a sheltered spot out of the wind to have our lunch.

Getting closer now to Okehampton, and a slowly setting sun, we had our first views of Dartmoor in the distance.

The heavens opened and the temperature dropped making the last few km into Okehampton a bit of struggle. The first picture above is stark evidence of Devon and Cornwall planning policy – thousands of identikit houses crammed together – these are cropping up everywhere with no underlying infrastructure to support (sorry – rant over). Finally, wet, tired and sore we made it into Okehampton – 55km walked, 1,129m climbed and over 11.5 hours walking – but importantly one day closer to the end.

Big thanks to Harpal and Jonathon, as mentioned previously we really do appreciate the company, chat and commitment in joining us for parts of our walk.

Tomorrow we finally make it to Cornwall with a rest day in sight.

Today we would walk southwest to Sampford Peverell. Andrew is still with us and we are joined by Harpal for the next two days. Mark finished his stint as our driver today.

We left Stawell early as today (they all are this week) was going to be a long one. The Church of St Francis (see yesterdays last photo) dates from the 13th century and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The raised stone “Coffin Walk” alongside part of Ford Lane next to the church is thought to be one of only three Coffin Walks left in the country. It is believed to have originally stretched from the old Roman Road above the village, partly following a still existing Public Footpath.

The forecast of rain all day didn’t look so accurate at the outset as we walked towards Bridgewater through the village of Chedzoy.

We rambled up plenty of hills and through some lovely villages that all have huge churches, going past Durleigh Resevoir and enjoying the quiet roads and the very nice weather.

Through the village of Bishops Lydeard and into Halse for lunch – the name of the village derives from the Old English  heals meaning a neck of land. The village was full of nice thatched houses and the road in to the village is so twisty that no HGV could make it round any of the corners.

Passing yet more villages with large churches we eventually joined the footpath of the eastern end of the Grand Western Canal. A lovely walk along this path was much improved when we met Chris who bought freshly baked scones, jam and clotted cream. Of course there were the usual Cornwall/Devon discussions re jam or cream first – but either way the scones were delicious.

At the end of a long day we finally reached our B&B and said goodbye to Andrew (Mark had left at lunch time) – again huge thanks for the company and support, it really is appreciated.

Tomorrow we “only” have 5 more walking days to go (and a rest day!) as we head to Okehampton

Today was the day that we would really start the final chapter of our journey by heading south to Stawell in Devon. We are joined today by Andrew, Matt and Jen with Mark being our driver for the next two days.

We left Clifton and headed south to Stawell in Devon. Clifton is one of the oldest and most affluent areas of Bristol, much of it having been built with profits from tobacco and the slave trade. Situated to the west of Bristol City Centre, it was at one time a separate settlement but became attached to Bristol by continuous development during the Georgian era and was formally incorporated into the city in the 1830s.

We crossed the River Avon via the Plimsoll Swing Bidge with views of Brunel’s swing bridge and a good view of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in the distance. We also passed within a stone’s throw of Ashton Gate (home of Bristol City).

We walked (upwards as ever) with good views of Bristol behind us and through a few small villages to get to Blagdon which was called Blachedon in the 1086 Domesday Book – the name comes from the Old English bloec and dun meaning ‘the black or bleak down’.

We decided that the quickest way to Cheddar was over the Mendip Hills – despite the rain and the rocky paths we made the top safely to Beacon Batch – the highest point of the Mendip Hills at 325m. Of course there was a downhill section of slippery rocky path (not enjoyable) as we made our way down into Cheddar and a local deli for sandwiches and cake.

We try and have our lunch each day after the half way point so that we have “less” walking to conclude our day. The rest of the walk from Cheddar to Stawell was mostly flat, well irrigated farmlands. We passed Chilton Priory (also known as Stradling’s Folly) which was originally built as a folly, and subsequently enlarged to become a country house. By the time we arrived in Stawell it was quite dark and we were all pretty tired after 11.5 hours on the road.

