Season: spring Traigh Hornais lies just south of Traigh Lingeigh and shares its view of the mountains of Harris, as well as its backdrop of protected machair, resplendent in wild flowers during the summer. The shallow water is ideal for snorkeling and other water sports, but this is an ideal location in which to kick back […]
Season: winter A high tide and a pale winter sun greeted me for this visit. Across the bay Gull Rock and the Nare Head were clearly visible, as was the beautiful Porthcurnick beach. Portscatho’s harbour, known as The Porth, is sheltered and picturesque, particularly on a high tide. If you walk along the harbour wall […]
Season: summer A fine bright morning was the order of the day at Old Hunstanton. The tide was out and just along the coast an enormous fender, dwarfing an attendant Coastguard vehicle, had washed up on Thornham beach overnight, a reminder of the power of the sea and the currents in The Wash and the […]
Season: winter This return to Restronguet Passage coincided with a peaceful morning in February. The sea was like glass and birdsong was all around. The scenery is exceptional here, bestowing a particular charm in the early morning before most people are out and about. The popularity of this part of Cornwall makes an off-season visit even […]
Season: autumn A flat calm Helford estuary greeted me for this morning visit in autumn. The tide was falling and the sun glowed silver over the entrance to Falmouth Bay. There’s always a tranquility to this south-facing beach, generally populated by just the ferry that crosses to the southern bank of the river. Autumn visit photo […]
Season: winter Although it is the second smallest of the St Ives beaches and a safe place to swim, Porthgwidden can be a feisty proposition on a rising tide, the unexpected “seventh wave” often creeping further up the beach than an unwary visitor expects. It’s enclosed by rocky headlands on both sides, so waves seem to […]
Spring extra photo gallery Season: winter A rising tide was bringing in more kelp to Porthcurnick beach, a natural legacy of the recent storms that had gripped Cornwall’s coast. The benign conditions made a walk by the water a sheer pleasure, with gentle waves lapping against an unspoilt shore. The bright, low winter sun lit […]
Season: winter Carne beach always looks spectacular at low tide, as was the case on this occasion. Dawn light was emerging behind the Nare Head in the east and a falling tide left a sheen on the pristine beach. This is a flat beach, which increases the sense of space, but there are plenty of rock […]
Season: winter Recent storms that coincided with spring tides and an onshore wind had scattered kelp and other marine debris over the beach at Readymoney Cove for this winter visit. Several of the many visitors to Fowey gazed out to the open estuary from the beach, as people have done for countless generations. While the […]
Season: winter The river was in spate at Lostwithiel for this winter visit. Recent storms had coincided with spring tides and an onshore wind further down the River Fowey. Up here, debris had been washed down from the waterlogged fields. While the busy town enjoyed extra weekend visitors, a bench by the old bridge was […]
Season: autumn The bright sunshine led me away from the harbour to the beach at Charlestown this morning. An ebb tide had left a pristine beach in its wake, with clear rock pools and glistening rocks exposed as the sea fell away. The sun had risen in the east, throwing bright lines out behind the masts […]
