It’s just three days to go before we complete our entire coastal road trip! Today we are finishing off north Cornwall, driving alongside its famous golden sandy beaches, before we re-enter Devon as we drive towards Bideford.
Photo of the day
The sun setting as we headed down to Hartland Quay.
Holywell Bay
Long shadows in the early morning sun. We made our first stop of the day looping back from Newquay to the National Trust’s Holywell Beach.Walking past the sand dunes towards Carter’s Rocks (AKA Gull Rocks) off Penhale Point.Shells and their shadows scattered across Holywell Beach.
Crantock
The Gannel Estuary at Crantock Beach, beside Rushy Green.
Newquay
So it was a morning full of beaches… next stop the famous Fistral Beach, a surfers paradise, but none out this morning – yet.Views back across Newquay Bay from the cliffs above the curiously named Lusty Glaze Beach (The Times Beach of the Year 2017)……and the view north towards Bedruthan Steps and beyond to Trevose Head.
Watergate Bay
The wide open sands of Watergate Bay, as we headed along the scenic B3276 coastal road.A small plane flying overhead into nearby Newquay Airport.
Mawgan Porth
The River Menalhyl streaming down Mawgan Porth Beach.
Bedruthan
Peering over the Carnewas cliffs at Bedruthan.Dramatic views north past Pendarves Island, Queen Bess Rock, Diggory’s Island and Park Head. In the distance you can just about make-out Trevose Head Lighthouse.
Treyarnon Bay
Another beautiful empty beach west of Padstow at Treyarnon Bay.
Constantine Bay
The South West Coastal Path along Chair Cove, behind some rather expensive looking houses at Constantine Bay. Some locals walking a dog stopped to talk to us, and asked if we were bankers!?… it seemed many locals were!
Harlyn
We seemed to be the only people on Cornwall’s beaches this morning not walking a dog 😉
Padstow
A little alley in Padstow, AKA ‘Padstein’ after its famous local celebrity chef – Rick Stein.Small fishing boats lining the quay. Quiet at this time of year, but heaving with tourists in the summer.The coastal village of Rock, beyond the sandbank in the River Camel. We will drive past Rock as we continue northeast, but as we had been last year, we won’t stop this time.
Polzeath
Looping all the way around the River Camel, we made a brief stop to watch the surfers on Polzeath’s Beach.
Port Quin
Driving past The Rumps we stopped at the cosy Port Quin inlet, taken care of by the National Trust.
Port Isaac
Driving to Port Isaac we realised we were going to end up driving right through the tiny village. We had remembered the lanes were really narrow from our trip here last year, so re-routed to park at the top of the village and walk down.The TV series Doc Martin is filmed in Port Isaac. To be honest we have never watched Doc Martin so weren’t as excited as some visitors….Choppy waters at the mouth of Port Isaac looking towards Varley Head.Port Isaac Bay, with views northeast to Treknow.
St Teath
Catching another glimpse of Port Isaac Bay over the fields near St Teath.
Tintagel
Wow, what a perfect day to visit. Tintagel Castle is normally packed with tourists, today it was just us and a few seagulls. So if you want to avoid the crowds come on a Monday afternoon in November 😉The remains of the 13th century castle perched on the jagged slate cliffs.The castle had been built here by Earl Richard of Cornwall, believing it to be the birthplace of King Arthur.
Boscastle
Boscastle had been devastated by the flooding of the River Valency in 2002, but has since been lovingly restored.Fishing cottages down the cobbled Valency Row in Boscastle.
Widemouth
Widemouth Beach, popular with surfers, with Dizzard Point in the distance.The clouds were parting like a zip to reveal the blue sky above Widemouth Bay.
Bude
At last!…. beach huts again on Summerleaze Beach at Bude, we had been missing beach huts on this stretch of coast.The entrance to the Bude Canal. Started in the 1820s with the idea to link the English and Bristol Channels… however it didn’t get very far with the arrival of the railway later in the 19th century.Leaving Bude and heading along the Hartland Cornwall Heritage Coast towards Morwenstow, the view was dominated by the satellite dishes at GCHQ Bude.
Morwenstow
Before leaving Cornwall we stopped at Morwenstow, Cornwall’s northernmost point. We had intended to walk to the Hawker’s Hut along the cliffs. But a very muddy field was slowing our progress, we weren’t exactly sure we were on the right track, and light was fading fast. So we made do with the Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist across the fields.
Hartland Quay
On the way to Bideford, we made our final stop of the day at Hartland Quay. As we drove down the coastal track the sunset reflected beautifully off the car bonnet. Originally we had planned to also stop further along the coast at Clovelly, but it seems it was probably closed, and it would have been dark by then anyway. Oh well, we will leave Clovelly for another trip!
