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.