Virginia Trail to The Lighthouse

I'm going for a 6 hour walk today.

I live in the very far south west tip of England:





I shall get the train to HAYLE and walk along the coast to ST AGNES to see my folks. I guess it is about 16 or 17 miles walking along the coast from Hayle to St Agnes.

On the way I shall see this:


HAYLE TOWN

And walk along a three mile stretch of this:



I will go passed Godrevy Lighthouse which is the Lighthouse that inspired Virginia Woolf's "To The Lighthouse". Virginia used to as a child have her Summer holidays at St Ives. Here is Godrevy Lighthouse:



Here a picture of beautiful Virginia Woolf:



My destination is St Agnes where my folks live. I grew up in part here:



I will pass a few of these old Engine Houses from the days of tin mining that are scattered everywhere, even on the coast. This is one near to St Agnes that I shall pass:



My walk is a pilgrimage to pay homage to Virginia Woolf. I have just bought her book "To The Lighthouse". It is on my list and I want to feel the vibes of it. Virginia, like me, had some mental health issues and unfortunately took her own life when she was 59. I am 50 now. My ex wife was a very clever artist and writer, too. She took her own life when she was 48. I am determined to SURVIVE!

I love walking. It is so beautiful and meditative. It is very healthy for us, good for our skin and cardio vascular respiratory systems. Also, I had to take some short term medication for my bipolar. I only needed to take it for a couple of days to chill me out. This is the best way for me to deal coming back up from it. I get an enormous amount of energy sometimes.

I made a new Deep House music track, finished yesterday. I entitled it "Dizzy Panned" after the "Diazepam". Yes, music and nature are my simple life. For my walk all I need is a hunk of bread and a bottle of water. Here is my track on Soundcloud:

Dizzy Panned by Autorhythmix


"I said "I ain't got no money"
He said "That ain't necessary""
(Bob Dylan "Isis")

In sweet loving memory of the genius writer Virginia Woolf and my ex wife Octavia:

Virginia Woolf (Wikipedia)

We stayed in hayle and st.ives every summer for 20 years. Ive not been for atleast 10 years but my family who now have there own familys all go there same every summer. Running down the sand dunes on hayle beach was always good fun

Have a nice walk

a reply to: Revolution9

It looks like that will be a lovely trip. I think I may would get stuck on the beach awhile, what a beautiful view.
I hope you find it helps to reinforce/renew your determination to survive.

Such a beautiful walk. Enjoy!

Have you ever made such a long walk before?

Although the premise of the walk being dedicated to Virginia Woolf sounds nice, please prepare yourself accordingly.

Tell your family that you will be walking this distance, have some cash on you in case you need to get a bite to eat...other than your chunk of bread.
This walk is the equivalent to a long distance marathon.

Why stop at st.agnes few more miles and you can enjoy the lovely Perranporth. I use to go there every year to surf it was our families place to go to for a break in October. Sad to say things have happened to me in life that I feel a little uncomfy going back there too many good memories of my childhood going there with my brothers, mum and dad. Sadly my mother passed away a few years back, to go back to Perran would bring those memories back. When you lose someone close yes the memories are great but it can also prevent healing of the loss of a loved one. It's just a little too touching for me at the minute. Either way I will go back there soon

Hope you enjoy your walk, I'm off to Scotland next weekend for some trekking and walking

a reply to: Revolution9

Don’t carry any stones in your pockets and you should be all right.

Don't forget a towel.

originally posted by: Phage
Don't forget a towel.

He's hiking, not hitchhiking

originally posted by: Macenroe82
Have you ever made such a long walk before?

Although the premise of the walk being dedicated to Virginia Woolf sounds nice, please prepare yourself accordingly.

Tell your family that you will be walking this distance, have some cash on you in case you need to get a bite to eat...other than your chunk of bread.
This walk is the equivalent to a long distance marathon.

Lol, I have walked hundreds of miles before. I have done 300 mile cycling trips. This is a stroll to the garden gate, my friend.

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker
Why stop at st.agnes few more miles and you can enjoy the lovely Perranporth. I use to go there every year to surf it was our families place to go to for a break in October. Sad to say things have happened to me in life that I feel a little uncomfy going back there too many good memories of my childhood going there with my brothers, mum and dad. Sadly my mother passed away a few years back, to go back to Perran would bring those memories back. When you lose someone close yes the memories are great but it can also prevent healing of the loss of a loved one. It's just a little too touching for me at the minute. Either way I will go back there soon

Hope you enjoy your walk, I'm off to Scotland next weekend for some trekking and walking

Yes, I was brough up in St Agnes and used to go to Perran' all the time.

Lol, Cornwall is land of The Saints.

originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: Revolution9

Don’t carry any stones in your pockets and you should be all right.

That's right. You know it.

a reply to: Revolution9

I did my walk. I was very poorly on the way. I had only been sleeping such short hours and it was tough going, all those ravines, up and down headlands for twenty miles.

I had decided upon the adventure angle of my walk. It was a very moody experience.

Reaching Godrevy was very solomn. When an intelligent person takes their life it is as much to do with confusion and misplaced feelings, misunderstandings as sadness. For Virginia it was like she was being altruistic by doing it. Of course, it destroyed her partner, family and friends to lose her this way:

Dearest, I feel certain I am going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don’t think two people could have been happier till this terrible disease came. I can’t fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can’t even write this properly. I can’t read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that – everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can’t go on spoiling your life any longer. I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been.

I passed Hell's Mouth, just passed Godrevy, "The Lighthouse". It is a popular suicide spot and has signs on the barriers to the cliff edge like this:



A friend of mine jumped from the cliffs, up near Perranporth. He was an older man, formerly a university lecturer, and he had some mental health difficulties and the medication plus social stigma of it led him to suicide. They never found his body. The ocean swallowed him up; just found his abandoned car on the cliffs. Yes, I have had my fill of suicides around me and they had better lives than me. I have less immediate family, partner support and resources.

At Godrevy there is a seal colony (quite rare for Britain these days). I watched them floundering in the huge angry surf and it was easy to see what nature intends; SURVIVAL at all costs;



Further up the coast I saw a Peregrine Falcon hunting, very close; quite rare to see one so closely. The following video is not mine, but it shows the experience I had of this bird of prey:



How interesting that my walk became so visionary. Of course it is my mind making it so, but all the props were there; all the images and correspondences.

No doubt, nature means us to survive all the way. Seeing the seals and the Peregrine was clear evidence of that. Yet we humans let out brains play awful tricks on us. We become deluded that the world would be better off without us and that we are a burden. If one of us is a burden then so are all of us.

I am left with aching legs today and an image of a fierce hunter who's every move is dedicated to self preservation. Yes, it was a good vision and worth stretching my legs for.

Thank you all for the replies. You are fun. Sorry I was not around yesterday, but I read the replies today and gave you all stars for bothering.