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August 11th 1999 from 11.00 to 11.05 there was a solp eclipe and best place in the world to see it was Cornwall when 1000's visted came to Cornwall just to see this stunning effect what will never be seen again in our life time
Eden Project
Voted project of the cenatry and by some the 8th wonder of the world!
The Eden Project is a large-scale environmental complex The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located 1.25 miles (2 km) from the town of St Blazey and 3 miles (5 km) from the larger town of St Austell.
The complex comprises a number of domes that house plant species from around the world, with each emulating a natural biome. The domes are made out of hundreds of hexagons plus a few pentagons that interconnect the whole construction together; each of these is a transparent cushion made of tough plastic. The first dome emulates a tropical environment, the second a warm temperate, Mediterranean environment.
The project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by the architect Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates, with Davis Langdon carrying out the project management, Sir Robert McAlpine and Alfred McAlpine undertaking the construction and MERO to design and build the biomes. The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public on 17 March 2001.
Layout
The project is constructed in a disused china clay pit. Once into the attraction, there is a meandering path with views of the two biomes, planted landscapes, including vegetable gardens, and sculptures that include a giant bee and towering robot-themed creature created from old electrical appliances.
Biomes
Panoramic view of the geodesic biome domes at the Eden Project
At the bottom of the pit are two covered biomes:
- The Humid Tropics Biome, which is the largest greenhouse in the world, covers 1.559 hectares (3.9 acres) and measures 180 feet (55 m) high, 328 feet (100 m) wide and 656 feet (200 m) long. It is used for tropical plants, such as fruiting banana trees, coffee, rubber and giant bamboo, and is kept at a tropical temperature.
- The Warm Temperate Biome covers 0.654 hectares (1.6 acres) and measures 115 feet (35 m) high, 213 feet (65 m) wide and 443 feet (135 m) long. It houses familiar warm temperate and arid plants such as olives and grape vines and various pieces of sculpture. The Outdoor Biome represents the temperate regions of the world with plants such as tea, lavender, hops and hemp.
- A planned third biome called "the Edge" may be built in the last remaining space in the disused china clay pit. The project however is dependent on funding from a £50M televised competition run by the Big Lottery Fund which will take place in December 2007. The Edge will primarily explore the challenges that mankind will face due to climate change . The structure will be similar to the two existing biomes in addition to this chambers, meeting places and performance areas have all been planned.
The biomes are constructed from a tubular steel space-frame (hex-tri-hex) with mostly hexagonal external cladding panels made from the thermoplastic ETFE. At the outset, glass was proscribed due to its weight and potential dangers. The cladding panels themselves are created from several layers of thin UV-transparent ETFE film, which are sealed around their perimeter and inflated to create a large cushion. The resulting cushion acts like a thermal blanket to the structure. The ETFE material is resistant to most stains, which simply wash off in the rain. If required, cleaning can be performed by abseilers. Although the ETFE is susceptible to punctures, these can be easily fixed with ETFE tape. The structure is completely self-supporting, with no internal supports, and takes the form of a geodesic structure. The panels vary in size up to 9 metres (29.5 ft) across, with the largest at the top of the structure.
The ETFE technology was supplied and installed by Vector Foiltec who are also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the cladding. The steel spaceframe and cladding package (with Vector Foiltec as ETFE subcontractor) was designed, supplied and installed by MERO (UK) PLC, who also jointly developed the overall scheme geometry with the architect, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners.
The computer controlled environmental control system that regulates the heat and humidity within each biome is designed and installed by HortiMaX Ltd.who are also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the environmental control and monitoring systems.
The entire build project was managed by McAlpine Joint Venture.
The Core
The Core is the latest addition to the site and opened in September 2005. It provides the Eden Project with an education facility, incorporating classrooms and exhibition spaces designed to help communicate Eden's central message about the relationship between people and plants. Accordingly the building has taken its inspiration from plants, most noticeably in the form of the soaring timber roof, which gives the building its distinctive shape.
Grimshaw developed the geometry of the copper-clad roof in collaboration with a sculptor, Peter Randall-Page, and Mike Purvis of structural engineers SKM Anthony Hunts. It is derived from phyllotaxis, which is the mathematical basis for nearly all plant growth; the "opposing spirals" found in many plants such as the seeds in a sunflower's head, pine cones and pineapples. The copper was obtained from traceable sources, and the Eden Project is working with Rio Tinto to explore the possibility of encouraging further traceable supply routes for metals, which would enable users to avoid metals mined unethically. The services and acoustic design was carried out by Buro Happold.
The Edge
The Edge will be a landmark new building at the Eden Project.
Eden says it will be an international icon of sustainability and regeneration showing that mankind is capable of amazing things. The building will be a model of cutting edge architecture and technology, harvesting water and energy from the sun, wind, and rain to show how we all might live in the future.
Inside the Edge there will be desert, oasis and water gardens on a scale never attempted indoors. Underneath the building will be a series of interlocking chambers that will provide spaces for some of the great voices of the age – artists, writers, scientist and musicians - to work with communities and families to share the best ideas they have for improving their lives and environments, now and in the future.
To build the Edge the Eden Project will need to win a lottery funding bid. The Big Lottery Fund has put up a prize of £50 million to be granted to a single inspirational project as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s: The People’s £50 Million Contest. Four projects have been shortlisted with the Edge as one of them. The winning project will be decided by public vote in December 2007.
Environmental aspects
The domes provide diverse growing conditions with many plants on display.
