The next day was unfortunately quite overcast and it soon started to rain. We had decided to go to St Ives and do the coastal walk from Carbis Bay to Porthminster beach, which is a beautiful 1¼-mile route that takes in a great view of the railway track as well as the coast. We got the train to Carbis Bay and then began the walk, which was fortunately quite well covered by trees overhead that helped to keep us dry while we enjoyed the scenery. On completion of the walk, we continued towards the town centre and ended up in the lovely Market Place Tearoom for an afternoon tea – I couldn’t wait to try an authentic Cornish cream tea! It was extremely busy in the centre and was quite hair-raising at times, as large 4 x 4 vehicles and vans tried to squeeze their way down narrow, winding streets that were clearly never designed for this type of traffic.
After refreshments it was time for more exploring. We walked to the picturesque Smeaton’s pier, which was named after the civil engineer in charge of the project, John Smeaton and was built in the 1700s. The pier also has a reservoir at its base. We then continued to walk to Porthmeor beach, which is one of West Cornwall’s best surfing beaches because it offers great surfing conditions all year round. It was on this route that we came across the invisible man blowing in the wind – apparently, he is only there on some days – and you can have a photo taken with him for a small donation. We then decided to stop off for a drink in the outdoor café by the beach that was fortunately covered, as the rain was annoyingly on and off all day long.
Our evening in St Ives was spent at the lovely Firehouse Bar and Grill in the centre, where it was time to sample some of the local fish. After a great evening, we headed to St Ives station and returned to St Erth – we had to literally make a run for the station because the heavens opened, so a good job it wasn’t far to go!
