Penzance; Saturday, 02 October, 2021

I’d packed my waterproof clothes as the weather forecast for most of the preceding week had suggested it was going to be wet. The predictions had run from torrential rain for the entire day to heavy rain for the entire day – so I knew I was going to get wet no matter what. However, the previous evening had seen the weather forecast change a little and the implication was that the heavy rain of the morning might ease of a little after lunch.

Consequently, I adjusted my plans and rather than heading out early for a full day of getting soaked, I had a bit of a lie in and a late breakfast in the hope that I might not get so wet later on.

After finishing breakfast I headed out of the hotel and caught the bus up to the town of Helston, where it connected with the L1 bus out to the Lizard. Depending on the weather this route is normally operated by an open-top bus. Today it was a fully enclosed double decker, with the upper deck being deafened by the sound of the rain hammering on the roof.

We set off from Helston and have a very pretty journey through the Cornish countryside and won onto the Lizard Peninsular, passing the beautiful Poldhu Cove and through some of the little villages before arriving at the village of Lizard where the bus ended. I hopped off, and taking a chance on the forecast being correct, headed straight to a pasty shop for an earlyish lunch and to sit out the worst of the weather waiting for a break in the rain than a weather app was predicting for 40 minutes later.

I had a very tasty pasty, and with the rain looking like it was starting to ease off headed out on the 15 minute walk down to the Lizard Point. It turned out that, for once, the app was correct and as I arrived at the Lizard the rain petered out to a drizzle before stopping entirely. It meant I was able to wander around Lizard Point without having to have the hood up on my jacket or protect my camera.

Whilst Lands End has all the fame and the over priced tourist experience for being the tip of Britain, it isn’t actually the most Southerly point (it’s also not the most Westerly point as that goes to Ardnamurchan Point in the Scottish Highlands – it’s claim is to the most South Westerly Point in Britain, and the most Westerly point in England). The most Southerly point is Lizard Point, and because it’s not so well know it isn’t thronged by tourists. I spent quite a bit of time wandering round the point before heading back to the village in time to catch my bus back towards Helston, just as the break in the weather came to an end and the afternoons hefty showers started their first appearance.

Given the weather I decided that rather than go anywhere else I’d do tourism by bus, so after getting back to Helston I was able to change onto an L3 bus and headed north up to the Cornish capital in Truro – past even more ruined Engine houses and abandoned mine workings that the previous days trip along the coast. In Truro I had a 10 minute wait and was then able to change onto the T1 bus that then ran back down to Penzance.

The T1 took about 2 hours to make the journey, heading through Redruth, Cambourne and Hayle and passing yet more examples of Cornwall’s former mining heritage as well as through several pretty villages along the way. At times the journey was conducted in glorious sunshine, then moments later the skies would go dark and another torrential downpour would pass overhead making so much noise on the roof of the bus that you worried it might cave in.

By the time I got back to Penzance it was already dark so I headed over to the hotel, and with the rain starting to bed in for the night decided that it would be easier to eat in the hotel restaurant and have an early night.