Enjoy a toasted tea cake and freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast at Dolittle, our holiday cottage in Porthleven. We catch the bus into Helston, change to the number 34 for Poldu. There’s a change of bus driver at Flambards theme park, the drivers have a long chat, making us well behind schedule, only to go a few metres round the corner to pick up an elderly lady who had been waiting patiently inches from the bus for maybe ten minutes!

Leave the bus at Poldu, (Poldhu or Poldu? The signs all vary) where families are enjoying refreshments at the cafe on the beach with their dry robes on – I missed them going in the sea, or are they just pretending?

Set off at a slow pace out of Poldu up the hill, our eyes constantly drawn back to the stunning cove, the sea lit up by the strong morning sun and the massive long rollers tumbling in at right angles to either side of the cove with its steep sided cliffs, then slowly gliding up the sand. Wow.. stop to take photos..

But what’s that underfoot? This grass feels like a sprung mattress, I thought Doolittle was comfy .. I know some grasses are called bedstraw, when I was looking for that when doing a grasses survey at uni this is where I needed to come. Bounce on it for a bit before turning north – how strange to be walking north.

Follow the coast pathway on mostly open grassland toward the next cove, which turns up very quickly.

Church Cove is delightful, angled slightly differently to the sea and with lower cliffs, making the rollers gentler here. There’s no cafe but a hut with a group of people wearing orange raincoats.

St. Winwaloe, the Church of the Storms is at the far side of the cove, nestled under the small cliff and surrounded by tamarisk trees, yet to come into flower. It’s almost hidden, save for the little tower poking above the trees. Open grassland follows, with plentiful wild-flowers, including large clumps of sea beet look very healthy and good enough to eat.

Today is the “walk of the hidden dry stone wall”.. the passing of time since their construction has seen grasses and other wild plants scrambling over them. On the seaward side of this wall, it looks like a creation you’d find at Chelsea flower show depicting wild Cornwall – mounds of sea thrift covering a 10 metre or so strip. No sign of stone at all and the flowers just waiting to burst out. I bet there’s a whole menagerie of creatures living in the crevices of this wall.

The path weaves its way through metre high twiggy shrubs, wind carved into a low-rise hedge, yet to burst into life save for the brambles scrambling through. I can see long thorns so I’m guessing blackthorn but no fluffy white flowers.

More clumps of pink flowering sea thrift cling to the rocks, yellow gorse punctuating the grassland. The occasional stiles across the stone walls consist of straight cut granite boulders held tightly either side, two staggered as stepping stones either side of one on its side to step over – ingenious. I’m reminded of the field gates back in Devon with sash window weights and tractor bits and pieces to weigh them down.

The going is easy, alongside the road for a short while then back on the cliffs. We can see the pub just inland at Gunwalloe just as we arrive at the road leading down to the fishing Cove. Not really a cove at all – it’s a massive stretch of sand, well very tiny stones, stretching to our right as far as the small town of Porthleven, where we are staying. Easy we will be there in no time!

There are a few people at first on the beach enjoying a lunchtime barbecue and dogs running around, diminishing out to just a couple sitting on the rocks. It’s hard going walking on these tiny little stones leaving massive footprints in our wake. We can see the waves crashing into the rocks in the distance and we were hoping to walk right round to Loe Bar. We take a pitstop on the rocks for half an hour in the sunshine awaiting the sea to go out.

Maybe we haven’t waited quite long enough but we are getting impatient to get walking so we have fun dodging the highest waves under the cliff. There are several tiny little inlets that we dash into and clamber onto the beautiful stripey granite rocks which thankfully aren’t too slippery. We get splashed a lot with at one point going right over my walking boots but it’s kind of safe and lots of fun and such a feeling of achievement when we finally arrive on Loe Bar.

You can’t see over to the Loe so we work our way over the shingle to look. Wow, a huge fresh water lake backed by woodland sitting in a little valley, with the beach shingle running up to the edge – different to anything we’ve seen so far on this trip.

We make our way along the beach then up towards the National Trust holiday cottage that my friend, Cat, had told me about. Of typical Cornish stone construction under a slate roof with a massive stone chimney and a perfectly formed open veranda on the first floor overlooking the sea. The footpath skirts round it and on toward Porthleven.

Amble into Porthleven, the owners of the first dwelling are just driving out in their brand-new Aston Martin having left their electric Porsche on charge in the driveway. Other homes along the way are not as gentrified but equally as appealing. My favourite being Grandads Net Loft – a tiny net hanging shed converted into a holiday home.

Porthleven is buzzing, we dodge the crabbers and slow walkers and holiday makers driving their cars up the quay looking for the holiday home – Saturday is still the main changeover day it seems.

We’ve checked out the cream teas on line and are heading straight for the Twisted Currant, just away from the harbour. It has a lovely little garden where we grab a table in the sunshine. The cream tea with warm fruit scones, clotted cream and delicious raspberry jam served on flowery bone china plates with a lemon verbena tea is the perfect end to a perfect day of walking.

We foolishly head off a bit further round the coast and have to turn back after a mile or so because the cross-country path back to our holiday home has too many cows for my liking – decide not to count it as part of the walk as we will have to re-trace our steps tomorrow. Never mind we end up back in the village as the Saturday night outers are starting to party and it’s a fun atmosphere. We end up enjoying supper sitting by the harbour in the evening sunshine before wandering back up the hill to Doolittle.