My monthly walking roundup and journal for August 2023.
Now into the second month of the school holidays and what should be glorious sunny, summer days. Well, it’s far from that! I reported that it was a cool and very wet July. August was no better. It just seemed to rain and rain. I’m not sure if we had one complete dry day. It felt more like October.
My wife and I managed a short break in the St Austell area of Cornwall. There was a family wedding near Luton too. As well as getting out for a few longer walks, it’s not been such a bad month. Just soggy!
Country and Coast – August
The wild flower meadows have mostly gone to seed and are now brown with just a few flowers still showing. I thought that it would be cut back by now, in preparation for next year’s new growth, but not yet.
I’ve said above that it seemed more like October. Not just the weather, but the state of the plants, bushes and trees suggested so too. The tops of trees were already turning brown and the berries are ripening much earlier. Sloes, for example, were already black in colour and would likely ripen at the start of September. They are usually ready by October and into November. Lots of berries were already ready to eat
Walks
At the start of August, I headed off from home in St Germans to Seaton, Downderry, Portwrinkle and back home via Polbathic. As I was walking back inland, the footpaths had become extremely overgrown. I was actually pleased that it started raining and that I had donned my wet weather trousers because my legs would have been shredded wearing shorts. However, it was walking along this largely uninterrupted path that I noticed the abundance of ripening fruit I mentioned above.
Having seen it then, of course I kept noticing it on shorter walks and in my garden. There are a couple of houses that have too many apples from their apple trees in St Germans. They put them in a bucket with sign saying ‘help yourself’. Honestly, a baked apple with a handful of blackberries thrown in, some sugar and served with cream is to die for. Gorgeous. Really quick in the air fryer if you have one.
Mid-August I did a similar walk with the intention of popping into the Halfway House at Polbathic for a few beers, supporting their beer festival. Well, it rained double the amount of the last walk. So sad that you can’t rely on British weather for outdoor events. Inside the pub, I stood there in the puddle I’d made on the floor from my wet clothes and manged a couple of delicious beers from the bar before heading home.
Holiday Break
We stayed at Trethurgy, near St Austell so we could take a longer visit to Mevagissey, Charlestown and Polkerris. Read my article: Visit Mevagissey.
We’ve been to Mevagissey and Charlestown a number of times, but we love going back and find that little bit more each time. I wanted to take my wife to Polkerris for the first time because I’ve been there a couple of times and fancied a meal at the Rashleigh Inn which is right on the beachfront.
Festival
Tunes in the Park is the big even of the year in St Germans. There have been festivals here on the Port Eliot estate since the 1980s. Does it show my age in saying I’ve been to nearly all of them? I guess it does.
We managed to get there on Friday and Sunday, but we had a family wedding on Saturday in Luton. It was a rather hectic weekend but very exciting and enjoyable.
Although it rained, it wasn’t persistent and didn’t ruin either of the events.
All in all, it’s been an eventful August, but PLEASE give us some sunshine next month.
