Summer Walking

Sitting here looking out at grey leaden skies it seems more a dream than a memory, but yesterday was a day worthy of the name 'summer'. It was hot, sunny, calm and blue, almost too hot for walking, but walking is what we did.

A walk had already been arranged from Looe to Talland and back along the coastpath, with a snack at the Smugglers' Rest in the middle, and we'd have done it even if it had been raining, but the beautiful weather was a bonus. It was the first long walk I'd been on since before I broke my wrist - not that I couldn't walk, just that I couldn't drive to the meeting places - so it was even more gratifying.

The coastpath in that area is very steep; it isn't very far as the crow flies, but there's more up and down than along, so it's quite a hard walk. We met several groups of holidaymakers who had been tempted by the fine weather to perhaps take on more than they were fit for. Some wearing flipflops, some with babies in buggies struggling up and down steps, some showing signs of incipient sunburn, etc. Way below us there were lots of pleasure boats either sailing very slowly or motoring along looking for a cove for a picnic. A most enjoyable bonus day.

In the evening we were booked in for a barbecue at Wearde. This was also most enjoyable; good food, good wine and very good company on the terrace overlooking the river. Until the inevitable happened and the rain came down. Not that it deterred the few hardy souls amongst us who managed to find a seat under the hawthorn tree.