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On a beach…welcome to manonabeach.com, where I’ll regularly add video of my beach visits, so you can enjoy a flavour of the beach, even when you’re not there.

Mousehole

Season: summer

The village was quiet for the time of year, although it was early in the day and the coaches hadn’t arrived. Mousehole looked spectacular, the low tide allowing the seasonal boats to settle on the sand. As businesses opened up, there was a chance to look beyond the harbour wall and out towards St Michael’s Mount as the Scillonian passed on its way to St Mary’s on Scilly.

With harbour master Edwin by the beach in Mousehole.

Alison explains the sheer pleasure of the beach and the sea water.

A tranquil morning at low tide in Mousehole.

Season: spring

The aftermath of a stormy, south easterly wind, generally bad news for Mousehole, was still evident, combined with a high tide during this visit. Waves were breaking over the harbour wall, but there was also bright sunshine. The harbour felt like a haven as I watched The Scillonian ferry being buffeted en route to Scilly.

With John, who explains the appeal of the beach and its natural inhabitants.

The inner harbour at Mousehole, with St Michael’s Mount framed by its entrance.

Season: winter

Mousehole is a fishing village in West Cornwall, located just beyond Newlyn. It is popular with visitors, yet also has a strong fishing tradition. I enjoyed excellent fish n’chips by the harbour during my night-time visit to see the Christmas lights. All the facilities you could want are close by the attractive harbour, including art galleries, gift shops, restaurants and cafes, as well as two pubs.

My chat with Peter, working to support the Mousehole Lights at the harbour.

Chatting to local man Dan about life in West Cornwall today.

The Christmas Lights at Mousehole in Penwith.

Season: autumn

The Scillonian III was preparing to leave Penzance harbour for St Marys, as I passed on my way to Mousehole in the dark. The “great white stomach churner” would have a smooth passage today, as it was a flat sea that I looked out onto from the harbour entrance at Mousehole. The village was just waking up, lights still flickering in the harbour side cottages and the first catches of the day being landed. The rising tide was still low, the fishing boats pulling on the taut, raised mooring ropes that attached them to the harbour wall from their hard standing on the beach.

The rhythms of fortune as a fisherman in Mousehole.

The village wakes up in the morning.

Season: winter

Some of the remaining Christmas lights were piled in disarray at the end of the harbour in Mousehole, due to the last round of heavy storms. This seasonal visit coincided with a break in the sustained period of rain and storm-force weather that was gripping the region. Although it was high tide, the waves were temporarily benign. Evidence of the destructive power of the sea was all around, from smashed benches to the broken storm boards that had been ripped from the mouth of the harbour.

The importance of home to Keith.

A break in the stormy weather at Mousehole.

Constantine Bay

Season: spring

The arrival at Constantine Bay can stop you in your tracks, such is the breathtaking natural beauty here. I particularly enjoy this beach at low tide. Not only does it reveal its arcing shape, but the wonder of freshly exposed rock pools and their contents are a real treat. This early morning visit during Easter week meant that Constantine Bay was relatively quiet, with a handful of surfers plying the clean sets of Atlantic breakers.

The beach as a place of fulfillment for Mike.

Season:winter

The recent storms had scooped vast tracts of sand from the back of the beach, exposing some previously buried electric cabling to the RNLI station by the entrance to the beach. The sun was shining and the low tide showed off Constantine Bay in all its glory. At the water’s edge benign breakers rolled in from the Atlantic, providing the therapeutic sound of the sea for weekending visitors.

The tonic of a visit to the beach for Steve and Annette.

Low tide at Constantine Bay in the winter sunshine.

Season: summer

Wild waves crashed onto the rocks and beach this morning. The weather was mild and windy, with families and walkers enjoying the ebb tide, some passing through between Harlyn and Treyarnon, or even Porthcothan, to enjoy a spectacular walk on the outstanding North Cornwall section of the South West Coast Path.

With Steve, who shares his thoughts about the beach and sea in the context of a life well lived.

Out on the rocks near to the sea.

