We decided to have a more relaxed day today before we start travelling again tomorrow. A walk around Padstow and its surrounds and an early dinner was the plan.
I downloaded a loop walking trail that would take us through the village and into the surrounding countryside, but when we started following the trail it seemed to double back on itself and was all a bit messy. So we decided to head out on the bike track that follows the Camel River inland. The track is made up in part by the old train line that used to come to Padstow. So a lot of the walk was through cuttings and minimal views. We went as far as the old rail bridge over the river. It gave us great sights up and down the river, and a different perspective on Padstow.
7500+ steps later we stopped in for an early lunch (or “Elevenses” as we have seen it called) at Ben’s Café Shack down in the wharf area next to the old railway station, which now serves as the local council chambers. They did simple food very well.
Deb decided to have an easy afternoon and stayed at our BnB to read, and I went out exploring the village a bit for an hour or so.
Typical of all Cornish fishing villages, old Padstow has narrow cobblestone streets and lines of quaint old row houses. The village was alive with tourists, there were about 3 coach loads in town and lots of other day trippers. Down around the harbour wharves, tour boat operators were spruiking their rides with a very quiet droll, almost running on autopilot. It was both funny and sad to hear, it was their livelihood, but they just couldn’t get up any enthusiasm into their voices. I did find an old church set halfway up the backhill of Padstow, a beautiful setting amongst some trees and an old graveyard, unfortunately it wasn’t open. A bit higher up their was a grand old home open to the public (for a fee), it had 2 tour buses parked outside, I didn’t go in.
Just down the hill I saw a street name sign I found amusing “Fentonluna Lane”. ?
I walked up to the top of the north head of the harbour, lots of tourists were going up there so I thought it would be worth the ¾ mile walk. At the top was a WWI memorial, a Celtic Cross. The views over the river mouth were great, with good views over the village of Rock across the river and back into Padstow.
We had our dinner reservation at 4:30pm, the only time Deb could get for tonight! We ate at “Prawn on the Lawn”, a local seafood restaurant. They source all their produce locally and have a chalkboard in the restaurant to show everyone where the days produce had come from and who they had bought it off. The menu is on chalk boards as well, they use only local and fresh, so the menu changes daily.
We had a Tapas style dinner, with 5 small plates between us, the food was good. With the warm weather here at the moment we are finding it very warm and extremely humid in all cafes and restaurants, and so we are always relieved to get back outside into some fresh air.We got an ice-cream each down on tne waterfront and ate them standing at a rail overlooking the boats. A seagull swooped at my ice-cream cone and wasn’t very far off the mark. After that we were a little more guarded with them.
Once finished we went back to our BnB, hopefully we sleep well tonight.
We are off to Bath tomorrow, via Exeter.
A little side note:
Padstow has a nickname of “Padstein”, due to the pervading presence of Rick Stein, and his many ventures in the village. He has his main gourmet Restaurant, his cooking school, a couple of Fish and Chip shops, a Stein Shop (selling all things Rick Stein), apparently other cafes/restaurants and other shops. He really has made his mark on the town, generally to the benefit of all from what we could see.
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