As I made my way towards Bude the wind promptly started up and with some solid cliff work to do . I was mildly concerned. The wind blew stronger and this removed any concerns I had. It wasn’t the day to be on high cliffs so I followed the coast inland via the narrow Cornish lanes.
I decided to rejoin the coast path when it was a bit lower and as the sun had come out and there was no wind in the lane.
I climbed a stile, walked 50 yds straight into a 40mph wind blowing off the sea. Luckily the path went between some high hedges and I was spared the worst of it.
By the time I reached Black Rock beach the wind had eased and a surprising number of people were walking the beach.
Bude has a severe cliff erosion problem with some dwellings very near the edge. They are trying to stabilise the dunes with old Christmas trees but I fear it’s a losing battle there.
As I walked into Bude I spotted my hotel about half a mile away. At the same moment it started to hail.
Once I got to my pub, it was a question of dropping my kit off and getting to Mountain Warehouse before it shut to get a bivvy bag in case the tent finally gave up the ghost before I could get new poles.
The hail had now stopped and turned to rain.
Back to the pub to dry off externally and get wet internally!