The Eden Project includes environmental education focusing on the interdependence of plants and people; plants are labelled with their medicinal uses. The massive amounts of water required to create the humid conditions of the Tropical Biome, as well as to serve the toilet facilities, are all sanitized rain water that would otherwise collect at the bottom of the quarry. In fact the only mains water used is for hand washing and for cooking. The complex also uses Green Tariff Electricity — the energy comes from one of the many wind turbines in Cornwall, which were amongst the first in Europe. Somewhat controversially one of the companies the Eden Project currently has a partnership with is the British mining company Rio Tinto Group. Rio Tinto is set to commence mining in Madagascar for titanium dioxide. This will involve the removal of a large section of coastal forest, with the possibility of extensive damage to the unique biodiversity of the Madagascan flora and fauna.
Events
The Eden Project hosted the "Africa Calling" concert of the Live 8 concert series on 2 July 2005. It was also used as a filming location for the 2002 James Bond film, Die Another Day. It also provided some plants for the British Museum's Africa garden.
In 2005 the Eden Project launched "A Time Of Gifts" for during the winter months, November to February. This features an ice rink covering the lake, with a small café/bar attached, as well as a Christmas market. Adding to atmosphere Cornish choirs regularly perform in the biomes.
In 2006 and 2007, the Eden Project hosted a series of musical performances, called the 'Eden Sessions'. Artists have included Amy Winehouse, James Morrison, Muse, Lily Allen, Snow Patrol and The Magic Numbers.
The Eden Project was also featured in the TV show Cybernet in 2002.
The Sanctuary started in the winter of 1958 when a baby seal, only a few hours old, was washed up on the beach at St Agnes. Ken Jones lived with his wife just one hundred yards from the beach, he picked up the pup and took it back to his small garden. For many years he ran a rescue centre for seals and oiled birds, with just one pool, at St Agnes. The news of his work with seals spread, and he received more and more calls about injured seals.
Ken realised he needed more room, as the single pool at St Agnes was just not big enough. The Sanctuary moved to Gweek in 1975, and Ken slowly built up the size, and number of pools, so he could care for the increasing number of seals that were being rescued around the Cornish coast.
Today the Sanctuary has Nursery pools, Convalescence, and Resident pools, and a specially designed Hospital. The hospital over the years has been extended to include isolation pools, as well as treatment and preparation areas.
For more information opening times & prices please call 01326 221361,
National Seal Sanctuary, Gweek, near Helston, Cornwall TR12 6UG, England,
Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station
This unique experience attracts over 80,000 visitors every year and with over 60 Giant Satellite dishes it is the Largest and Oldest Satellite Station on Earth! l locted Lizard Peninsula for more information call freephone 0800 679 593
Flambards
Flambards is more than just a Theme Park!
Established nearly 30 years ago as the Cornwall Aircraft Park the Flambards Experience is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cornwall. Not only does the Theme Park host the best thrill rides in Cornwall, but also the Flambards Victorian Village and Britain in the Blitz indoor tourist attractions. Information Line on 0845 601 8684
CORNWALL HAS THE LONGEST COASTLINE IN THE UK 258 MILES OF IT
Cornwall in any season gives you good walking on this path
Summer is warm, winter is mild, but the path can get windy sometimes!
starting from Bude in the north, this web site takes the form of a series of coastal walks
to the River Tamar on the southern boundary
The climate is mild and the scenery stunning
Come on down and enjoy our climate all year round
256 miles of pure Cornish scenery and the route is never far from pubs.
Double click on map to inlarge
The Cornish language (in Cornish: Kernowek, Kernewek, Curnoack) is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages (Brythonic also includes Welsh, Breton, the extinct Cumbric and perhaps the hypothetical Ivernic). The Celtic languages of Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Manx are part of the separate Goidelic group. Cornish shares about 80% basic vocabulary with Breton, 75% with Welsh, 35% with Irish, and 35% with Scottish Gaelic. By comparison, Welsh shares about 70% with Breton. Cornish continued to function as a community language until the late 18th century, and was revived early in the 20th century.
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Few Cornish words below.
Cornish
| Pronunciation
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| English
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| Myttin da
| 'mitten dah'
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| "good morning"
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| Dydh da
| 'dith dah'
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| "good day"
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| Fatla genes?
| 'fat lah genez'
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| "how are you?"
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| Yn poynt da, meur ras
| 'in point dah, murr raz'
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| "Well, thank you"
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| Py eur yw hi?
| 'pee urr you hee'
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| "What time is it?" |
Cornish slang
like everywhere it has it's slang though rarely you will the the real Cornish you are very likely to ere our slang,such as PROPER JOB what just means a job well done,or RIGHT ON if someone says you OK they say yes thanks you say right on,theres GET ON normally will just say to your friends just a greeting really don't mean hello but alone the same lines.ANSUME just means something is nice or you may call someone that it's like calling someone love,darling or something,there is get on me BOOTY whats bit like ansume really and theres my personal fave DREAKLY you say cya dreakly or just dreakly for sort which means cya later in a bit or soon.& there is EMMIT you may here that word a lot it's a hoilday maker but don't worry it's not a bad word,as long as you treat our county with respect do't thing you own the roads you are very welcome ere you nice to us we nice to you.
Polzeath heart of North Cornwall one of the best if not the best beach in Cornwall well the UK then.
Polzeath is a very small village just the one road in & out and is in a Valley in between 2 large hills though is a small village it has a large sandy beach lovely family beach as well a good surf beach on a good day,one day will be large waves for the surfers other days flate as a pancake.
the most famous landmark of Polzeath is Pentire point to the left is Puffin Island,you can walk to Pentire point via the public footpath about 30 min walk & a lovely one at that it's mostly up hill so if a hot day you need water for sure,when you get there the views are amazing you can see across Polzeath,Daymer & Rock and if walk another 10 mins or so you will get to the Rumps just as amazing views you can go anywhere in the world won't see any much better.Also the rumps perfet place to go fishing,the island more left to Puffin island is Newlyn.
to the left of the beach if a low tide you can walk round to a more quiteter beach of Daymer bay if high tide by road is about 1 miles away you can drive or if walk there is a public footpath.
