Well, thanks to Covid 19 it’s a over a year since we’ve managed to get away. But everything comes to an end and true enough a gradual relaxation of lockdown rules has finally allowed us to venture away from our base in the Lakes…
Sure, we are fortunate enough to live in the Lake District so it hasn’t been so bad locked down to our local patch – it’s a patch full of world-class adventures! However, getting away and seeing and doing something different is a tremendous boost, made even sweeter by the seemingly long and drawn out lockdown that kicked in straight after Xmas 2020.
Foreign travel is still off the menu, but really why do we crave foreign parts when the we have such an array of amazing places on our doorstep?
We chose the sun kissed sea cliffs of Cornwall…
Bosigran
Our first day in the sunshine was at the classic Bosigran… It was weird walking past the Count House; this was the first time I’d ever been to Cornwall climbing and not stayed in this amazing CC hut. Weird times!
Bosigran was our choice as there was a wicked cold northerly wind. A Cornish Mistral? This freezing northern air flow was a feature of the whole week in fact. Careful venue choice was mandated so it was possible to climb in the sun and out of the wind. Which did make it OK to climb in short sleeves. But as soon as you stepped above the cliffs out of the shelter they offered and in to the wind a wind-proof top was essential.
Kenidjack
The next day we went to another of my there favourite Cornish cliffs, Kenidjack. The most amazing (in my opinion) line here, Rock Dancer, never disappoints!
We didn’t stay long at Kenidjack as Zac wouldn’t stop barking when we left him tied up safely at the top of the cliffs. He just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t come with us. Normally when he’s at the base of a cliff he can see us start climbing, he understands this, and curls up for a nap until we get back. So, sea cliffs didn’t compute!
We enjoyed a look around some of the old tin mines after lunch…
Trewavas
The next day we decided to stick with cliffs that one walks to, as opposed to abseils to, to save Zac the distress and us the embarrassment of his barking.
Cycling
We’d taken our bikes to Cornwall with the intention of doing a little cycling. The people running our accommodation said,”… the cycling is quite challenging around here!” as we off loaded and stored the bikes securely when we arrived. As it turned out, compared to Cumbria and the Dales, it isn’t.
In the evening we decided to go for a walk direct from our lovely accommodation at Brunnion. It turned out that I’d underestimated just how far it was across the rough fields and footpaths to take a peek at Roger’s Tower.
A side effect of the extended duration of our walk was that we got caught out – in just our jeans and fleece jackets with no weather-proof clothing. Doh! Soaked to the skin we earned our G&T before dinner late that evening!
Zennor
The next morning, predictably after the previous evening’s soaking, it was a bit rainy. In fact at one point it was hailing! We resolved to go sight seeing at Sennen and give Zac a chance to run on the beach before the beach dog-bans kicked in the next day at the start of May…
Later though the weather cleared and the sun came back out to play, so we accepted the offer and went out to Zennor Cliff.
We ended another excellent day with an excellent beer at the Tinners Arms.
St Loy
The climbs at St Loy are tough!
Gurnard’s Head
On our last day we’d arranged to socially (distanced of course) rendezvous with our mates at the Gurnard’s Head for a mass ascent of the easy classic Right Angle.
