Day 55 – tougher than it looks

Boscastle to Port Isaac. 14.44 miles, 3,522 ft of elevation, 36,153 steps

I enter my last week having done 938 miles and confident I will get to 1,000 over the next few days. Thank you again to everyone for your support and help. You know who you are and it’s made this whole exercise rewarding and worthwhile.

So I promised the boys an easy day today. Short, flattish and picturesque. Setting off having filled ourselves with a very nice breakfast it was a shame to leave such a gorgeous village. It was of course the scene of terrible flooding in 2004 but all seems to have recovered and is somewhere I would definitely return to.

As is often the case what was meant to be straight forward became hard work with a number of high, deep valleys to navigate. We passed Tintagel, with its ancient castle andy monastery. There were some adventures types jumping in to the sea which looked life fun. We also saw some sea stacks which look very close to crumbling (thanks Nigel).

The scenery continued and the terrain started to take its toll on all of us. Nick was the first to go and had huge trouble with his knees. He started to walk backwards downhill for while, and of course Nigel and I were hugely sympathetic!!! Nigel then felt his knee go twang and the wheels started to fall off completely. It was like walking with a couple of geriatrics. Worthers originals kept us going and we eventually made out way on to Port Isaac. It is a stunning town which has done well since its rebirth of Doc Martin. It’s a conundrum as the tourism means that there are always plenty of people to visit but they push-up prices of joy just housing but all other service establishments.

Tonight I am joined by John Moore from work and also staying at David Coombs from work for two nights. It’s luxury with fresh vegetables and plenty of cheese! I will definitely sleep well tonight