Port Issac(Cornwall's film capital)
Port Issac is a hisoric fishing village is North Cornwall.
over the years Port Issac has become more well known
since filming for films and tv shows,the biggist two Saveing Grace
about a woman whos husband dies in a plane crash and leaves her nothing
but huge debts & the only way out is to grow cannibas with help from her
gardener then the whole villge inc the Doctor played by Martin Clunes are on it!
Now series 3 of Doc Martin has finished Martin Clunes plays the grumpy GP of Port Wenn(of cause real name Port Issac every year Doc Martin seems to get bigger & better every time so series 4?very likely & if show fiming as usaly to take place early in the New year to be shown on tv end of summer.
Newquay(UK's surf capital)
If you are young,like club & don't drive Newquay is the place to go,my personal view don't like Newquay the beaches maybe better than up Blackpool & Bounmouth etc but thats not saying much the beaches there are OK & Just OK Fistral bay there yeh has the best surf In Cornwall & hold the Uk's surf comps but the beach itself is nothing the other beaches there inc the Great Western(near the blue reef)& Porth are prob the best beaches in Newquay,the town is crap started to get bit ran dow now as is now more of a young surfers town but as I said if you like clubing & dont drive maybe it's for you Bertis is a good night club and have other good ones there.
If you are a fare way from Newquay if you wanna go to a club a texi cost a bomb if there is a gang of you a tenner each for a mini bus retrun an't so bad & if you do drive DON'T be a twat & drink drive.
the blue reef aquariam is OK expensive for what is is though some nice things in there just very small,Newquay zoo is worth a viset not the biggist zoo in the world but a nice zoo & lot to see.
John,Paul,George & Ringo I think anyone will know who you are talking about when you say those 4 names together of cause it's the Beatles in 1967 they came to the West country on a MAGAICAL MYSTARY TOUR to film it which was there 3nd out of 4 films they made they stayed at the Alantic hotel in Newqual & few years back think was 2000 they had a Beatles day in Newquay and put a Plague up to show they where here.
CORNISH BEER
Even though am not keen on Cornish beer as am a lager drink it seems to be well liked not only by the Cornwall but the people who come down ere on hoilday,Doom bar prob the biggist one brewed in Rock)2 miles from Polzeath also there is One and all(the Cornish saying)Eden(surely heard of the Eden Projet ?),there theres Cornish knockers,Proper job & even one called Dreakly!!!!others too.
Cornish clement
Cornwall is almost an island, cut off from Devon by the River Tamar, which runs along most of the county line. All other sides we are surrounded by the sea. We have both the most westerly point in mainland Britain (Lands End) and the most southerly (The Lizzard)
The combination of being relatively so far south, plus the influence of the Gulf Stream on the long expanse of Cornish coast, makes this a very mild place. Especially right on the coast.
We only get snow very rarely in winter on the coast, many Cornish children grow up never having seen snow. We get very few days of frost either. Aind in summer days are, generally, pleasantly warm.
legend of King Arthur
The legend of King Arthur is perhaps the most fascinating and well known of all the Cornish legends. It is believed here that Arthur was a Cornishman, who defeated the Saxons in twelve successive battles.
Tintagel Castle is believed to have been the birthplace of Arthur. Undoubtedly fact and fiction have become merged, and the myth lives on. Arthur Mee wrote "In the evening, when the sun is sinking into the Atlantic from something like a flaming battlefield we can think that it is true about Arthur and his knights. A deep sense of something mysterious comes upon us". The symbolism of Arthur and what he stood for is as valid today as it has been down the ages - remember Jack Kennedy and his Camelot.
And Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem has Arthur being carried down to the narrow harbour at Boscastle, to be carried onto the barge that was to take him to Avalon. It became a Cornish belief that one day Arthur would return to rescue them from bondage.
Cornish saints
- St Brychan
- Said to have arrived from Wales with 3 wives, 12 sons and 12 daughters (including Endillion, Issey, Kew, Mabyn, Minver and Teath, who all became saints themselves)
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- St Budoc
- Arrived in Cornwall floating in a barrel.
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- St Cleer
- St. Cleer was an Englishman who came to Cornwall in the 8 th or 9 th century. He preached and built a church on the edge of Bodmin moor - today's village of St. Cleer. The village also has a holy well and two ancient Celtic crosses.
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- Saint Endelienta
- Saint Endelienta was a daughter of King Brychan, who settled in Saint Endellion and taught the Christian faith.Two nearby wells are named after her.
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- St Fingar
- Arrived from Ireland with his brothers St Breaca, St Euny and St Erc. His sister, Ia, arrived separately floating on an ivy leaf.
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- St Germanus
- St. Germanus was elected Bishop of Auxerie, France, in 4l8 CE at the time that the Roman Empire was falling apart. He was twice sent to Britain to argue against the false teachings of Pelagius. On his second visit there was an attack by a group of pagan raiders, he encouraged the defenders to shout 'Alleluia' loudly. The attackers thought they were out numbered and ran away. St. Germanus taught St. Patrick (Patron Saint of Ireland) and founded a monastery and church at St. Germans, which came to serve as Cornwall's cathedral for many years.
- St Gundred
- A lady saint, whose father was a leper. She is said to have lived in the chapel on top of Roche Rock, and tended to her sick father. The ruined chapel of St. Michael stands on the edge of china clay country at Roche,near St. Austell and is easily accessible by means of a steel ladder screwed to the rock face.
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- St Ia
- Founder of the town of St Ives. She is said to have sailed from Ireland floating on a leaf. She was of noble birth. It is probable that the leaf in question was a coracle, the Irish round hide craft, that local Cornish people would not have seen before, and could have thought to have been a giant leaf.
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- St Issy
- St. Issey was one of the children of King Brychan - his church is between Wadebridge and Padstow. Mevagissey is also named after St. Issey.
