Each year without fail, one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to walk more. To walk further. To walk in new places. Any excuse to get out and clock up some miles!
A rare dry day presented the opportunity for adventure, and we seized the chance to walk a favourite route at Pentire. Setting off from the NT Lead Mines car park, we joined the South West Coast Path just above Pengirt Cove, where the views stretched across a sparklingly blue sea towards Doyden Castle and Port Quin in the hazy distance.
Our anti-clockwise route trod familiar but muddy paths, the island of The Mouls dominant in our line of sight as we meandered the undulating trail towards the Rumps. Once an Iron Age fort, the rocky outcrop of the Rumps resembled a spiny-backed dragon slumbering in the shallows of the water, and as we turned towards Pentire Point a seal frolicked in the sea beneath us.
The path took a steep turn uphill, and we found ourselves at a signposted gateway from which we could see Polzeath beach and village beyond, under an orange Saharan dust sky. Following the sign towards Pentire Farm and the Lead Mines, we rambled along paths fenced-off from cattle grazing peacefully in lush green fields. Skylarks flitted between the cows, swooping and diving playfully amidst the grassy mounds.
Moving further inland, the roar of the ocean could no longer be heard behind us, and birdsong on the breeze became more apparent. Suddenly, we were treated to a rare sighting of a short-eared owl as it swept over us, and down into an adjacent field, the underside of its wings glowing ethereally in the low winter light.
A walk to remember, we were soon back at the car, happy with our wildlife sightings.
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