South West Coast Path Day 16.
Distance today: 11.9 miles.
Total distance: 1382.7 miles.
Accommodation: home.
So this was it. The final push. Aware that the earlier I got there, the easier my transport options would be to get home, I was on the road just after 7 o’clock.
Not far down the coast were reminders of Cornwall’s tin mining past. With the warmth of the morning light and ghost town nature of the place, it was all very atmospheric. Somewhere else to return to with my proper camera.
Uncharacteristically, the waymarkers weren’t always entirely clear, occasionally leaving me with multiple tracks to choose from. At one point I was forced to backtrack when the route I’d chosen ended with some scary cliff-side bouldering (which I had been half-tempted to try).
As I’d been posting on Instagram for the whole trip, I started to think about what words should accompany the (hopefully) inevitable photo of me by the sign. Ta-dah! I found myself getting quite emotional when I thought that somehow I had actually managed to do it. It was a magic trick. With apologies to everyone I subsequently met but I couldn’t help sharing with people that incredibly, I was about to finish walking from John o’ Groats to Land’s End. By my reckoning, that worked out at over 2,665,074 steps. To walk the best part of 3 million steps and not have one of them cause a trip-ending injury seemed like a miracle in itself.
When I reached Sennen, I decided it was time I finally went into the sea. It had been a longstanding joke with Penny that I was this so-called intrepid explorer but I was afraid of a little cold water. As much as there was an element of truth in that, I liked to think that it was also about the hassle of keeping my feet in a functioning state. They were covered in plasters and bits of padding and the last thing I needed was gritty sand to make things worse. However, I was nearly there so sod it. In the interest of full disclosure, I only went in up to my waist but at least I did go in. Hope you’re satisfied Ms. Campbell.
After a cheese & onion toastie and one final phone charge in a busy sea front café, I headed out of Sennen until I eventually reached the easy path that took you to Land’s End. It was another minor moment: no more tricky ankle-spraining sections to deal with. I was going to do this.
And so I did. Ta-dah!
I made my way to the iconic signpost and queued up with the other tourists waiting to have their photo taken. For those of you who didn’t know, Land’s End is privately owned and so they can do what they like with it, including charging people a minimum of £10.95 for the privilege of having their photo taken next to the sign. I’d been pre-warned and was doing my utmost not to kick up a fuss. But let’s be clear, that is absolutely fucking scandalous. Many, many cyclists and walkers raise thousands of pounds for charity and that photo is an almost essential conclusion to their trips. To think that a company is directly profiting so crassly from their endevours makes me incredibly sad. Not to mention angry. 3 old blokes were manning the operation, taking turns to handle the money, change the personalized wording on the sign, and take the photos. One of them assumed I was just starting my trip and was enthusiastically pointing out that I could get a free extra print since I was doing it for charity. It was at this point I nearly lost it. I told him that while I appreciated it was their business, it was wrong to be charging people who were raising money for charity. But you can get an extra free print. I walked away.
As if to re-balance the scales of greed and generosity, I had one final act of kindness bestowed upon me. Keen to get to Penzance train station as quickly as I could, I decided to try sticking my thumb out to hitch a lift, knowing that there would be a bus in half an hour if nothing came of it. After one offer to go to St Ives, and a couple of sorry-the-car-is-already-full apologetic shrugs, a car pulled up. It was a young family I’d spoken to in the queue and although their car was nearly full, they made room and took me directly to the station. Karma restored.