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- St Keverne and St Just
- Gained a reputation for being aggressive rivals
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- St Levan
- Founded the church of St Levan near Lands End. After he had been fishing he rested on a rock near the church, and before he died he is said to have split the rock with his fist, leaving the prophecy that if a pack horse with panniers could ever be ridden through the split, then the world would end. Providentially the split in the rock has not become wide enough for this to happen yet.
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- St Neot
- Believed to have been very small, almost a pigmy. Some stories put him at only 15 inches tall. He used to spend the day praying in his holy well, immersed in water right up to his neck. The miracles that he achieved with birds and animals are portrayed in the stained glass windows of the St Neots Parish Church
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- St Mawes
- Revered in Brittany as well as Cornwall, he is thought to be the tenth son of an Irish King. It is possible that it is the same derivation as St Malo.There is said to be a memorial to him in Falmouth harbour. The story goes the St Mawes was sitting in his chair contemplating the world, when a noisy seal disturbed him, he picked up a large rock threw it at the seal, missed, but the rock still remains where it fell, wedged on top of the Black Rocks in the harbour.
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- St Minver
- Saint Minver was another daughter of King Brychan. King Brychan's twenty four children started churches throughout Cornwall, England and Wales. Her hermitage, chapel and holy well were at Tredizzick, not far from the present church and town of Saint Minver. One of the popular stories about Saint Minver says that the devil attacked her when she was combing her hair. She threw the comb at him and he ran away.
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- St Piran
- Said to have arrived in Cornwall floating on a millstone. Apparently his original community were jealous of his powers of healing and carrying out miracles. They had tied a millstone round his neck and thrown him off a cliff - luckily there was divine intervention and the millstone was transformed into something that floated, so thus he arrived in Cornwall. he landed at Perran Beach, to which he gave his name.He became the patron saint of tinners, perhaps because he was said to have a taste for the bottle.He built a chapel in Penhale sands, and lead a full life, dying at the age of 206. The chapel was unearth from the sands in the 19th century, and the skeleton of very tall man discovered 9perhaps the saints). the chapel was reburied to protect it from vandals.
- St Petroc
- He founded Padstow, originally Petrocstow.Greeted by a hostile crown when he landed from Wales, who refused to give him a drink of water, Petroc merely tapped the ground with is staff, and immediately a spring of fresh water appeared. The locals were immediately converted to followers.His bones were put into an ivory casket and housed in Bodmin Church. They were stolen in 1994 but later recovered.
Cornish antham
by Rev Hawker
A good sword and a trusty hand!
A merry heart and true!
King James's men shall understand
What Cornish lads can do!
And have they fixed the where and when?
And shall Trelawny die?
Here's twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why!
Out spake their Captain brave and bold:
A merry wight was he:
'If London Tower were Michael's hold,
We'd set Trelawny free!
'We'll cross the Tamar, land to land:
The Severn is no stay:
With "one and all," and hand in hand;
And who shall bid us nay?
'And when we come to London Wall,
A pleasant sight to view,
Come forth! come forth! ye cowards all:
Here's men as good as you.
'Trelawny he's in keep and hold;
Trelawny he may die:
But here's twenty thousand Cornish bold
Will know the reason why!
The flag of Sanit Pirren
The Cornish Flag is a black background with a white cross. The flag of Cornwall is actually the the flag of St. Piran but it has been adopted as the Cornish National flag as St. Piran is the Patron Saint of Cornwall. Whilst having a certain popularity in Cornwall today, the flag does not appear to be more than a few hundred years old. Nobody has produced old manuscripts or paintings that date it any earlier than the 18th century.
One version of the legend of St Piran "finding" his flag is that the Romans had smelted tin in Cornwall, but the method of doing so had since been lost. St. Piran "rediscovered" tin-smelting by accident when the black hearthstone he was using happened to contain tin-bearing ore. The molten tin smelted out of the stone in the heat of the hearth and rose to the top in the form of a white cross.
the Cornish Pasty
The Cornish Pasty started life as the working lunch for the tin miners to take underground with them. The pasty was easy to carry, could be eaten with dirty fingers, was nourishing. And could even have savoury at one end and sweet at the other.
The underground miner would not return to the surface or be able to clean his hands when he paused for a lunch break. An added danger was that arsenic wasoften found with tin, so that might be on his hands), they could hold the folded crust and eat the filling, then throw away the dirty pastry. Another tradition believes that it is bad luck for fishermen to take pasties to sea.
The Cornish pasty's dense, folded pastry stayed hot until lunchtime. Traditional bakers in former mining towns, until fairly recently, would bake pasties with fillings to order, marking the customer's initials with raised pastry. This was originally done because the miners used to eat one half of their pasty for breakfast and leave the remaining half for lunch, meaning that a way to identify their pasties, from the other miners', was needed.
For centuries the Cornish have been filling pasties with a wide variety of fillings. In 1985 a group of Young Farmers in Cornwall spent 7 hours making a record-breaking pasty - over 32ft long. This was believed to have been beaten in 1999 when bakers in Falmouth made their own giant pasty during the town's first ever pasty festival.
Although the "traditional" pasty was made from beef, potatoes, onions and turnips, nevertheless the pasty was and is made from a variety of ingredients. The "tiddy oggie" is filled only with potatoes, and you will come across ones with anything from rabbit to egg and bacon or cheese.
Unfortunately the Cornish Pasty has become over commercialised here. The market is not prepared to pay the price of a decent pasty, and hence has become flooded with cheap pasties for a mass tourist market that demand nothing better.
A typical recipe for two would be:-
- Shortcrust Pastry
- 225 gm plain flour
- 115 gm fat (mixture of lard & butter)
- pinch of salt
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- The Filling
- 225 gm steak cut into small cubes
- 2 or 3 large potatoes
- piece of turnip or swede
- onion, peeled and chopped
- salt and pepper
The Method
- 1. Sift the flour with the salt, rub in the fat and mix to a pliable consistency with some water, leave to rest for half an hour.
