Bude to Boscastle
Another day of steep ascents and descents with spectacular sea views from the cliff tops, starting at a holiday town and ending at a harbour sheltered by high rock walls.
The route, day 38
All day on the South-West Coast Path. 18.5 miles/29.5 km, 1,339 metres ascent.
Bude
In Victorian times, Summerleaze beach (the three photos below) was reserved for gentlemen bathers, Crooklets beach to the north for the ladies.
The Storm Tower
The Storm Tower, modelled on the ancient Temple of Winds in Athens, was built in 1840 as a coastguard lookout and a landmark for ships on this dangerous coast. Coastal erosion made it necessary to dismantle the tower stone by stone and re-erect it in 1880 and again in 2023.
For more details, see this excellent blog: thefollyflaneuse.com/the-storm-tower-bude-cornwall/
The Bude Canal
The ambition of 19th-century engineers is impressive. Today the Bude Canal is only two miles long, from the ocean lock overlooking the beach (photo left) over low-lying land to Helebridge. When opened in 1823, the canal was 35 miles long, including two branches, and climbed to 433 feet/132 metres above sea level. To take lime-rich sand from the quay at Bude to improve the soil of inland farms, tub boats on wheels were hauled up to the summit level on six inclined planes by the power of water wheels and steam engines. This continued until 1891.
Before the days of the motor car, overland transport to the rocky coast of north Cornwall was not easy. Bude did not get a railway connection until 1898. This line closed in 1966, and Bude is now more distant from the rail network than any other town in England (29 miles).
Cliff Walk 1 - Bude to Crackington Haven
Widemouth Bay
Widemouth Bay, looking back
Down and then up again
Zig-zag down, then up to where the horses graze
Crackington Haven
Beach at Crackington Haven
A seat for contemplation (on the left, in shadow)
Corn-Walls
Cliff Walk 2 - Crackington Haven to Boscastle
k
I saw few walkers on this section of the coast path, but horses and goats grazed here and there.
Golden Stone
Veins of quartz, white to almost golden in colour, are conspicuous in the cliffs and in the man-made uses of the rock: in field walls, buildings and paving. Photo above left: cliffs at Pentargon cove near Boscastle. Above right: as the cliffs at Pentargon erode, blocks of quartz have fallen. Below left: on the coast path descending to Boscastle. Below right: paving of a street in Boscastle.
Boscastle
White and pink quartz on the path descending to Boscastle. John Sykes was here, 26 June 2024.
