Log No 278. Tue 8th Apr 2014 - Lansallos to Seaton, 14 miles (4229 miles walked)

There was the odd heavy shower through the night but the rest of the time it was a clear sky and very cold. The previous night I hadn't needed to wear any clothes but last night I had to get up 3 times to put a layer on.

We were away by 08.00 in the sunshine, taking a footpath to get back to the Coast Path.

The path was up and down through the slopes and again the muddy conditions caught us both out.

Extra care was needed at Raphael Cliff and Chapel Cliff, just before Polperro, as the slippery path was very close to the edge of the cliff.

Approaching Polperro it didn't look very big but once we rounded the last corner it came as quite a surprise as it was a hive of activity and very quaint with the narrow streets, even the harbour was busy with a couple of fishing boats just returning.

An information board said Polperro was completely self-sufficient.

It was a steep path out of Polperro then, due to a land slip, we were diverted onto the road for a steep descent to Talland Bay.

It was straight back up again on to the busy footpath to Looe.

With it being nearly 4 miles to Looe from Talland Bay I was surprised to see quite a few young children, with their parents, on the path.

We passed one family with 2 children carrying buckets and fishing nets and thought there must have been a beach or cove nearby, there wasn't so they must have been going all the way to Looe.

We arrived in Looe at 12.00 and got our daily provisions before sitting on a bench for lunch, after which we got a takeaway coffee and watched children, and their dads, catching crabs from the harbour wall with a hand line that had a small bag of bait tied on the end, it was a popular pastime.
One mother was nervously trying to get a crab off the bait bag for her son and I made her jump by shouting "ouch", she took it in good humour.

It had been quite slow going to get to Looe so it was just as well we didn't have much further to go today as we spent well over an hour at Looe.

Shortly after Millandreath we were again temporarily diverted onto the road to get by a closed section of path and we got to Seaton just before 3 o'clock.

With only a mile to go to the campsite we took another extended break in The Smugglers Inn before heading up the road toward Downderry and then tackling the very steep road up to Trerieve Farm where Marian & Jim had waived the campsite fees.

A slow but enjoyable 14 miles.

I don't have a phone signal so the log won't get on until tomorrow.