Tomorrow we continue south through Devon to Sampford Peverell.

Today was the day we would leave Wales and start down the Somerset / Devon / Cornwall peninsula. We are joined today by Jen, Claire, Sophie and Mick. Darren continued as our driver for the day.

We left Monmouth (Welsh: Trefynwy meaning “town on the Monnow”) and headed towards Chepstow and the Severn Bridge. Monmouth was the site of a small Roman fort, Blestium, and became established after the Normans  built a castle c. 1067. The medieval stone gated bridge is the only one of its type remaining in Britain.

It was a misty start to the day as we started climbing right from the outset (would feel like we wouldn’t stop climbing for most of the morning) but soon the sun burned the mist off.

We passed through Trellech and the Lost City of Trellech Archeological dig site (the largest settlement in medieval Wales).

As we continued to climb and then descend into Chepstow, we passed a rainbow trout fishery with multiple “ponds” and then walked alongside the famous Chepstow Racecourse.

We then had the obligatory HSBC branch photo with today’s HSBC team and then a spot of lunch before heading to the bridge.

We left Wales via the old Severn Bridge – opened on 8 September 1966, by Queen Elizabeth II, who suggested that it marked the dawn of a new economic era for South Wales. For thirty years, the bridge carried the M4 motorway. The bridge was granted Grade I listed status on 26 November 1999. Following the completion of theSecond Severn Crossing, now styled the Prince of Wales Bridge, the section of motorway from Olveston in England to Magor in Wales was designated the M48. Bit of a panic when we discovered the pathway was closed – luckily a quick dash under the road and the pathway was open on the other side. Plenty of gunfire as we crossed the bridge from the army firing range underneath.

As is ever with a long day walking, other than a church in Bristol and some Belted Galloway cows, there is not much to photograph as we are tired and just focused on completing the walk and getting to Clifton.

Mick, Claire and Sophie left us, as did Darren – again huge thanks to them for taking the time and joining us on our adventure – we really value the company and support.

Tomorrow we head for Stawell in Somerset and another day of hills.

After a much needed, and very relaxing, rest day we were ready to start our last full week of walking by heading down to Monmouth. Today we were joined by Gareth, Jackie, Chris T, Sasha, Chris M, Dal, Gemma and Simon – yes we would form two socially distanced groups as we walked. Darren will be our concierge for the next two days.

We left Leominster and headed south towards Hereford. Leominster (pronounced “lemster”) takes its name from the English word minster, meaning a community of clergy and the original Celtic name for the district Leon or Lene, probably in turn from an Old Welsh root lei to flow. During the 8th and 9th Century, Danes (or Vikings) frequently raided the area and a large amount of treasure was unearthed in 2015 that “experts” believe was buried by Vikings

The day started slightly misty with the sun looking like it would burn its way through quite soon. As we wandered towards Hereford we passed the 600 mile milestone and then a lovely dog decided that walking with us for a couple of km was much more interesting than going back to its owner. As we had reached a busy main road luckily we could reacquaint the dog with its, by now, frantic owner.

We found the HSBC branch in Hereford and posed for the obligatory photograph. The Welsh name for Hereford is Henffordd, meaning “old road”, and probably refers to the Roman road and Roman settlement at nearby Stretton Segway’s. An early town charter from 1189 granted by Richard I of England describes it as “Hereford in Wales”. Nell Gwynne, actress and mistress of King Charles II, is said to have been born in Hereford in 1650.

Blessed by beautiful weather and wide open countryside we kept on walking down (and definitely up) relatively quiet roads.

In Saint Weonards we passed the magical 1,000km walked and there was an opportune signpost for the photo.

The sun was setting as we entered wales – no Welcome to Wales sign though, just the Monmouth county sign. A long descent into the town of Monmouth meant it was completely dark by the time we reached the hotel. Nearly 60km of walking today meant for a very demanding day so huge thanks to all that joined us – the company and all the different chats makes such a difference. Tomorrow we do it all again with a different group of friends.