St Mawes is a harbour town encountered during Ray and Moth’s long coastal walk, where the practical cost of continuing becomes inseparable from the route itself. They cut their food rations to afford the ferry, then wait for another crossing from the town to Place Creek; once on the opposite shore, they disappear into the trees, feeling more at home in undergrowth than in the street.

Arrival and the cost of passage

The crossing to St Mawes is not a simple matter of following the path. After walking away from a ferry, Ray and Moth linger around the harbour in search of a private boat, but find none. They return to town and buy four days’ worth of noodles, reducing their food provisions so they can afford the ferry. The choice makes the journey’s economy tangible: a crossing is both a way forward and an expense that changes what they can eat in the days ahead.

The town and the onward crossing

St Mawes is described in a rush of cream teas and wasps, while the wait for the connecting ferry to Place Creek seems interminable. The brief stop has the bustle of a visitor destination, but Ray and Moth’s attention is fixed on getting across and finding somewhere to continue. When they land on the opposite shore, they head straight into the trees, compared to rabbits vanishing into brambles. Their relief at leaving the street for cover makes the surrounding vegetation feel less like scenery than a more secure setting for their unsettled life.

A waypoint in a precarious journey

St Mawes belongs to a journey in which movement is at once chosen and constrained. Earlier, after losing their home, Ray and Moth had stood with their packs on the roadside, with no door to return to; the walk offered a reason to keep moving and a way to shape a future. Later, amid rain and uncertainty about what would happen when the walking ended, the familiar routine of packing the tent and setting out still gave the days a measure of security. The ferry stop at St Mawes concentrates that tension into an ordinary decision: they can proceed, but only by spending scarce money and adjusting their provisions.

The location’s significance lies in this small sequence rather than in a lasting change to the town itself. A failed search for private passage leads to rationing, a paid crossing, a wait among the crowds, and a retreat into the trees. St Mawes is a threshold on the route: onward travel depends on practical choices, while the opposite shore offers the immediate comfort of moving out of public view and back into the landscape.