The holiday started at 5pm in the lounge of the very comfortable Chy-an-Albany Hotel in St Ives from where there were gorgeous views over Porthminster beach and St Ives Bay.

The weather was very warm and sunny, feeling more like July than April so we were full of hope that it would continue.

The eleven guests had travelled from as far afield as Dublin, Dundee, Manchester, London and Brighton.

We enjoyed a delicious meal in the hotel dining room and most went early to bed after their day of travelling to West Cornwall.

The first day's walk started with a circuit of St Ives itself including a walk around the 'island' (not really an island but a rocky headland) during which we saw our first seal!

This was fascinating because the seal had a huge fish in its mouth and was having great difficulty in manoeuvring the fish in order to swallow it. We watched for several minutes until the fish was finally eaten.

We all agreed that it was a great start to the walks, in addition to the fact that it was another lovely sunny day (so good that shorts were worn!).

We passed the 4 lovely sandy beaches of St Ives itself - Porthmeor, Porthgwidden, Harbour beach and Porthminster, before setting off via Carbis Bay on the coast path towards Lelant.

We stopped for lunch on Porthkidney Sands and completed the circular walk back to the hotel by mid-afternoon - leaving the group time to take it easy or explore some more on their own.

We set off on yet another gorgeous sunny morning to walk the coast path westwards but we'd only just left the hotel when several women dashed off into the bookies!

This was because it was Grand National day and one guest had a cousin who was one of the jockeys in the race.

When bets had been placed we set off along the wild, rugged, granite-strewn coastline to the west of St Ives.

We stopped at River Cove for our picnic lunch and again one of the highlights was that we saw 18 seals in the cove - some lying on the rocks and some in the sea, including babies.

We then walked up the lovely Trevail valley with its moss-covered boulders and trees and banks of violets.

Halfway up the valley is a cattle-grid with a little 'hedgehog ladder' - to allow hedgehogs to climb back up if they fall in!

At the top there are views of the atmospheric Penwith moorland scenery.

Turning back towards St Ives on the inland stretch we crossed over many of the tiny fields which are remains of prehistoric field systems, and climbed over 22 stiles, eventually completing the circle back to the coast path and into St Ives.

We got back to the hotel just in time to watch the Grand National - no significant wins unfortunately!

On yet another fabulous sunny day we were collected by the most excellent DJ cars (who gave us such good service over the next few days) and taken to Penberth which is a little fishing cove owned by the National Trust.

Seven of us started the walk here while the other five were taken on to the Minack theatre at Porthcurno so that they could explore this unique open-air theatre on the cliffs for an hour before meeting up with the rest of the group.

There was a bit of drama as we walked near Treen beach where there had been a report of someone stuck on a sand-bar on a rising tide and the coastguards were out searching (all ended happily).

The sea today was a particularly beautiful shade of turquoise, especially at Porthcurno where we all met up to continue the walk to Sennen Cove via Lands End.

We had our first lunch stop on the white sand at Porthgwarra and then continued via Nanjizal with its unusual rock and caves.

Again we saw seals (everyone a little blasé about them by now) and watched birds of prey (kestrels, buzzards).

The granite cliffs here are spectacular and this is a most outstanding walk.

We could see the Scilly Isles on the horizon as it was so clear. Some women were quite sunburnt/tanned.

On reaching Sennen Cove we headed for a café and a well-deserved rest!

Today was a 'day off'. Everyone went off to do their own thing, some staying in St Ives to visit the Tate gallery, Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, other small galleries and shops - and to have a special lunch at the Porthminster Beach café.

Others went for a day trip to the Scilly Isles, flying on the small plane from Lands End airport.

Others went to the Lost Gardens Sof Heligan for the day. This was the only day of rain of the whole holiday. (Sorry, no group photos - but do send us any that you took that day for us to add here!)

Today was a bright sunny day but with a brisk wind which made the sea lively and choppy - a different feel from the other, calmer days. We walked from Porthleven to Mullion Cove.

Leaving the little port of Porthleven with its fishing harbour we soon came to the Loe Bar.

This is a sand bar which divides the Loe Pool, a large freshwater lake, from the sea.

The sand bar has its own flora and fauna - and we soon had evidence of this as we talked to a cameraman who was filming a programme about a moth which is only found in this one geographical location.

We stopped for a break by the old pilchard cellars at Gunwalloe (Cornwall once having had a thriving pilchard trade) and then went on to Church cove where we sat on the beach and had our lunch.

Then we went onwards via the lovely Poldhu and Polurrian beaches to Mullion cove where unfortunately we found the café closed!

So we were forced to walk up the hill towards Mullion village to the Trenance chocolate factory where we were able to have tea, cake, and chocolate!

Today was probably the warmest and sunniest day of the week so far (unfortunately one guest wasn't able to walk today because her skin wasn't coping with all this sun!) and we all had to use copious amounts of sun cream.

We started the walk on the south coast at Tremearne (which is between Rinsey Head and Porthleven) and walked to Marazion (close to St Michael's Mount).

The first part of the walk was on the high granite cliffs where there are some stunning engine houses/chimneys - the remains of the tin and copper mines which are so characteristic of Cornwall.

We had seen wonderful spring flowers on all our walks but today was probably the best - bright yellow gorse, white blackthorn blossom, violets, sea squill, bluebells, primroses, vetch, stitchwort.

We descended from the high cliffs to Praa sands where we walked the whole length of the beach and watched horses being ridden along the shore-line.

We sat on the sand and ate our lunch then continued on more moderate or gentle terrain, past Prussia cove (renowned for smuggling in the past).

Prussia Cove was a treat with its picturesque little fishermen's huts, Kenneggy sands, Perranuthnoe and into Marazion with the view of St Michael's Mount ahead of us for the last few miles.

We managed to fit in a quick café visit before the trusty DJ cars collected us.

Today dawned cloudy and damp and most guests had long journeys ahead and were leaving in the morning.

The two who were staying in St Ives for the morning decided to spend more time in the town rather than do the last walk.

So everyone went home with a definite sun tan and a memory of 5 sunny walks.