Mermaid Mirror... Beach-combing treasures and the Perfect Beaches of Porthcurno and Pedn Vounder!

Pedn-Vounder beach, near Porthcurno...

 Spring is on its way here again; quite a feat this year as many of the plants didn’t make it through the harsh winter weather as temperatures here regularly fell to below 10°C. Nevertheless the determined daffodil blades and revived pansies flowering again after the permafrost of late January point to a gradual change in season. While the cold, steely skies were still setting the mood a few weeks ago I started to make another mermaid mirror in order to think of brighter horizons and warmer atmospheres; the summer, in short, but not just anywhere! 
These shells I picked up from the beaches around and about the Penzance region last year.

Some come from the most unassuming beaches (I don’t know how far Battery Rocks in PZ could really be called a beach, despite its pebbles and swimming point), and truly appear to be small, unexpected treasures... 
 Others come from far more spectacular, scenic parts of the coast.

Mirror, mirror on the wall - sadly not the most photogenic of them all...

Most of the ones here (barring the much bigger ones which must have come from exotic destinations very far-removed from Cornwall) were found on the coves around Porthcurno. 
Porthcurno, from the Cornish Porth Kernow – ‘Port of Cornwall’ is approximately 14km from Penzance and then about 4.5km from Land’s End - the latter being the most extreme point of the British mainland. Accessible by winding country roads that are fantastic to ride down by bike (and a nightmare to ride back up again), and maybe even more breath-taking by bus and nerve-racking around the narrow bends, Porthcurno and the surrounding area offer incredible views of the coastland, cliffs and sea.

Burning bright Montbretia...

  From the top of the cliffs where the Minack Theatre is carved from granite, partially into the very stones themselves, you can look over Porthcurno and the string of other coves that lead towards Logan Rock, along the Treen cliffs. Radiant in summer and dramatic in winter it truly deserves its nomination as one of the most beautiful bays in the world. 

 Walking from the tiny village of Treen, along the South West Coastal Footpath through fields and farmland and then tracing a sometimes perilous path along the cliffs, before finally descending through wooded land you experience Porthcurno in all its glory. Taking this route, as opposed to going straight to the Porthcurno valley itself and then parking in the large carpark there means that you manage to reach destination whilst maintaining the magical, natural feel of the area and somehow don't seem to notice the many other visitors and the facilities set out for tourists and local inhabitants.

 Passing the beautiful Pedn Vounder beach along the coastal path, with its tantalizing stretch of golden sand and turquoise sea, and its racy reputation as a naturist site I had always wondered how people managed to scale and scrabble their way there unscathed. This time we went down ourselves, but with great trepidation, on my part at least, because although no one else seemed to be daunted by the descent I most certainly was! I wasn’t as much concerned about my rock-navigation skills as those of the children who haven't really had any such experience. I was astounded by the number of families, babies, toddlers and elderly folk included, fully kitted out with voluminous bags blithely heading down the tortuous track. These people looked totally unfazed by the experience, whilst I felt physically sick especially when the man behind us slipped and dropped the nervous puppy he'd been carrying - I was practically having kittens by this stage, but we'd already reached the point of no return and had to push on regardless. 

Snaking sand patterns...

However we did finally touch down onto the golden sand without any traumatic turns (the puppy was fine), but I vowed to take another route for the ascent...which we duly did. Nevertheless the final arrival was marked by the children’s shrieks on discovering that Pedn Vounder is indeed frequented by naturists… and mine on (re)discovering just how cold the water actually is on this part of the coast! 

The beach is fairly safe, just as long as you do not allow yourself to get stranded by incoming tides. There are no sand shelves that suddenly dip down, leading you out of your depth or wild waves to bowl you off your feet and then pummel you in the undertow.  All of these characterize the beach at Porthcurno and mean that lifeguards have to be ever-vigilant. Yet these elements add to the general excitement of beach for children and parents alike as sudden rogue waves come crashing up the beach to drench unsuspecting visitors and swallow up their belongings. To say that the water temperature is bracing seems to be understating matters, as the water seems to bite into (city-dwelling) flesh. Just as I would reluctantly come out of the water, blue-lipped and numb as a child, my children do now...but I will only very reluctantly enter the water today. As part of a strategy to avoid going into the sea this time, I started beach-combing and came across many of the small shells that now decorate my mirror and that are said to be one of the main components of the sand at Pedn Vounder.

Towards Logan Rock..

On the left of the beach is the Logan Rock, balanced on the top of the Teryn Dinas cliffs. The natural monument, formed by erosion brought about by the elements, no longer rocks or ‘logs’ as it once had done. Indeed, the rock had to be fixed back into its original position, at great expense and effort, following an act of hooliganism which saw a drunken group of sailors dislodge the 80-ton mass in the early 19^th century. Today's graffiti and petty theft seem pretty minor dismeanours in comparison to that wrecker's party...

The Logan Rock may have brought a certain fame, and limited fortune to the inhabitants of the area, but it was to be the vital role that Porthcurno played in global communications later in the century that made the region famous on an international scale. 

Old mirror - reflecting the toilet space behind!

 From the 1870’s underwater cables were brought to terminate in Porthcurno, linking Great Britain to its empire, first with India, and then Australia. Operations were increased and cable station facilities rendered more sophisticated over the following decades. The initial Eastern Telegraph Company (ETC) expanded to the point that between the two world wars Porthcurno was the largest submarine cable station in the world. Indeed, ETC merged with Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Company in 1928 and after several subsequent changes of name finally become known as Cable and Wireless Worldwide. Such communication activity made Porthcurno an obvious target during wartime and therefore measures were taken to defend and fortify the zone. Tunnels that were protected by concrete defences were bored into the surrounding granite to store telegraph equipment. I presume that the concrete steps that lead up the rocks on the right-hand-side of the beach are the remains of some of these fortifications. When I was a child I used to think these were the sad ruins of someone’s strange beach house and could never work out if this must have been a great place to live (summer months) or terrifying (wild winter seas)… 

Steps outside the Minack - you have to pay to get nearer - unfortunate for a flying visit...

We scrambled up these same rocks a few years ago to look at the marine life that seems to try to outdo the theatrics taking place in the Minack Theatre above. Dolphins come and go, enticing the crowds, but the sea creatures that really keep the audience captivated are the enormous basking sharks. These swim into the bay, their eery black triangle visible when in the water (the children got out very quickly that day!) and their shadowy mass moving slowly, easy to follow from the rocks above. Even if these sharks are totally harmless, their sheer volume and the ease with which they coast the shoreline - undaunted by man - is truly humbling. 

Beach-combed shells - with two 'imposters'...

 But with or without the sharks, the whole Porthcurno coastline is unforgettable – for beach-combers, bathers and lovers of natural beauty alike. My next trip there is far on the horizon, so in the meantime I'll have to content myself with looking at old photos, making another mermaid mirror or maybe thinking about mermaids...or rather one particular little mermaid...

A seasonally city-bound mermaid...