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- 2. Roll out half the pastry into a round about 5mm thick (quarter of an inch)
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- 3. Peel and slice the potatoes thinly onto the centre of round to form a base for the rest of the filling
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- 4. Slice the turnip thinly over the potato, then spread the beef on top.
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- 5. Add a little onion, season with salt and pepper
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- 6. Dampen the edge of the circle of pastry with water to help seal it, bring together the edges make a parcel with the filling in the centre.
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- 7. There should be a neat pastry parcel. If you do get any holes, then patch them with a little extra pastry. You can make the pastry neater by crimping the edges. Fold over the edge to make it slightly thicker, then squeeze tightly every 2 cms to make a neat pattern along the edge.
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- 8 Put the pastry on a piece of buttered paper, make a small slit on the top to let the steam brush the top with a little milk, and put it on a greased baking tray.
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- 9. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C (gas mark 6) for 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 190C (gas mark 5) and cook for another 30 minutes.
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- 10. You can make the pasty as a starter, by making it smaller. Use a saucer as a template to get the size.
Cornwall, Cornish Clotted Cream
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Cornish Clotted Cream is nectar. It is possible to make your own Cornwall clotted cream, but I think that you will find it easier to buy it rather than make it!
The leading Cornish Clotted Cream company in Cornwall is Rodda who do sell through most UK supermarkets. They also sell by post, but, I think, only in the UK.
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Cornwall Surfing - the real thing
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If you are a serious surfer then it is the North Coast of Cornwall for you. But be warned, get expert advice before you attempt to surf, it can be dangerous, but I guess that is part of the attraction.
Here is a list of the best of the surfing beaches in Cornwall, starting at the north and working round, south to Lands End and east to Devon.
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| Bude
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| Mainly west facing, sandy beaches
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| Duckpool
| shingle, faces west, not for beginners
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| Sandymouth
| sandy, faces west, not for beginners
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| Northcott Mouth
| at Bude, punchy waves, not for beginners unless light surf
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| Crooklets
| popular surfing beach with the locals. Some serious stuff
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| Summerleaze
| the town centre beach near the harbour breakwater
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| Widemouth Bay
| the main surfing beach in this area, all abilities
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| Crackington Haven
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works well on a rising tide
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Trebarwith Strand
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Polzeath
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| Again mainly west facing beaches that pick up most swells
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| Polzeath
| another popular beach for all abilities of surfer
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| Hayle
| a good beach for learners
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| Harlyn Bay
| faces north and is about 3 miles west of Padstow
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| Constantine Bay
| some reef breaks here that should be avoided by beginners
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| Trearon
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best round low tide |
| Newquay
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| Home of British Surfing. Home of the British Surfing Association. It has achieved its renown because there are beaches facing in all directions, because there is a good spread of types of surf for all abilities, and because, with the right conditions it has some really excellent breaks
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| Mawgan Porth
| only really works with easterly winds
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| Watergate Bay
| sandy, flat and used by learners
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| Whipsiderry
| sheltered from SW winds
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| Newquay Bay
| 3 sandy beaches, it can be crowded in summer
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| Fistral
| the best and most famous surfing beach in Britain.
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| all the big competitions are held here
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| Crantock Bay
| when the conditions are right this gives good surf
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| Holywell
| best round low tide
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| Perranporth
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| The most southerly of the north coast surfing areas
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| Perran Bay
| you have to walk to get there, so it has fewer surfers
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| Perranporth
| long sandy beach, with a whole range of surf for all abilities
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| Penhale Corner
| if the army are not using the firing range, you can surf here!
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| Trevaunace Cove
| faces north, draws crowds when the conditions are right
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| Chapel Porth
| tiny beach, only for experts
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| Porthtowan Beach
| you can get good tubing waves here
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| Portreath
| big swells round the harbour walls for the experts
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| The West
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| Once you leave the main surfing areas of the north coast, you have to pick your beaches carefully
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| Gwithian
| good surf under most conditions
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| Carbis Bay
| crowded in summer, good surf when big swells are running
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| Porthmeor Beach
| the beach to surf at St Ives, can be a heavy wave, not for beginners
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| Sennan Cove
| bracing, but can be hazardous
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| Porthcurno
| only for experts, good in s westerlies
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| South Coast
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| Praa Sands
| best with northerly winds, does not break well at high tide
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| Porthleven
| only for the experts
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| Kennack Sands
| south east facing, beach breaks
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| East Coast
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| Pentewan Beach
| pretty beach, used by all abilities of surfer
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| Whitsand Bay
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for beginners and middle ability surfer |
CORNWALL WILD/MARINE LIFE
Cornwall is not Australia we don't have Kanaroo's,koala's,Wallabee's,wombats or they kinds of wonderful land wildlife,nor do we have deadly!! spiders etc etc.
However!! we do have some wonderful wildlife and for UK it's amazing animals you won't see in London etc like badgers,foxes,wonderful birds like robins,tits etc who sing for you in the morning or the birds closer to the sea like cormants,shags as well as swans etc etc.fe
Also Dolphins are very offen seen of the Cornish coast in the Summer & if you are luckily enough to be in a boat when they are about you can get pretty close,Basking and Portbeagle sharks are offen seen here too both natative to UK waters.the Basking shark is the 2nd largest fish in the world behide the whale shark & like the whale shark feed of only plankton.However the Portbeagle is a large fish look fearsome they are harmless and just feed of fish.
THE GREAT WHITE SHARK IN CORNWALL?every summer there are 'sittings'of a great white shark the summer of 2007 the biggist story about it what was a load of crap as us locals new all it was,was a Porbeagle which for a reason I don't know was caught! near Lands end.the nearest confirmed sitting of a Great white on the British isles is 200 miles away at Biscoy.Trasher,Blue & the world's fastest shark The Mako are confirmed sittings even caught in Cornwall & Devon but are most likely to be the most deadlyest sharks to come to the UK for few years at least.