Season: spring

Bright sunshine for this morning visit had brought early visitors out onto the beach. Constantine Bay looked splendid at low tide, welcoming and open to all. Seasonal concessions, selling coffee and renting surfboards, were up with the lark.

Geoff explains the tonic of daily beach visits.

Jill explains what the beach means to her.

The beach at Constantine Bay, seen from the sand dunes at low tide.

Season: autumn

This was a trip during the Indian summer of 2011 on a windy but sunny day. There’s an accessible car park with toilets at the end of the beach, but no shops at hand. The beach gets very busy during the summer season. It’s a beach that always seems to have a grander scale than its actual dimensions, feeling rather like Crantock or Watergate Bay when the weather is wild. Its off-season character is very different from the busy scene during the August school holidays. At this time of year local dog walkers and long-standing, regular visitors are the staple beach users and there’s an easy, rustic ambiance.

Meeting a Mum and her son who were visiting their home in the village; she clearly yearned to live here and he was glad to visit. Massive wolf hounds, as I remember.

My chat with Matthew at the car park just behind the beach.

Polly Joke beach

Season: autumn

A serious candidate for the most beautiful beach in Cornwall, Polly Joke is utterly unspoilt. Sitting round the headland from Crantock on the north coast, Porth Joke or Polly Joke has no development on its edges and looks as it always has throughout time. This visit was during the Indian summer of 2011 at low tide, when I caught it at its best. There is National Trust parking and access is a bit tricky, but it’s well worth the effort. It’s perhaps best to park next to the Bowgie Inn on the headland and walk round.

A wonderful testimony to Polly Joke, expressing the affection so many people have for this special beach.

Bright sunshine at Polly Joke beach, viewed from the path above.

Season: summer

A low tide greeted me at Polly Joke. The arresting beauty here never alters, but its nuances are ever changing. Today the warm breeze and bright sunshine highlighted the paler colours in the granite headlands on either side of the beach. Seasonal visitors were surfing and sunbathing and there was room for everyone.

Vanessa emerges from the sea, featured here with her son Henry.

With Jason, by the water’s edge.

Season: spring

This is a magical beach at any time, but I recommend catching it in the morning at low tide, as was the case on this occasion. Springtime wild flowers were starting to deck West Pentire’s hillsides, the rare cowslips, bluebells and primroses mingling with the cliff-side sea pink. The beach was deserted and is undeveloped, invoking a sense of timelessness in the visitor. Polly Joke is a wild inspiration, a real tonic in a complicated world.

Part of Pete’s routine in a stunning setting.

A view of Polly Joke from West Pentire.

Down on the beach.

Season: autumn

The beach was quiet and tranquil, with just the sound of the birds and the distant sea, as I walked down from West Pentire past the fallow poppy fields. On mornings like this, you can lose yourself in the beauty completely. Polly Joke is pristine, its timeless nature intoxicating. You get to the water’s edge and have to remind yourself how and when you got there, most odd and satisfying.

Part of Elaine’s and Jane’s routine through time.

Looking down on a wonderful beach in the morning.

Season: summer

This spectacular beach is one of the most viewed in the manonabeach® series, reflecting people’s deep affection for it and the surrounding countryside. At low tide, a long band of sand leads back from the water’s edge to the dunes and the fields beyond. You can stand in the middle of Polly Joke beach and turn a full circle, without seeing any sign of human development. There are magnificent walks in both directions from this beach, plus wildlife to enjoy throughout the year, as well as wild flowers during this spring and early summer season.

With Christine at Polly Joke beach.

By the water’s edge at low tide.

Season: winter

Polly Joke is an unspoilt inlet on the other side of West Pentire from the expansive Crantock beach. If you’re heading this way in late Spring or early Summer, I’d advise approaching Polly Joke from West Pentire to see the spectacular wild flowers that are being encouraged by the National Trust’s Arable Fields Project. The lime-rich grassland is a haven for poppies and marigolds.

The beach at dawn.

Seals feeding off the rocks at Polly Joke.

The beach after the tide has receded and the day has begun,