david@thewrightline.com

After a long lazy loop through Boscastle, PoE8 takes a tight circle to the top of Rusey Cliff and returns via Beeny. The eight bursts with literary reference. Thomas Hardy wote A Pair of Blue Eyes after visiting Boscastle as a trainee architect to repair the steeple of nearby St. Juliot's Church. He later married Emma Gifford, a resident of St. Juliot's.

The eight runs alongside the Valency River, which catastrophically broke its banks during the afternoon of 16 August 2004. The valley scars are healing. Occasional hints of help with this process in the form of stone piles and triangulated structures torn from nearby trees are evident. The rebuilt village bustles in summertime with visitors.

Beyond the erstwhile port lies Beeny - a cliff beloved by Hardy.

Loop b is short and envigorating with some tarmac and a rutted track leading to Rusey Cliff. A field of cows reaches to the brink of Buckator from the foot of which Gull Rock breaks the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

curzy worzy wall

Curzy wurzy wall

bay

Bay