We have a fun morning splashing and relaxing in the Jubilee Pool, which I highly recommend – well the geothermal pool, we weren’t tempted by the other much colder pool! Followed by a mooch around the little shops in Chapel Street – love the plant shop and cute little gift shop, we will return to spend money, but for now we are continuing our coast walk.

Start on the seafront promenade outside the jubilee lido where we swam this morning. There’s a cool Art Deco building to our right – I wonder if it has always been a pub, and what it was like here when the lido opened back in 1935 – no jeans, dry robes or trainers!! It’s lovely to have Bryony walking with us today.

I have a spring in my step as I look forward towards Newlyn and Mousehole. The promenade is massive, reminding me of the paths through the London 2012 Olympic Park. There’s a new art installation of some huge smooth pebble shaped boulders. I’ve since been to the Barbara Hepworth Museum in St. Ives and realise that this, and the carved wooden sculptures on the new path from Marazion are inspired by her work – how lovely.

The hustle and bustle of Penzance, a little rough round the edges, but still with its own charm, gives way to the seaside town of Newlyn. We walk along the edge of a pretty park, passed a statue of a sailor balancing in a little boat and round the back of the Italian restaurant we went to a few nights back.

There’s a handful of cafes and shops near the seafront, one gallery has the best name ever – Coddiwomple. Which turns out means “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination”. I feel that might be what my whole walk is about, or maybe my life?

A massive fish warehouse on the edge of the harbour has incredible paintings on the side depicting the hard-working life that goes on inside. The path starts to rise and we stop to look over the harbour – a few modest pleasure boats but mostly large purposeful fishing boats.

Both Bryony and I take a picture of the large hull of what was once a lovingly painted blue wooden vessel, now tipped towards the quay slowly fading away, with a definite staunch like charm. The bare wood showing through the peeling paint. We can see a lifeboat in the harbour and a lifeboat station but don’t realise this is in fact the new Penlee lifeboat station.

I’d been checking the next bit of pathway out from a distance thinking there may be some open countryside between Newlyn and Mousehole but in fact just a wide very footpath alongside the main road. At the top of the hill we come across the old Penlee lifeboat station with a memorial garden dedicated to the eight lifeboat men who tragically lost their lives at sea on the Solomon Browne lifeboat the night of 19th December, 1991, attempting to rescue the crew of a ship stranded on the rocks. The old lifeboat station remains and I guess is maintained in their memory.

As we reach Mousehole we can see a very welcoming cafe perched above the cliffs – The Rock Pool Cafe does not disappoint. I enjoy smoked mackerel Pate and toast and a ginger beer, the strawberry milkshake also looks good.

Continuing through the village, I do my usual checking out the seaside cottages and their lovely seaside-y names. Such as Cove View, Seaside Cottage, I am very surprised and delighted to find a cottage called Nigel – he dutifully poses in front of it.

It’s no distance to the lovely little harbour, a buzz with holiday makers wandering in and out of the gift shops and jumping in and out of the sea. We watch a water fight between three young children in their wetsuits filling their buckets with water to throw over each other.

Wandering right round the harbour and down the harbour wall we find a pile of massive, and I mean massive chunky timbers which are obviously made to fit into the gap of the harbour walls. That must take some precision with a crane to lower them in to place each winter.

This is the end of our walk for this holiday, it’s been a very enjoyable few days exploring the coast from the Lizard to Mousehole and absolutely beautiful. We return by bus to our loft apartment in Penzance for the night and tomorrows drive home.