Author Archives: manonabeach

About manonabeach

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.

Polstreath beach

Season: summer

A hazy, still morning greeted me at Polstreath beach, which sits just over the hill to the north of Mevagissey. The low tide afforded a view from the water’s edge of the old lighthouse on the end of Mevagissey harbour, with the idyllic Chapel Point and its little houses behind. The steep descent to the beach here is not for the faint-hearted, but this fact, combined with the high cliffs and easterly aspect in the morning, make this beach feel other-worldly, a haven of tranquility in a busy world.

Scottish visitor Zack enjoys this beach and a favourite pastime here.

A beautiful beach in the morning, seen from above.

Season: spring

Bright sunshine greeted me as I walked from Mevagissey to Polstreath. The tide was in and fishing boats were crossing the bay as I looked across from the steep steps down to the beach. This is a little known, isolated spot, nestled quietly under the cliffs, with views across to Fowey in one direction and towards Chapel Point via Mevagissey to the south.

With Des and Ruth above Polstreath beach on the South West Coast Path.

The beach, viewed from the steep steps down to it.

By the water at Polstreath beach.

Season: autumn

It was a sunny Sunday morning and the beach was deserted. There are a hundred and fifty four steep steps down to the beach by the main steps, so you need to be nimble and fit. The reward is peace and quiet, plus a wonderful view across St Austell Bay. The beach is located just to the north of Mevagissey and most people walk up from Mevagissey via a steep pathway at the north end of the harbour.

A chat with Mick and Fat Jack above Polstreath beach.

A timeless tranquility, down by the sea.

Bedruthan Steps beach

Season: spring

Imagine waking from your favourite dream and finding yourself standing there in real time. If I were you, I would wake up at this beach on this morning, exactly as you see in the scene setting film below.

Simon explains what the beach means to him.

As good as it gets.

Season: summer

This wild and elemental beach is a spring to autumn treat, considered to be too dangerous to access through the winter months. As a result, it’s always popular when open, with parking provided by The National Trust. The best access is via their Carnewas car park, which has a tearoom. After the steep climb down, you’re greeted by unblemished nature. The best time for a visit is at low tide, when you can enjoy the exposed sea stacks and gaze in awe at the wide difference here between low and high tide.

Stefan and Jo’s landmark elemental association with beaches.

Wild nature at Bedruthan Steps in North Cornwall.

Season: summer

This evening visit at low tide showed off the sand patterns and eddies. The sea was alive and people were enjoying the release of being out in the elements.

With Alison, Hannah and Kevin in the teeth of the sea and wild nature.

Season: autumn

From an autumnal point of view, Bedruthan Steps beach is only accessible up to the end of October. This visit was on the day before it closed. The weather was beautiful towards low tide, which is the only time you can get down there (+- 2 hours either side). The beach is highly atmospheric, with spherical white quartz pebbles and stones fashioned and churned up in the far back corner. There are many granite intrusions on the beach. I also filmed a sea stack which showed the eighteen feet difference between high and low tide, marked with lines of mussels.

Bedruthan Steps beach, as seen from above at low tide.

Evidence of the wide tidal range on Cornwall’s coastline.

A wide expanse of beach and sand.

The rocks by the water at Bedruthan Steps.

Here are two walkers at Bedruthan Steps. They were both much traveled. He had spent a lot of time fell walking and mountaineering in the Lake District. He was not the first person to tell me that there is nowhere in England with beaches like the north coast of Cornwall. There’s also an interesting Northern European insight from his partner.

Falmouth Harbour

Season: autumn

Between 1689 and the middle of the 19th Century, all international mail sent to and from Britain passed through this small inner harbour at Falmouth, before the age of steam took the trade away. Outbound mail came from London, first by horse and then by mail coach. It was then transported on packet ships, chartered by the Post Office. Inbound mail would include vital and often secret intelligence. On this occasion, the low tide revealed the full length of the fixed ladders used to come ashore at Custom House Quay. In its heyday, three thousand ships a year passed through Falmouth. Now it’s a leisure port, busy in a new and different way.

Emma and Matt appreciate the changing nature of the harbour.

The inner harbour at Falmouth in the morning light.

Season: summer

The inner harbour at Falmouth resonates with history. Since the late 17th Century, jolly boats have brought sea captains ashore here from the big ships in the outer harbour and Carrick Roads. Here is the harbour master’s office, the Custom House with its “King’s Pipe”, used to burn contraband tobacco, plus the Quayside Inn and Chain Locker pub, right by the quayside. It could have inspired many a scene from Patrick O’ Brian’s Aubrey / Maturin series of historical novels.

Heidi’s family values at the beach.

Julian’s wary attitude to the beach.

The inner harbour in Falmouth, a historical timepiece.

Season: spring

A bright, clear morning lit the high tide at Falmouth’s old inner harbour, reflecting the Chain Locker and other buildings on Custom House Quay. If you were to look across the water to Flushing, via the outer harbour moorings, you might sense a seasonal change, the morning mild and full of promise.

Alan’s guide to Falmouth’s beaches.

The harbour at Falmouth in the morning.

Season: spring

The dawn light on the harbour at Falmouth caught the high tide at Custom House Quay. Gulls were circling territorially and the town was waking up. I met and was sketched by illustrator Derek, by the National Maritime Museum. Falmouth is often a sailor’s first landfall from the Western Approaches and the world beyond. It benefits from the constant ebb and flow of visitors at its harbour and town.

The inner harbour in Falmouth at dawn.

With visiting illustrator Derek, in Falmouth for a conference.

Season: winter

A night-time visit to manonabeach®’s favourite town in Cornwall. Falmouth and Penryn are now a hub for young, creative talent in the county, since many students from Falmouth University are choosing to stay on and set up businesses in this area. The town is cosmopolitan and vibrant, with a thriving docks, a marina and a new media community.

A chat with Amy outside the Chain Locker pub by the old harbour in Falmouth.