Gracie May

27 October 2009

First things first. I know you will want a map to show you where I am walking and I am working on it.

Meanwhile, let me tell you what happened when I went walking today. I was short of time so only got as far as the second kissing gate, before leaving the cliff path and circling back to the car.

I set out at about 10am on a bright and breezy day. A lark rose and sang. Gorse, like scattered sunshine, still flowered amongst the dried seed heads, beige grasses, and faded heather at the cliff edge.

A group of people appeared.Two young women, two older women, and a young man carrying a child. They were three generations of a family from Northhampton on a week's self-catering holiday, and staying at Tehidy Park. "Four generations" quipped the man,"if you count Dad." They had walked from their holiday home through the woods, and finding themselves on the coast road could not resist (and I understand this, being someone who always wants to see what is at the end of a path) the green sign saying "Public Byeway. Coast path 300 yards".

The highlight of their walk, I was told by the delightful Gracie May ( aged 2, blonde curls, unabashedly pink coat, and surveying me from her father's arms), was the muddy puddles.