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Beach at Mawgan Port
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I'm feeling really excited about the walk today. Despite over fifty years of visiting Cornwall I have never walked the South West Coast Path between Mawgan Porth as far as Treyarnon Bay. The sun is shining and there are beautiful blue skies all around. I have been dropped off at the car park in MP, and it is time to get going!
Everything is set fair perfectly. The only unknown is whether my knee will hold up? The Operation was less and a month ago, and knee still quite swollen. The Consultant advised me to take things steady. The beach at MP looks massive with the tide out (Low tide) The path on the other cliff looks very imposing, as it rises through the gorse. Thats another leg I will need to do at some point as far as Watergate Bay. But thats all for another day, time to focus on this particular walk.
The views looking towards 'Park Head' are dramatic, the breakers are rolling in as we head towards the famous 'Bedruthan Steps'. Unfortunately access to the beach is now closed off following a significant rock fall. However I ddid see several people down on the beach. They mist have found another access point as the gate is securely locked.It would have been great to get down again. I remember as a child being quite intimidated by the massive rock stacks.
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The name Bedruthan Steps is said to be taken from a mythological giant
called Bedruthan, who used the rocks (stacks) on the beach as stepping
stones. However it has been de-bunked as a late-19th-century invention for Victorian tourists. Each of the stacks has a name and from north to south they are Queen
Bess, Samaritan Island, Redcove Island, Pendarves Island, and Carnewas
Island. Queen Bess rock was so named as it was supposed to resemble the
outline ofQueen Elizabeth I.Sadly the head was lost after a storm in 1981. Samaritan Island is named after a ship the Good Samaritan, which was wrecked there in October 1846 with the loss of nine lives.
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Porthcothan Beach
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Close to Diggory's Island there is a potential route down to the beach. However a prominent sign warns of being cut off by the tide. It is currently a 'Spring tide' meaning it will be coming in quickly. Not to mention the path ending in a sudden drop and loose rock.. Not quite what my knee Consultant had envisaged. For once I opted for common sense and continued on my way. The path winds inwards close to Porth Mear, dropping down to shore level. It then climbs again as we approach Porthcothan Beach.Once again despite being narrowit looks a huge expanse of sand. At low tide it opens out to join with small coves to the north and south.
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At high tide the beach is sheltered from swells and winds by the hig craggy cliffs. Both the beach and the clifftop fields nearby were the location for filming of the TVseries Poldark. Especially the scenes with Ross riding his horse.There are plenty of surfers down below enjoying some decent waves. There are also quite a few walkers enjoying the early Autumn sunshine. It really is glorious. Like Mawgan Porth it is another beach that despite coming to Cornwall for well over 55 years I have few memories of. I'm sure we would have come here as a family when I was a young child. It is a shame because they are both absolutely stunning.
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First view of Treyarnon Bay
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Treyarnon Bay will always be a special place for me. I feel quite emotional, as I pay homage to the little caravan site we always stayed on as a family. How could things have turned so sour? Such happy memories of a time when things were more carefree. At least they feel that way now, perhaps they weren't? Different times, something I looked forward to for months. That first sighting of the sea was a special moment. I feel it strongly, a head full of memories a young family run excitedly through the gap in the Tamarind hedge. The same gap I would have passed through before they were even born. It's quite a realisation and I feel old. Another couple sit outside their caravan. They look at me slightly susspiciously. If they were to question me I would tell them, I felt the need in that moment to let everything out.Instead I give a brief nod of the head and make my exit.
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A perfect viewpoint
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It's good to see the natural swimming pool at Tryarnon Bay. I earnt myself 50p as a youngster swimming the length of it. It felt like the size of an Olynpic swimming pool at the time. The stretch of headland between Treyarnon and Constantine is something to behold. A walk I've made probably a hundred times or more maybe? The bench as you approach Constantine is very special indeed. Look to your right and you see the stretch of golden sand an the rock pools. To your left and you have the roaring ocean and all its glory. I could sit for hours! Tempting as it might be I continue across the sands towards Boobys Bay.
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Lifeboat Station Mother Ivey's Bay
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I take a slight detour to Mother Ivey's Bay, rather than continue to Trevose Head Lighthouse. I will circle back that way instead. Another nice bench on the headland , this time I do take advantage for a brief rest on the East side of the headland. The name Mother Ivey's Bay first appeared in 1870 and is named after a local wisewoman and White Witch.
Padstow Lifeboat Station has been based at Trevose Head since 1967 It is run by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Before that it was at Hawker's Cove on the Camel estuary.
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Trevose Head looking back to Constantine
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The Lighthouse loop completed, I track back towards Constantine Bay. This has to be one of my favourite places to spend time.Talking of time, It's time for the boots to come off. I paddle the length of the bay and it feels wonderful. It's coming towards the end of the walk sadly. A distance of 12 miles has been covered and I've loved every second of it. At times the emotions have been stirred, but that can be a good thing. All that remains is to walk up the lane at Constantine and catch up with Marina who is giving me a lift back to Newquay. You didn't think I was walking back did you ?
