There were no buses from St Austell to East PortHolland so we had a slight problem in getting to the start point. However a discussion with the taxi drivers at the station at St Austell and we found one who was willing to drive us there for a reasonable price. We arranged a pick up time the following morning and sure enough he was there spot on time to drive us to our starting location.

East PortHolland really is off the beaten track, quite remote and nestled under a cliff right by the sea, hardly a village in fact, but it does have a beach and another inlet just a couple of hundred yards away called West PortHolland. We were heading in the opposite direction back east towards Mevagissy, approximately 11 miles east. We stopped off at the local shop to chat and buy some provisions and then we were off soon climbing up a steep path.

The views as ever were marvellous ..........

After an initial climb out of PortHolland, we had a a mile or so of easy walking before we made our way down to the first of the popular beaches, Porthluney, one we had visited many years before when our two kids really were kids in 1971. Behind the beach was a castle which looked splendid and the long sandy beach brought back memories of pulling our Mirror dinghy down across the beach to the waters edge for a sail out into the bay. Porthluney is a clean stretch of sand with safe bathing.

The castle behind the beach is called Caerhays Castle. It was designed by John Nash who was responsible for Buckingham Palace. We walked east behind the Beach car park climbed a style into parkland just after the beach.

We soon were climbing again leaving the beach behind us. The coast path bears south, and there is a lengthy climb before the first rise is surmounted. The path meandered as we passed through National Trust property and we made a slow descent down to a small beach called Hemmick Beach. This is a beautiful beach, south-west facing with a rock pools and absolutely no commercial intrusion. There is no room for cars behind the beach and the approach lanes are narrow and exceedingly steep. We had camped in a small camp site at the top of the hill behind the beach in '71.

A few yards up the road to the east of the beach, we climbed over a style to return to the coast path once more. There is initially a steep climb up on the path but eventually it levels out and then undulates and makes its way out to Dodman Point with its massive stone cross. The walks around this headland are reasonably easy and many consider that the Dodman is one of the most striking headlands on the south Cornish coast .

We spent some time on this point because there is a great deal of history here and we also took a coffee break!. If you look carefully you can see an old coastguard watch house. There is a choice of pass options at this point and we took the lower option. The path heads North along the East side of the Dodman and carries on North. It gets very close to a road at a place called the Gruda. We then walked along the top of a small cliff overlooking a long curved beach called Vault Beach. Hang Gliders use it and the views are very spectacular. On the day we were walking it, there was a group of model aircraft enthusiasts with their small model aircraft and gliders enjoying the upcurrents.

The walking is easy here and a pleasant stroll around Maenease Point and we found ourselves at a village, albeit a large one called Gorren Haven. You have to walk through the village and take the coastal path by walking up Church Street and turning into Cliff Road. Once again the walking here is not too difficult and you pass several points and rocky outcrops before reaching Chapel Point. There are three striking houses right against the sea. The coastal path cuts across the neck of Chapel Point and carries on to rejoin the cliff top. The terrain at this point is relatively flat. We passed through a small wood and the walking in this area deteriorated with dumped refuse. This unattractive area led us into Portmellon which is only a short distance from our destination Mevagissy. This section is becoming more built up all the time. Mevagissy is a very popular spot in the summer and after a descent through gardens and paths we arrived, had our ice creams and waited for the local bus to take us back to St Austell.

It was a pleasant days walking, passing through some beautiful coastal views and not overly difficult. The buses here were on time and we were back at base after a half hour bus passage.

We decided there was time for us to move to another bed and breakfast accommodation since we had reached the maximum distance and beyond that the local buses would take us to the therefore packed our gear and made our down to seaside village within striking distance of Falmouth The village is called Portscatho and we found a delightful guest House overlooking the sea and the managed to get a room with splendid views. This is another attractive village in the Roseland Peninsula, and we were then left to ponder how we could get back to PortHolland the following day to continue our south coastal walk the next day. It soon became obvious that there were no buses which would take us to the start point.