Land’s End to Mevagissey: 102 km

Today was a lot longer than planned! We left our very comfortable and well provisioned (fresh fruit, granola bars, chocolate, etc., in addition to a large choice of breakfasts items) self-catering private room at the Lands End Hostel and B&B to cycle down to where where the Atlantic meets the English Channel at Land’s End. Despite the commercialized development of the area, it was an exciting point to start our trip. With a fierce wind blowing, and the knowledge of a long first day’s ride ahead, we didn’t linger.

Over many miles through narrow lanes with high hedges we saw an abundance of wild flowers, pheasants, a buzzard and rabbits. The route led us to the crashing breakers of the south coast and the calm estuaries of north and south Cornwall. Near Camborne and Redruth, we cycled through an area of old tailing mounds and the remains of tin and arsenic mining operations, converted to a reserve, although numerous signs warned of the dangers of persistent contamination of tailing ponds. We read that one of the mines “employed” 1000 men, 800 women and 500 children.

Our travels were assisted by treacle tart with Cornish clotted cream, cheese and vegetable Cornish pasties and a late meal at the Maharajah in Mevagissey.