Last day of this segment - Fowey to Par

March 9, 2023, from the itinerary:

• Readymoney Cove

• The ruins of St Catherine’s Castle standing guard over the entrance to Fowey harbour. Now owned by English Heritage, the castle was built in 1542 by Thomas Treffry as part of Henry VIII's chain of defences along the south Cornish coast. The Victorian gun platform was used in the Second World War.

• The tiny cove at Coombe Hawne, linked with many smuggling stories, is surrounded by cliffs of ox-eye daisies and pink thrift in the spring and summer months.

• Polridmouth: the building behind the second sandy cove was the inspiration for the beach house in Daphne du Maurier’s novel `Rebecca'. Du Maurier lived further up the valley in the Elizabethan house called Menabilly Barton and this is her mysterious ‘Manderley’.

• Gribbin Head with its striking red and white daymark, built by Trinity House in 1832. The 18th century elm wood is carpeted with strong smelling wild garlic in the spring.

• Polkerris.

• Views of the Path ahead from Polmear to Gribbin Head.

• exploring the dunes of Par Sands.

Was twice as far as I initially measured. I thought it was 3.5 miles, but was 7.2 miles. Luckily I caught this the night before when doing my final planning. Weather was forecast to be rain and thunderstorms, but actual weather was warm and overcast. Elevation gain was a paultry 1326 feet. The below maps my last day and my full 5 days walk progress

I had a really disappointing early breakfast in the room.

I finally found my way out of town and up the stairs to the ruins of St Catherine’s Castle and the view back into town.

From there it was a nice clifftop walk mostly through the rain, until I got to Coombe's Farm and bleak Daphne du Maurier "country"

From there it was the path to The Gribbin. Built in 1832 it was used as a lookout for early man many centuries before this. At the top the wind was very strong and I was glad I left early so I missed the majority of the weather. The views were quite good at the top.

My time on the trail was basically done at this point. I walked around the point and into Polkerris - the last small hamlet before the final point and Par. The clay producing plant across the bay and Par Sands were in front of me as I finally walked into town.

I had a few hours to kill before my train. I found the nearest bakery and had more food

Finally I arrived at the Par train station in time for my train. I made all my connections and finally got home around 7. A long day and end to a wonderful week.