18-Jun-1996 - Day 1 - Lands End to Veryan

• Day’s Distance: 52.05 Miles (not including the 5 miles from the camp-site to Lands End)
• Total Distance: 52.05 Miles
• Travel Time: 4:51
• Average Speed: 10.7 Miles/Hr
• Max Speed: 34.0 Miles/Hr
• Punctures: 0

I set off at 10:25am after saying goodbye to my very friendly hosts - Liz and Kevin. It did not take long to reach Lands End and I had an ‘official’ photograph taken. At 10:40am I set off on the journey retracing my steps of the morning and the previous night.
Bypassing Penzance I started travelling on ‘virgin’ road and headed for Marazion which was a very pretty village but most notable for being the access point for St Michaels Mount - an island with a tidal footpath to the mainland. A dramatically high hill, taking up almost the entire island, is topped by a large, incredibly impressive monastary / abbey. Unfortunately the light at that time of day left the island in near silhouette and so the photographs may not be quite so inspiring as the reality.
The landscape unfolded as a series of gentle valleys and hills which I felt quite happy about coping with. That is until I crossed the King Henry ferry - a transportation across the river set in a beautiful, tranquil wooded valley. The road wound up steeply from the ferry and carried on going up. Eventually I reached the top and felt exhausted. At this point I knew I would not reach my destination. Consulting the map I saw a camp-site marked just past Veryan which was not far away. With much effort in the heat of the afternoon I reached my new found goal only to discover that it had been taken over only the previous week and the shop’s stock was minimal with only a few tins and packets and no deliveries of eggs, milk, bacon, etc. With tent pitched I cooked some rice as the sun began to set. The cloud formations were so impressive I photographed my tent with this incredible backdrop.
Day 1 Map (approximate route)

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