With the new rules allowing us to stay out for as long as we like, and with someone who isn’t a family member, Paula and I decided to cycle down to the Lizard today. We’d been yearning for a longer ride – the Mawnan Smith circuit is lovely but it gets a bit boring after a while. It was cloudy and cool, and being mid-week, the roads were still very quiet – a contrast to last weekend when hundreds of cars and people converged at Gylly and Swanpool beaches.
So it was down to Gweek, up through the AONB – and beautiful it is; very green and lush. All the roadsides are an overgrown mass of flowers – cow parsley and redcampion at the moment, with bluebells still going strong in places and a few foxgloves appearing. With Trelowarren closed, we went down the B3293 to the crossroads past Goonhilly, turned right, and along the long straight road to Kuggar. Right at the crossroads at St Ruan, left at the old chapel, and down to Lizard village. Passing a large sign saying ‘Visitors Go Home! Protect the NHS’ (they didn’t mean us, surely?!) we cycled through the strangely quiet village; one small shop was open, but no-one was selling coffee. No problem, we’d brought flasks. Down to the Point, which was almost deserted except for a bird watcher (choughs had been seen recently) and the owner of the Polpeor café, who was doing some cleaning. He told us his business was secure and could survive this disasterous season, as he’s been going a long time and has savings, but he was concerned, as we all are, for newer businesses which are facing ruin. We assured him that we’ll be back to support the café as soon as we’re allowed to. So after admiring the view – a very low tide and flat seas – and walking down to the old lifeboat house, it was back on the bikes for the ride home via the A 3083, turning right at the Wheel Inn, which looked very deserted – one of the many pubs which may never reopen? – and along to rejoin the B3293 and back to Gweek. A coffee on the green from the machine in the village shop, then we pedalled up the only hills of the day, back to Falmouth. A lovely flat ride to somewhere different, at last. 43 miles for me.
Liz
Photo is of the new cygnets on Swanpool, which are worth stopping to look at if anyone’s cycling past. They hatched on Sunday May 10th, and were four days old when I took this picture. Very cute!