 
cornwall lighthouses
The nine lighthouses round the coast of Cornwall are shown on the map above.
Dangers to ships around the coast of Cornwall
- winter gales with high winds
- circular tides between Lands End and Scilly Isles changed direction every 2 or 3 hours
- hidden rocks off shore
- the first landfall for ships that may have been at sea for many months
- poor charts in days of sailing ships
History of Cornish lighthouses
- the earliest record of lights to help shipping is the payment of "beaconage" from fishermen to the chapel of Carn Brea in 1396
- St Michaels Mount has a stone lantern on top of its church dating from the 15th century
- a record of a beacon shown by the chapel of St Nicholas at St Ives is dated in 1538
- Henry VIII's disolution of the monastries meant that these, and other, church beacons could no longer function
- however Henry founded Trinity House in 1514 which then became responsible for supplying pilots round the coast, and later for the building and maintenance of lighthouses
- the chart below shows that the building of lighthouses took place from the 17th century right through till 1965 when the last light was put up at Tater Du
| Trevose
| on shore, near Padstow
| built 1847
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| Godrevy
| on Godrevy Island, St Ives Bay
| built 1858
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| Pendeen
| on shore between St Ives and Lands End
| built 1900
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| Longships
| on rocks 1.25 miles off Land's End
| built 1795
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| Wolf Rock
| on a rock 8 miles off Land's End
| built 1862
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| Tater Du
| on shore, east of Land's End
| opened 1965
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| Lizard
| on shore at Lizard Point
| built 1619, abandoned 1623. rebuilt 1752
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| St Anthony
| on shore at the entrance to Falmouth Harbour
| built 1835
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Eddystone
,
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on a rock, 8 miles off Rame head
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first built 1698, current is 5th on site
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Street of Abandoned Children (1929)
Ecco beach
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St. Ives, Mevagissey.
Silent Film.
Staring Jason Donavan filmed at Watergate bay a surf druma.
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| The Manxman (1929)
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Alfred Hitchcock film shot in Cornwall and studio
Only two scenes were shot on the Isle of Man and the rest was mostly filmed in North Cornwall and Polperro
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| Yellow Sands (1938)
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Sennen Cove
ABPC
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| The Thief of Baghdad (1940)
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Gunwalloe
London Films
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| The Ghost Train 1941
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Liskeard Station
Arthur Askey humour at a haunted station when passengers get stranded.
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| Next of Kin (1942)
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Mevagissey
Ealing Films
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| Love Story / A Lady Surrenders 1944
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Minack Theatre, Porthcurno, Cornwall
A half-blind airman falls for a pianist with a weak heart - set in Cornwall during WWII. Starring Margaret Lockwood, Stewart Granger
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| Johnny Frenchman (1945)
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Mevagissey
Ealing Studios film directed by Charles Frend. Breton and Cornish fishermen bury their differences during world war two and make friends when France is occupied by the Germans.
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| Miranda (1947)
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Polperro, Looe.
Gainsborough. The mischievous mermaid. A film starring Glynis Johns.
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| Scott of the Antarctic 1948
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Falmouth Docks, Cornwall
Story of ill-fated 1912 expedition to the South Pole.
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| Treasure Island (1949)
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Carrick Roads, River Fal, Helford River, Gull Rock.
RKOP/Walt Disney
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| Knights of the Round Table 1953
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Tintagel, Cornwall
King Arthur's legend Hollywood-style
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| Never Let Me Go 1953
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Mullion Harbour, Newquay, Mevagissey.
MGM movie, Mullion Harbour was a Russian Harbour.
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| Dangerous Exile 1957
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Porthluney Cove, Carrick Roads, Falmouth Bay & Harbour, Caerhays Castle.
Rank Production
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| Another time, Another place 1958
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Polperro
starring Lana Turner, Glynis Johns, Sean Connery
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| Behemoth The Sea Monster (or The Giant Behemoth) 1959
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Looe
Artists Alliance
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| Crooks in Cloisters (1963)
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St Mawes
ABPC
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| Stolen Hours 1963
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Fowey
United Artists
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| Magical Mystery Tour 1967
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Newquay Towan Beach, Bodmin.
Beatles Film
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| The Bed Sitting Room 1969
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St Austell
United Artists
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| Malachi's Cove 1970
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Tintagel Area, Trebarwith Strand.
Meg Owen, Donald Pleasance, Peter Vaughan, Veronica Quilligan.
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| Rebecca (1970s)
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Caerhays Castle (for Manderley), Porthluney Cove.
BBC production
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| Blakes Seven (1970's)
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St. Austell Clay Pits
BBC TV cult series
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| Straw Dogs 1971
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St Buryan, Lamorna Cove Cornwall
In a Cornish village a mild American university researcher erupts into violence when taunted by villagers. A notorious Sam Peckinpah horror film. Starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George.
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| Crucible of Terror 1971
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Jericho Valley & Blue Hills near St. Agnes
Mike Raven, Mary Maude, James Bolam.
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| Doomwatch 1972
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Polperro, Mevagissey.
Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson.
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| The Onedin Line 1972-80
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Charlestown, Mousehole, Turnaware Point
Series about a young man's rise to wealth and power through the establishing of his own shipping line in the late C19th.
