We had visited Cornwall several times and found adverts for Newquay at Bodmin, St Austell and Falmouth, but never had the time to visit there. We decided to visit Newquay for our short holiday between 19th and 23rd September 22.
Britains long lasting living queen had finally passed away – we had been told that her funeral would be set on 19th September and a number of shops would be closed on that day.
We prepared our own sandwiches for a long journey. When we arrived at Paddington, we found the station was awfully quiet – many shops were shut, but, more importantly, there werent very any trains and passengers around. We were told that there had been damage on electric cable between Paddington and Reading; as a result, there would be no train including Heathrow Express running on 19th September and the next day. We were advised to take the train for Reading from Waterloo and then take the GWR train to Exeter St David. Both trains were quite full and there were several passengers who had to stand all through to the destinations. We finally got the Penzance bound train
from Exeter St David just after 16.00 and arrived at Par just after 17.30. We found the train for Newquay would depart at 20.29. Mark found the board of ‘Royal Inn pub with directions at Par Station – we decided to go there hoping that the pub would be opened. We both ordered ‘Cornish Pastry with garnish and drink – we were even offered chips as well. It was right portion for both of us. We left the pub just after 19.30 to catch up the train for Newquay. The branch line came and departed on time. I realized that the train was making several stops but nobody seemed to be using those stations. Like us all the passengers got off at Newquay. It was just after 21.30; we were quite tired when we reached Avalon Hotel. We watched a brief highlight of the funeral before going to bed.
On 20th September we got up at 8.30 and entered the dining room at 8.30. The Avalon Hotel serves continental breakfast, not English breakfast – we saw selections of cereals, fruit juice, cheese & hams, fruit salad and yoghurt and coffee & teas. The hotelier wondered how our journey was.
We explained to her that we arrived quite late as there were problems on the main line between Paddington and Reading.
Mark had found and printed walking maps by Newquay Council – we were to do the course between central and western coastlines of Newquay.
We started from Cliff Road near the station. Newquay is hub for surfers – there were a lot of shops selling surf boards, surf suits, bags, sandals and and sweaters, etc. We walked through the former rail route, zigzag path led us to Huers Hut. That grade listed II building was made of white wall, very distinctive from the distance. We then walked to Towan Head. As well as colourful rock plants, we were amazed at a wide variety of rock formations, which makes dramatic scenery from one place to the other. I noted there were quite a few snails on the rock plants.
It was lunch time when we reached Fistral Beach. We bought takeaway meals and decided to sit down on the beach while having lunch. It was very sunny, warm afternoon – there were a lot of people swimming, surfing
Afterwards, we continued walking westwards, saw the grand manor house, i.e. Headland Hotel, where Royal family have stayed over the years. We carried on the coastal walk along Pentire Point East and overlooked Crantock Beach.
We then walked along the golf course and residential areas. There were quite a few modernist style houses – buildings in Newquay and some residential districts looked like the ones in Mediterranean countries.
Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel and had a bit rest. We went to Bank Street to buy a bit of souvenirs like postcards and Cornish biscuits in the late afternoon.
We had fish & chips for our evening meal. It still remained sunny and warm in the evening. We decided to walk down to the beach. There were several people walking on the beach.
