Tag: outdoors

A day of play – Out West

Posted on by theplayfulway_v3ra6n

Lately, we’ve allowed a combination of “being busy” and “being tired” to get in the way of our mini-adventures a bit. So we decided to put that right this Bank Holiday weekend. The boy decided to forego the adventure as he wanted to focus on revision for the day, so it was just three of us and doggo.

We headed for Porthgwarra, a little cove just beyond Porthcurno on the very western tip of Cornwall that we had somehow not visited before.

We headed West to Nanjizal where I clambered over the rocks for a quick dip in the “Song of the Sea” cave, but the tide was not quite far enough out so I couldn’t quite get to the cave.

We then continued our walk along the coast to Land’s End. We stopped for lunch in the cafe there. I wouldn’t recommend it – £6 for a dry baguette, though the coffee was nice.

We caught the bus back from Land’s End to Porthcurno, and then walked from there back to Porthgwarra, where Isobel and I had another dip in the sea.

That last bit of coast path was a profusion of spring wildflowers on lovely top meadows and weather-worn lichen covered rock formations. Stunning.

Cost of today’s adventure:

  • Fuel to Porthgwarra (53 miles each way)
  • Carpark at Porthgwarra (£6 for 4.5 hours)
  • Lunch and coffee x 3 at Land’s End (£29 – would definitely avoid this next time).
  • Bus from Land’s End to Porthcurno for 3 of us. (£7).

Wildlife seen

  • Unidentified birds of prey – pretty sure kestrel and buzzard
  • Lots of sea birds
  • Seals
  • Lots of lovely wild flowers

We were also on the lookout for Cornish choughs and adders, both of which could very easily have been in this area, but we spotted neither, and also for dolphins off the coast, especially where the seabirds we’re going crazy over a large shoal of fish just off Nanjizal.

Scary cows!

Posted on by theplayfulway_v3ra6n
The bovver boys!

I’ve been making the most of the sun shining this week with plenty of walks and gardening.

However, this particular walk gave me a bit more than I bargained for. I walked through a woodland, up a lovely stream and then the public footpath took me into a field of cows (young bullocks).

I hadn’t got far before the curious cows made their way towards me and the dog. My usual tactic is to clap and make a noise, which usually gets them to back off, but this time they just kept coming. Not charging or anything, but they surrounded us pretty quickly and made Blossom yelp with fright.

I’ve read a lot of stories about cattle trampling dog walkers to death, so I then had to make the decision to go forwards or back. I was about one third of the way up the field, so went forward.

The advice I’ve read is to let the dog off the lead, so if the cattle cause a problem, the dog will run, the cows will chase the dog (which will outrun them), and the person is okay. In my case, the dog decided to hide behind me. Thanks Blossom.

We made our way slowly and calmly up the field. I had my back to the hedge, my arms out, and was talking reassuringly to the cattle about how I was just going through the field. I’m not sure whether I was trying to reassure the cattle, the dog or myself to be honest. My heart was going like an express train, but I honestly believe that staying calm and slow kept the cattle calm.

It was only when I got through the gate and looked back that I realised just how many cows there had been. Once my heart stopped pounding and my legs stopped the jellies I made a mental note to take the longer route that avoids these boys next time.