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| Poldark 1975-77
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Perranporth, Coast towards Pendeen & Levant, Locations nr St Just, Trevellas Coombe, Prussia Cove, Mounts Bay, Towednack Church, Godolphin, Mousehole, Keigwin Arms, Charlestown, Porthcurno Beach, Lands End, many locations in second series in East Cornwall around Lostwithiel, Porthluney Cove by Veryan Bay, St Mawes Castle, St Winnow's Church, St Agnes,Port Holland, Portloe, Luxulyan, St Enedoc's Church, Pendeen Manor Farm, Botallack Manor Farm (nr. St. Just, Penwith for Nampara), River Fowey, Roscarrock Farm - Port Quin, Doyden Point - Port Quin, Lanhydrock, Trerice Manor, Bocconoc Estate,
Based on Winston Grahams Four Poldark novels, this C18th Cornish Romantic drama followed the life of Ross Poldark
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| Doctor Who 1975
| St Austell Clay Pits
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| The Dame of Sark 1976
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Porth Mellin, below Mullion Village.
Anglia TV
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| The Eagle has Landed 1976
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Charlestown, RAF St Mawgan, Newquay Cornwall
WWII drama about enemy spies infiltrating an English village with the intention of assassinating Churchill.
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| My Son, My Son 1978
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Tremayne Quay, Carwinion, Nare Head.
BBC TV
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| Penmarric 1978
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Penwith Peninsulla, Zennor Head, Cape Cornwall, Botallack Manor Farm, Levant Mine, Trengwainton. Botallack Manor featured as 'Roslyn' in Penmarric. Towednack church
BBC TV series from the novel by Susan Howatch about the lives and loves of a Cornish family spanning the years 1867 to 1940.
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| Dracula 1978
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Tintagel, St Michael's Mount, Cornwall
Laurence Olivier and Donald Pleasence in a Stylish version of the Bram Stoker story
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| Priest of Love 1980
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Porth Zennor Cove
BBC Production
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| The Badness Within Him or Last Summer's Child) 1980
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Penberth Cove
BBC Production
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| Jumping the Queue 1980's
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Looe
BBC Production, Sheila Hancock
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| Ripping Yarns - Whinfrey's Last case (1980's)
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Cape Cornwall
Michael Palin,
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| Charles Darwin - The Voyage of the Beagle. (1980's)
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Charlestown Harbour
BBC Production
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| The Revenge of Billy The Kid (1980's)
| Mousehole
Cast: Norman Mitchell
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| Nightmare Man 1981
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Padstow, St Enodoc golf club in Rock, the Youth Hostel on Glebe cliff at Tintagel, Trebarwith Strand, but mainly filmed in Port Isaac. Cornwall doubled for the Scottish island of Inverdee.
Sci-fi thriller serial from the BBC based on a novel called Children of Vodyanoi by David Wiltshire.
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| Omen III (The Final Conflict) 1981
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St. Austell, Luxulyan, Prideaux Place.
TCF Production
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| The Island of Adventure 1981
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Wheal Coates, Mullion Cove, Poldhu Cove.
Darrell Waters Production
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| Jamaica Inn 1982
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Port Quin, Polzeath, Pentire Glaze.
HTV Production
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| The Flame & the Sword 1982
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Bedruthan Steps, Boscastle.
SKAN Production
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| My Cousin Rachel 1982
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Gribbin Head, Vault Beach, Lantivet Beach.
The film is based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier
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| To The Lighthouse 1982
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Carbis Bay, Hayle, Lelant, Railway at St. Erth, Bosrigan Head.
BBC TV
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| A Distant Scream 1983
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Kynance Cove, Mullion Harbour.
Hammer Films
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| Samson & Delilah 1983
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Cornish Engines
Flamingo Pictures
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| Top Secret 1983
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Holywell, Godrevy.
Paramount British Pictures starring Val Kilmer, Peter Cushing, Omar Sharif.
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| Robin of Sherwood 1984
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Rinsey, Mount's Bay
HTV
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| The Return of Sherlock Holmes : The Devil's Foot 1986
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Lizard Peninsula - Kynance Cove, Mounts Bay, Lanyon Quoit, Cadgwith, W. Penwith Moors, Boskednan - Nine Maidens standing stones in Cornwall
Acclaimed and stylish version created closely and accurately after the style of the original stories. TV starring Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke.
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| Ball Trap at the Cote Sauvage 1989
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Newquay (for Brittany), Crantock Beach, Fistral Beach, Holywell Bay.
BBC TV
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| First and Last 1989
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Lands End: cliffs, Longships lighthouse, Seven Stones Reef, Wolf Rock light, Sennen Cove, Carbis Bay.
BBC TV
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| Shootout at the OK Tea Rooms 1989
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St. Just
The Goodies
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| The Shell Seekers 1989
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Lands End (State House Hotel), St Ives, Lamorna Cove, Porthgwarra, Marazion,
Rosamunde Pilcher story
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| The Tale of Little Pig Robinson 1990
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Polperro
Dreamscape Productions
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| The Camomile Lawn 1991
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Veryan & Portloe Harbour, Broom Parc
Mary Wesley war time drama set in Cornwall and London in 1939. Starring Jennifer Ehle at her best, Felicity Kendal, Toby Stevens and Tara Fitzgerald.
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| Inspector Alleyn 1992
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Glebe Cliff - Tintagel
BBC Production
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| Cycle of Death (pilot for Wycliffe) 1993
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Penzance, Marazion.
HTV
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| The Three Musketeers 1993
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Charlestown, Bocconoc Estate, Lanhydrock, Pentire, Rumps, Pelynt, Lostwithiel
Re-make of the Alexandre Dumas story. Walt Disney film with Charlie Sheen, Keifer Sutherland.
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| Wycliffe 1994-1998
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All over Cornwall including Carn Galver, Reskajeage Downs, Hemmick Beach, Cape Cornwall, Pentire, Godrevy, Rinsey, Wheal Charlotte, Truro, Perranporth, Wadebridge, Newquay, Porthtowan, Portreath, Trelissick, Church Cove
Cornish based detective Series based on novels By W J Burley
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| The End of Summer 1994
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Padstow, Bude, Widemouth Bay, Prideaux Place.
