Plymouth to Kingsand

March 5, 2023: From the itinerary- walk 5.4 miles to the twin villages of Kingsand/Cowsand. Leaving Plymouth you'll need to take the 8 minute Cremyll Ferry across the River Tamar and continue to the Mount Edgcumbe Estate. The Manor House is closed but the historic gardens are open. From there continue to the village of Kingsand and the accommodation at the Halfway House where you will have dinner. The weather was cold, overcast, but dry. My odometer at the end of the day showed 7 miles.

Breakfast doesn't look like much, but it was surprisingly good. (I made up for it later in the day). Then up to dress and pack and I was off for my first day on the trail

I had to walk down towards the sea towards the ferry to pick up the path.

The South West Coast path sign is an acorn because it is a national trail of England. It is the longest waymarked hiking trail in England and Wales at 630 miles and includes the western most point of Britain.

Along the way to the ferry I walked by the stone house marine barracks complex- quite a big area

There are a number of other stone buildings that are striking and I walked passed the house of Admiral Sir T.M. Hardy Bart who was present when Admiral Nelson died and uttered his immortal last words- see below

The path winds around by the shore and offers great views of the Plymouth defences on Drake Island and in general. Yesterday's photo from the train wasn't Drakes Island. The Island is much closer in.

There is a lot of history that happened in this area and the barn pool including a Viking mooring in 997, the mooring of HMS Beagle - the ship Charles Darwin sailed to S America- and where DELawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) developed and tested his high speed boat used to save lives in the event of shipwreck.

As I think I am approaching the ferry area, it turns out I arrived at the Royal William Yard which is a rejuvenated dock area and it turned out today they had a "good food and craft market ". Too bad blogs don't offer smells because it smelled amazing

I had to walk further to the ferry and saw this guy on the way

The ferry wasn't what I expected- here's from their website "The historic foot ferry from Stonehouse to The Rame Peninsula, known as Cornwall’s forgotten corner. Loved for centuries by all who have travelled on her, the Cremyll Ferry is one of Plymouth’s true gems and provides a gateway to discover this beautiful part of the South West. Our eight minute ferry journey crosses the River Tamar, against the spectacular backdrop of Royal William Yard and Plymouth Sound."

To get to the ferry I had to walk along a cement path/jetty that is clearly underwater during high tide. Then it looked like they were going to cast off so I ran(with pack), my hat fell off and, in the 5 seconds it was in the ground, it got muddy and wet which then got all over me. The crossing cost £2.

Here is an incredibly boring video of the crossing- (mostly out of focus:)

according to the sign, upon landing I had officially left Devon and was now in Cornwall

At the top of the ramp was an interesting clock and sign

And almost immediately after leaving the boat I was at the Mount Edgcumbe county park.

My visit started at the orangerie where I had my elevenses. Tea and orange almond cake.

The park has been famous since the 18th century, when the Edgcumbe family created formal gardens, temples, follies and woodlands around the Tudor house. Specimen trees, such as Sequoiadendron giganteum,[2] stand against copses which shelter a herd of wild fallow deer. The South West Coast Path runs through the park for nine miles (14 km) along the coastline. I will say the Garden smells lovely even though not many things are blooming other than the camila bushes, rhododendron and some jasmine.

I didn't see any deer. they also have a black bee reserve, but this was very quiet- maybe the wrong season for bees?

Here are many pictures of the formal gardens which have been growing since the 18th century

Here you also see the bee reserve, the blockhouse originally built in 1545 ( time of King Henry 8).

And a pet cemetery dating back a few hundred years

I finally left the gardens and continued my walk. Along the way I noticed some weird thing in the sand that looked like the backbone of a large animal, until I realized it was metal

I continued along the path and came across some beautiful spring flowers and nice views

There was a great folly that came next- an artificial ruin built in 1747- which replaced a navigation obelisk. It was built from stone from the churches of St. George and St. Lawrence, Stonehouse. There were some great views from the top.

After the folly is where is where things went a bit wrong. On the map it appeared the path veered off the road . It didn't. I ended up going through blackberry vines (scratch scratch) and climbing over fallen trees until I got back right- just in time to go up a big hill. That was exhausting. No pictures...

But here are some shots after I got back on track during the next 2 miles. The white obelisk is on a Boy Scout camp. The last picture shows from where I came today.

And finally I can see Kingsand/Cowsand

The towns remind me a bit of Port Isaac (Doc Martin).

I arrived to the town and found The Halfway House which looked much more charming than last night's accommodation.

That said, the room was only marginally better...

After checking in I decided to tour the towns and started with a lemon cake and coffee from the place across the road- I ate it at the waterfront...

Right across from the pub is the house that officially delineates the border of Devon and Cornwall

Here are some pictures of the towns and views

I came across some swimmers- way too cold

I had dinner at the pub tonight

Turns out St Pirans night- singing

Saint Piran's Day (Cornish: Gool Peran), or the Feast of Saint Piran, is the national day of Cornwall,[1] held on 5 March every year. The day is named after one of the patron saints of Cornwall, Saint Piran, who is also the patron saint of tin miners.

Lots of singing- even I knew some of the songs...I can guarantee I'm the only American here.

Tomorrow's start

Note to self- don't forget to get Cornish pasties before the end of the week...