“Even though we took today off, we still walked 2.5 miles… uphill!” -Mike (the guy who wants full credit for every step!)
We were scheduled to walk 11 miles again today (or possibly as much as 13) and we just didn’t feel like it to be honest. Even though we woke feeling pretty good, we agreed that the day before had been so rough that we weren’t interested in taking on the challenges that today was offering us, so we took the day off. I’m calling it a “taxi-hop” day.
Today’s route was going to be a bit problematic because there were a couple of places where -due to the tidal schedule- we were going to be put into situations where we’d either have to wade across certain “wet when the tide is in” spots, or take detours (adding miles) to go around those spots. There were two places listed that we’d need to use a passenger ferry to follow the Path. Oh and did I mention that there was an active quarry in this section? If they happened to be blasting when we got there, we’d have to follow a marked detour. Combine all of that with the estimated mileage and it didn’t sound like a good day to go for a walk.
The last ferry listed for today’s route was to transport us across the Helford River. Our hotel for the night was just beyond the ferry landing -uphill of course. When checking the map to try to pinpoint a good place to have a taxi drop us off, it looked like the easiest choice would be the ferry landing on the West side of the river and then take the ferry across and walk the last bit to the hotel. I liked this option because I wanted to experience the ferry!
The taxi dropped us off at the public parking area just outside of the little village of Helford. There was a cute restaurant near the parking lot in what looked to be an old church. It was fittingly called the Holy Mackerel Cafe.
After a short walk down a road, we crossed over into the main part of the village on a small pedestrian bridge. (Rather than staying on the road -because even though the tide was out, it still had some standing water on it).
The part of the village we saw seemed to be mostly just houses. There was one pub. I loved seeing the thatched roofs on the traditional stone houses that we walked by on our way to the ferry dock. Having seen this village, it is hard to imagine that at one time is was a busy port…until the Helford River silted up. Now it is a quiet village on the river. One of its most famous residents is the drummer from Queen.
The Helford Ferry is pedestrian only. It is claimed that this crossing is the oldest ferry crossing in England -there’s been a ferry service here in one form or another for over 1,000 years and possibly longer. It is 18 miles by road to get from one side to the other if you’d rather drive.
At the ferry dock, you have to open a folded “signal” which, when unfolded, becomes a big bright orange circle that calls the ferry over. Mike did the honors.
You can see the back side of the circle in this picture:
There was another couple waiting there with a cute dog. The dog wanted to say hello and the more attention I gave it, the more cuddly it got…It ended up in my lap! The owners were starting to worry about it being a bother when Mike told them I love dogs -so they let the love-fest continue.
I don’t know what I expected the ferry to look like, but before long a small power boat pulled up.
We paid our fare and took the short trip across the river. The landing was on a narrow beach with a restaurant called The Ferry Boat Inn tucked into the side of the hill next to it. The Ferry Boat Inn dates back to the 1700’s -although I think the present building is probably not quite that old.
Picture courtesy of FerryBoat Inn’s Facebook page.
The restaurant was just opening up for the day. It was barely noon and our check-in time was 4:00 PM, so we decided to linger there for a while before finishing the walk to our hotel. We weren’t hungry for lunch, but the dessert menu looked good… Mike had his 3rd “test tasting” of sticky toffee pudding of the trip so far. (A favorite from our Cayman Island days). I had an ice-cream sundae.
When we couldn’t justify our lingering any longer, we started the trek to our hotel. Uphill all the way (of course). First we had to climb some steps up from the beach/restaurant level to get to the road behind it. There was nowhere to go from there but up.
Looking back, you can just see the roof of the restaurant at the edge of the river.
Our hotel was a combination spa/golf resort. Our distance for the day between where the taxi had dropped us off at Helford Village to the front door of the hotel… 2.5 miles.
The hotel was an older, but genteel looking retreat. It isn’t clear when the first manor house was built here, but the property was referenced in 1538 in an old record where three men were jointly responsible for paying “the Lord of the manor” for use of the property. By 1715, the land was in the hands of the Penrose family and they owned it until 1921. By the early 1930’s, the manor house had been renovated into the hotel/spa it is today. The developers hoped that the golf and tennis facilities would attract tourists.
Front Entrance
Mike’s hobby is taking pictures of me taking pictures. 😆
We were too early to check in, so we waited in the lobby area until they were ready for us. We were happy campers when we finally got our key and settled into our room for the night.
Later we had dinner outside on the patio. Mike took a picture of the grounds. He enjoyed watching the golfers out on the course.
I think it was a good call to take a rest day. It was good to remind ourselves that we’re on vacation and that we can modify our original plans as needed..