Frankfurter Films
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| Blue Juice 1994
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Newquay, St Ives, Mousehole, Chapel Porth, Godrevy in Cornwall
Charming and offbeat story about surfers gathering in Cornwall for one last fling before succumbing to life's responsibilities.
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| Poldark - Stranger from the Sea 1995
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Rinsey, Lansallos - village & Cove, Coombe Haven, Penrose Estate.
HTV
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| Wind in the Willows 1995
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Camel Estuary
Davrod Productions
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| Bugs 1995
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Tamar Valley
Carnival Films for BBC TV
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| Daisies in December 1995
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St. Ives, St. Michael's Mount
HTV International/Hallmark
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| The Empty House. Another View. Voices in Summer. Snow in April. 1995
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St. Ives, Mousehole, Godrevy, Carngloose, Trengwainton, Penberth, Mullion, Gunwalloe, Fowey, Cape Cornwall.
Frankfurter Films
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| The Vet 1995
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Bohetherick
Ikona for the BBC
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| Treasure Island 1995
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Charlestown
Pinewood
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| Twelfth Night 1995
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Lanhydrock, Cotehele, Mt Edgcumbe, Prideaux Place, St Michael's Mount, Trebarwith Strand all in Cornwall
Helena Bonham-Carter, Imogen Stubbs and Nigel Hawthorne in a lively version of Shakespeare's play
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| Jonathan Creek 1996
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Rinsey Head
BBC Production
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Oscar & Lucinda 1996
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Boscastle, Crackington Haven, Port Isaac, Bossiney, Trebarwith, Morwenstow.
Story of ostracised gamblers in C19th Australia who become star-cross'd lovers.
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| Moll Flanders 1996
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Charlestown Harbour, River Fal, Turnaware Point in Cornwall
A C17th tale of incest, adultery, bigamy and theft.
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| Amy Foster 1996
|
Bodmin, Port Quin, Pentire Head, Crackington Haven, Port Isaac, Charlestown, St Breward, Michaelstow, Pencarrow Head, Blisland, Cornwall
Based on a Joseph Conrad short story, the film tells the tale of a Russian shipwrecked near an isolated Cornish village in the C19th.
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| Rebecca 1996
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Charlestown, Cornwall
Charles Dance, Diana Rigg, Faye Dunaway star in a Daphne Du Maurier story - Diana Rigg won a Best Supporting Actress award
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| Tea With the Professor 1996
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Antony House, Port Eliot Estate.
Frankfurter Films for German TV
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| Thief Takers 1996
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St. Ives - The Towans.
Carlton for ITV Network
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| Plunge 1997
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Fistral Beach - Newquay, Watergate Bay.
Kate Winslet
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| All the Little Animals 1997
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Wheal Coates, St. Agnes Area.
Recorded Picture Co.
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| A Respectable Trade 1997
|
Charlestown in Cornwall
Period drama set in Bristol about love, greed and ambition set against the slave trade in 1788. Jenny Agutter, Richard Briers, Warren Clarke, Emma Fielding, Anna Massey.
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| Coming Home 1997
|
Prideaux Place, Lelant, Godrevy Point, Penzance, Porthgwarra Beach, Marazion, Cornwall
Rosamunde Pilcher Story with Joanna Lumley, Peter O'Toole, Emily Mortimer, Penelope Kieth, David McCallum.
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| The Red Dress 1998
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Pencarrow
A Rosamond Pilcher novel filmed by a German company.
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| Frenchman's Creek 1998
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Charlestown, Helston, Padstow, St Clement, in Cornwall
TV version of Daphne Du Maurier's story starring Tara Fitzgerald.
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| The Shell Seekers 1998
|
Lands End. Lamorna Cove and Marazion.
Rosamunde Pilcher story starring Angela Lansbury and Patricia Hodge
|
| Mansfield Park 1998
| Charlestown, Cornwall
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| Wives & Daughters 1999
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Charlestown in Cornwall
Period drama about middle-English society on the eve of the Industrial Revolution
|
| Mrs Bradley Mysteries: The Worsted Viper 1999
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Trevose Head in Cornwall
Diana Rigg in a Lavish murder-mystery stories set in the 1920's
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| Nancherrow 1999
|
Chapel Porth, Wheal Coates, Towan Head Newquay, Bodmin and Wenford Railway.
Sequel to Coming Home from the novel by Rosamund Pilcher. Starring Susan Hampshire and Patrick Macnee.
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| Pandaemonium 2000
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Charlestown in Cornwall
The story of the relationship between Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.
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| Saving Grace 2002
|
Port Isaac, St Endellion, Boscastle,Trebarwith St Tudy in Cornwall
Comedy horticultural film starring Brenda Blethyn and Craig Ferguson. Plantations of cannabis have been found growing on Penwith's clifftops.
|
| Bitter Sweet 2002
| Contemporary love story set in Cornwall. There are two versions of the film, one in English and a subtitled version in the Cornish language
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| Die Another Day 2002
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The Eden Project. The opening squence of the film of a North Korean battlefield was shot at Holywell Bay near Newquay.
James Bond Movie.
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| Wild West 2004
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Portloe
Comedy series set in the fictitious Cornish village of St Gweep, which is actually the village of Portloe. Starring Dawn French.
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| Ladies in Lavender 2004
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Cadgwith, Helston
Ladies in Lavender is based on a short story by William J. Locke. Starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.
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| Doc Martin (2004)also series 2(2005 & series 3 2006)
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Port Isaac
Mini series starting on ITV starring Martin Clunes. The series is based on the character Martin Clunes played in the comedy film Saving Grace
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Cold and Dark (2005)
| A horror film starring Luke Goss filmed at the South West Film Studios, in St Agnes Cornwall.
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| Guns, Money and Home Cooking (2005)
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Porthleven.
A comedy thriller starring Vinnie Jones and Ronan Keating
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