We’ve been in Cornwall four days now and the sun is at last peeping through the clouds.  On opening the curtains this morning, for the first time I can see the island of Lundy on the horizon. Another landmark to look out for over our coming walks.

Today we are walking straight from our cottage in St. Gennys, above Crackington Haven, to the coast path and all the way to Bude, where we plan to catch the bus back.  I’m not a fan of walking against the clock.

It takes just ten minutes to walk along the footpath beside the church and over the field to the coastal path, lined with sweet smelling gorse and stunted blackthorn hedges. Looking ahead Bude is hidden by a rocky outcrop but we can make out an array of satellite dishes on a distant cliff – GCHQ Bude!  Which is way beyond todays walk.

The going starts easy – a dry grassy path along across the cliff top, but we can see ahead the steep path going up the other side of Chipman Point. Heading down it’s as if the path is taking us straight over the cliff into the sea! But it bends round and takes us to a bridge over the waterfall, recent rainfalls gushing out to sea.

Climbing up the other side is hard going, the path zig-zagging to lessen the steps, but still mighty steep. At the top ponies are grazing on the steep side of the cliff, they stop to look as we pass.

We can now see the wide expanse of Bude Bay across Widemouth Sands.  Somewhere in this bay is the Grace Hopper submarine communications cable.  Going live in 2022, this cable, laid by Google, links to America via a 6250 km cable…. and this just looks like any other bay on the coast path.

The path closes in a little as the cliff, sweeping away from us, turns to woodland – gnarled oak trees stunted by the coastal winds. It feels quite magical.  I would like to see it again as the leaves unfurl.  Later on, a hawthorn is smothered in juicy looking red berries. A massive contrast to the open cliffs we have seen for miles. The woodland path is dry with fallen leaves, as we brush passed brambles, bracken and ferns, I bet this is awash with wild flowers in the spring. We pass a trickling stream then step back out into the open.

The coast path briefly joins a quiet road at Millook where this is a cluster of wooden dwellings on the cliff, a stony beach and a few more houses dotted up the hillside. It’s a really steep climb out of the hamlet, so we reward ourselves at the top with a lunch break on a bench overlooking the view back the way we’ve walked.

We are soon back on the quiet coastal road, through Wanson Mouth area where there are a number of newly built and “coming soon, architect designed” dwellings with panoramic sea views. The path descends into a little woodland, across a stream, and another one, then we find our way onto Black Rock beach, which merges into Widemouth Sands. There are fabulous angled rock formations backing the beach, and beautiful striped pebbles nestling in the sand.

The ice cream parlour would have been a tempter, but it is shut and we only have a couple of hours before our bus leaves Bude.

There are a few dog walkers ambling alongside us as we take the gentle route out of Widemouth Bay, and follow the wide grassy path towards the outskirts of Bude.  The path remains close to and alongside the road for much of the rest of today.  An elderly gentleman in a short-sleeved shirt with no back pack is walking at a good pace behind us, we let him overtake and follow him all the way into Bude.  It looks like he maybe does this walk regularly?

Bude is stretched ahead of us – pastel painted dwellings, clusters of terraced houses and beach huts stretching themselves out in ribbons through the grassy hillside.  The satellite dishes of GCHQ Bude growing bigger as we get closer. We walk round the tower above Compass Point, currently hiding behind scaffolding, then down a narrow pathway to the Bude Canal. Bude feels dissected by the canal and other waterways. We cross at the lock and walk up the straight canal-side – water front houses on one side, sailing boats moored alongside small shops on the other.

Its time to find a bus stop and head back to St Genny’s for our last night at Raddon’s Cottage.