Day 14 - Sennen Cove to Porthcurno

Up early to catch the bus to Sennen Cove via Porthcurno, where we were going to finish the walk, and Land's End. Steep road down to the town centre where the bus had to reverse up a tiny lane to get back up the hill as it left. The bus was a double-decker and sometimes the road was just and only just wide enough to make any progress. We went upstairs and had a grand view over the hedges. The driver was not so lucky and he had to be very careful getting round the many bends in the road.

Looking North back to Sennen Cove with Whitesand Bay in the background

Looking South towards Land's End


Land's End with the Longships lighthouse in the background


Longships Lighthouse


Off Land's End with a rock made of basalt columns very like the Giant's Causeway


Some lovely flowers along the way


The Lion's Den


Looking ahead to Mill Bay


Nanjizal Beach


Nanjizal Beach (again)


A last look at the Longships lighthouse


The beach at Porth Chapel

We reached the end of the walk at Porthcurno. Situated on the cliff top is the Minack Theatre carved out of the rock. The theatre was created in 1935. It is based on a natural amphitheatre and the backdrop is the sea. A program of plays is performed each Summer. The path drops very steeply as you leave the grounds of the theatre. The guide reports "a difficult descent not recommended for young children or elderly persons". It says "take a look and decide". Sufferers from vertigo are duly warned. It certainly was pretty tricky, no rails and very steep steps but we took the plunge and reached beach level and a short walk into Porthcurno which we had passed through earlier on the bus.

At the top of the climb down from the Minack Theatre

It was our last day of walking and we had promised ourselves a Cornish Cream tea. There was a pub in the little village who were ready to meet our need. Porthcurno is an important terminal point for submarine cables and a Cable and Wireless School was established here but technological advance caused it to close in 1994. The school has been turned into a museum. We caught the bus back to Penzance retracing the route to Land's End and Sennen Cove. The route back from there was a little different but it eventually connected up with the outbound route in St. Buryan where we stopped and refuelled the bus, all very casual.

Cornish Cream tea in Porthcurno at the end of our walking tour