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Thursday 1 August 2013

Life: Pednevounder beach - is this the best beach in Cornwall?

I absolutely LOVE Cornwall. I generally think of myself as being well travelled, but out of all the places I've been, Cornwall is still my favourite.

I couldn't resist making this cheeky yoga pose
It's so quintessentially English - full of cream teas, high hedge-rowed narrow lanes, and honestly, when the sun's shining, there's no where else I'd rather be.

It helps that I've been going to Cornwall my whole life and must have been at least 15 times.

I adore camping - I usually frequent the aptly named South Winds campsite in Polzeath. But however tempting it is to return to what you know and I love, I thought that this time it would be good to explore a part of Cornwall I know far less well - Land's End.

I've been to this part of Cornwall once before when I was kid and I stayed on a campsite in Treen. I remembered very distinctly that there was an absolutely gorgeous beach at the base of the cliffs there so Martin and I parked the car at Treen car park and eagerly set off to find the beach.

There were two things I remembered about this beach from my childhood: 1) it's a long walk to the beach 2) you have to do a mini abseil to actually access the beach at the very end of the coast path.

Unfortunately, I forgot that you have to turn right out of the car park. We turned left and ended up doing an hour walk the wrong way to Penberth where there was a stream complete with stepping stones.


Doh! Luckily, this area really is gorgeous so it wasn't too much of a hardship. Martin was less sure as he was left with lugging our huge beach bag around.

I took the opportunity to take some photos of the heather.


Anyhow, after asking some kind walkers, we were eventually on the right track. The beach is about 30 minutes from the car park (if you don't get lost!)

It's a pretty steep approach so wear sensible footwear and don't take too much!


But wow, what a reward when you finally get there - a stunning unspoilt cove - Pednevounder beach. I promise I haven't added any kind of filter to these photos.



It never gets overly busy as it's such a mission to get there. The other thing is that the people tend to be lovely. I have this thing where I really like the people you get on campsites and now Pednevounder beach. Both activities require a fair amount of effort and good manners e.g. not making too much noise and mess on the campsite and being very courteous on the narrow cliff path.

The end result is that the people on campsites and Pednevounder beach tend to be thoughtful and respectful i.e. no litter dropping. I'm such an old woman, but I really hate that - that and bad manners.

One thing I ought to add is that Pednevounder beach is a naturists beach. If that's not your thing, don't worry, there are way more swimming costume clad people and the naturists keep themselves to themselves.

Can you spot the naked people?
The reef's really shallow too so you end up with a sort of lagoon which is beautifully warm. Just watch out for the occasional jelly fish.




Although we took our wetsuits (which I hate wearing) - we didn't need them - the sea was lovely and warm.

We had so much fun jumping in the waves, I just wish I'd thought to bring my body board.

We spent all day lazing on the beach before leaving at 5pm and making the trek back up the cliff with the stunning view accompanying us all the way.


Have you ever been to Cornwall? Where do you stay? What's your favourite beach? 

1 comment:

  1. I used to go to Devon or Cornwall almost every year as a child with my family, but I haven't been for years now and my memory is so useless I can hardly remember it. But I think I should visit again sometime. It looks stunning in these photos! It must be great when the weather is so nice too.

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