OFS Goes to HF St Ives

26th – 30th April 2014

Freshly baked scones, warm from the oven, bowls of thick Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam. What better start could there be to our walking holiday in St Ives?

On Saturday 26th April, sixteen OFS members gathered in the large lounge of Chy Morvah, the H.F. house in St Ives, and enjoyed this very sociable cream tea with our walks leaders, fellow walkers, and another group on a Guided Discovery Tour.

Pleasantly replete, only a few keen people braved the rain showers and the very steep hills to explore the town. The rest of us were lazy and settled for unpacking and generally being idle until meeting again for a walks briefing followed by supper.

The long-term weather forecast had been pretty grim before leaving Oxfordshire and Sunday began as feared with most people setting off in full waterproofs. All three walks took circular routes from the house ranging from 5 to 10 miles with each finishing along the SW Coastal Path to Carbis Bay and St Ives.

The harder walk scaled Trencrom Hill with its Iron Age hill fort, just when the heavens opened. However, that deluge seemed to assuage the ‘weather gods’ because then the sky cleared and we were soon shedding layers, as we walked back to Chy Morvah under a beautiful blue sky, whilst enjoying the stunning sight of St Ives in the sunshine.

The weather on our second walking day was glorious. The focus of the walks was the heritage sites of Cornwall’s NW coast. A coach dropped off each group at their starting points and we enjoyed walking through the impressive industrial artefacts as we made our way to Land’s End. The easier walk visited the mining village of St Just and walked through Cot Valley to Sennen Cove before joining the Coastal Path.

The medium and harder walks followed the coastal path via Cape Cornwall, once thought to be the most westerly point in England, and Ballowall Barrow, a remarkable Bronze Age burial chamber. Our destination, Land’s End, is sadly spoilt by tacky development and for those of us who didn’t have time to stop in Sennen Cove, the final blow in this embodiment of commercialisation, was that the ice cream shop was closed. Luckily the views out to sea remain dramatic.

Our final walking day was along the Coastal Path on the southern coast, which was undulating and beautiful but less rugged than the previous day. Again we passed well-preserved mine buildings, including Wheal Prosper, made famous in the Poldark series, and, as we headed towards our destination at Marizion, could enjoy the glorious sight of St Michael’s Mount. People on the easier walk were lucky enough to squeeze in a visit but the other groups were satisfied just to have time to buy a Cornish ice cream. It was delicious.

Those of you who have enjoyed HF holidays in the UK will know that the walks leaders usually provide some kind of activity each evening for guests to join, if they wish. On our first evening Chrissie, the leader of the Discovery Tour, treated us to a short power-point talk about some of the places her group would be visiting during the week. Combining history, landscape features, and stories of the area, it was fascinating and very informative. It even enabled us to spot ‘General de Gaulle’ basking in the sea near Cape Cornwall.

Other evening activities included simple but fun quizzes, another fascinating talk by a local resident who writes travel guides and a final evening of poems, magic and sundry offerings by both members and leaders with a few country dances thrown into the mix; just in case we had any surplus energy left after all those miles.

Of course, no OFS walking holiday would be complete without a plumbing challenge and true-to-form as a group of us made our way up the stairs at bedtime on our first night, we encountered Lesley in full flight, about to descend upon management asserting exasperatedly that there was no hot water!

Unfortunately morning confirmed everyone’s fears – apart from the lucky few on an independent system; there were cold showers for the very brave and ‘a lick and a promise’ for the rest of us. However, despite it being a Sunday, the problem was rectified by the time we returned from our day’s walk and I imagine everyone wallowed in their hot showers that evening.

So to sum-up, we had a wonderful holiday combining good walking and good company at a lovely time of year, in a beautiful corner of our amazing island. Thank you very much to Allison and Sue for making it all possible.

June Henville