SWCP - Polperro to Derrydown

Sunday 17th July

Today as I passed through Looe and later through Seaton I reckon I was suffering from enochlophobia. Masses and masses of families are on holiday squashed into grid patterns on the beaches only a few feet apart from each other, and progress through the the town streets is impaired as I try to wend my way through these throngs who are following no particular course, and usually in space-consuming groups.

By the way I did receive a freebie at the hotel last night, but that was discount negotiated by me on the room price rather than handed out gratis.

I was soon on steep climbs out of Polperro. At one stage passing through a dark wooded tunnel I brained myself on a low hanging branch, unpleasant, but no real damage.

Later I met Anita sat on a pleasant viewpoint. She lives locally and is a recently retired hospital consultant (acute medicine) and we had interesting conversation about her recent visit to Cape Wrath, her ascent of Kilimanjaro, and here traverse of the GR20 (Corsican ridge walk - particularly demanding), and her thoughts and appreciation of Scotland.

I've had two tea stops today. The beach café at Bodigga was run by a charismatic guy from Costa Rica, a bit pricey, but a high standard. My bill was £5.40. I gave him a ten pound note and he gave me £5 change saying he was saving me carrying the weight of all the change.

I am now at Treliddon Farmhouse B and B about a mile above the town of Derrydown. They drove down to pick me up and will do the same this evening for my visit to The Inn on the Shore. I was welcomed by Sue Broad with a large teapot of tea - how did she know? Well they have had plenty of SWCP walkers here before.

More about the meal later - having a little rest now.

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Christina (family daughter) drove me to the pub. She is a young chef for a restaurant, The Blue Plate - http://www.blueplatecornwall.com/blue-plate-about-us/ ,where I called, yes, for tea, in the village before getting my lift to the B and B. Her boss has trained and worked with some of our nationally known chefs and runs the restaurant to the kind of standards you would expect. So I made the wrong choice.

First of all, bearing in mind it is a sea food pub, no mussels, run out of chips, and no goats cheese thingy (the only of two non-fish on starters). The wifi needed signing up to a Google account with endless input and donation of loads of personal info. which I declined to pursue. I ordered a Caesar Salad. It came with no anchovies, no egg, only enough Parmesan to be seen through a microscope, and generally unpalatable. I sent it back and have now ordered battered fish (species not specified) and have to settle for crushed new potatoes instead of the absent chips. An extra pint I ordered did not materialise and I had to remind them. Next instalment...

...well, it arrived. The. crushed new potatoes were a fatty conglomeration. The fish was cooked with skin on. I know that seems to be almost universal, and as a Yorkshireman there are not many things I am proud of, but they do know how to cook battered fish. There is nothing wrong with mushy peas, but theirs were dolled up into a sickly mint flavoured mess that I left. The rest I ate because I was hungry and beyond any further wrangling.

I didn't bother with desert and when I paid the bill they deducted the cost of my two pints. Ok, but in these kinds of circumstances, whatever recompense is offered the experience has been ruined.

Christina picked me up and was most upset about my experience, although it had been my choice and nothing to do with them, but everything rubs off in a small community like this. Back at the farm Christina fed me with her own home made scones, clotted cream and jam. I guess she is doing well as a chef but when she first started at The Blue Plate she was supposed to be Front of House but they decided to train her as a chef, but there is no doubt that her personality would make her very good at that first option.

This the best B and B I have had on this trip.

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