Poldhu Cove is a west-facing beach owned by the National Trust. Although the cove is fairly narrow, the profile of the beach is quite shallow so the tide goes out a long way to create a beach of a reasonable size at low tide. The beach is normally sandy, but the huge storms in the winter of 2014 stripped the sand from this and the surrounding beaches, leaving behind shingle and pebbles. However, there is little long-shore movement of sand in this area, so the sand stayed "parked" a short distance offshore and subsequent storms have returned it to the beach.
In 1669, the San Salvador was en route from the Baltic to Le Havre with a cargo of timber when it was wrecked somewhere near Gunwalloe. For many years, it was thought that the San Salvador ended up in Dollar Cove, but it is now thought that it is likely to be the wreck found by divers driven into the cliffs of Poldhu Cove. The remains include a number of small iron cannon, and Spanish silver real coins (also known as "pieces-of-one") have been found on the rock ledges.
From mediaeval times until Victorian times, the Spanish currency was based on silver coins known as real (meaning "royal"). A hefty one-ounce silver coin worth 8 silver reals was known as the dollar or piece of 8. Higher value gold coins were also issued including the escudo (worth 2 dollars or 16 reals) and the doubloon (worth 2 escudos or 32 reals). Due to its high uniformity, the Spanish Dollar was used as international currency for many centuries and is the coin upon which the US Dollar was based. The pieces of 8 coins featured the pillars of Hercules, depicted as columns with S-shaped scrolls wrapped around them, and this may be the origin of the dollar symbol.
The Schiedam was a Dutch ship in the East India service. It was captured in 1863 by French privateers on the way back from northern Spain with a cargo of timber, but was soon re-captured by an English galley frigate and then served in the English Navy fleet. In 1684, on a return voyage from the military evacuation of Tangiers, the vessel was driven ashore at Gunwalloe Church Cove in a gale. The ship was carrying navy miners, horses and machinery as well as guns and stores which had been captured in the assault. It is reported that the Gunwalloe locals plundered the stores from the wreck together with the ship's sails and cables. The remains of the wreck were rediscovered in 1971, the surviving objects being mainly those of metal such as pewter spoons, brass candlesticks and copper cooking kettles. It is now a designated historic wreck site.
In December 1918, the Norwegian cargo ship Heidrun was on its way from Swansea to Rouen with a cargo of anthracite to support the war in France. On the day after Boxing Day, they rounded Land's End and encountered a violent storm in Mount's Bay. The ship disappeared without trace and all the crew were lost.
A wreck off Gunwalloe was thought to be a ship known as the Ibis for many years as a life ring from the Ibis had been found floating at this location. However a local diver recovered a plate from the engine block from which the ship was identified as the Heidrun. The discovery was the first news that relatives of the crew in Norway had received of what had happened and a party of them flew over to talk to the divers. As a result, the relatives arranged for a memorial to be placed in Gunwalloe church.
The church giving Church Cove its name is said to be on the site of the monastery of St Winwaloe - a 6th Century Breton, and appears as the manor of Winnianton in the Doomsday Book. It's also possible that the saint was matched to a similar-sounding name, as beside Gunwalloe is Chyvarloe, from the Cornish, chy war logh meaning "house on the lake". Gunwalloe could have similar origins such as goon war logh which would be along the lines of "downs by the lake".
The current church was restored in 1870 but dates from the Middle Ages. The detached tower is thought to be the oldest part, dating from early mediaeval times. The church was extended in the 15th Century and the bedrock next to the church was excavated in preparation to add a tower to the church itself, but this was never carried out.
Dollar Cove is named after the silver Spanish dollars that have occasionally been found from the wreck of a 18th century Spanish Galleon, which is now thought might have been a lost vessel known as the Rio Nova and not the San Salvador which was also wrecked nearby. The ship wrecked in Dollar Cove was carrying two and a half tons of the coins from Spain to the Bank of England for safe keeping during their war with France. In January 1787, she was driven ashore at Dollar Cove in a violent storm. The ship broke in two and spilled the coins into a gully in the bay. The silver dollars found so far are dated from 1765 to 1777.
A number of schemes were tried in the 1840s to recover the silver dollars from Dollar Cove. These focused around the under-sea gully where the ship had reportedly spilled its treasure. In 1845 a company was formed to dam the gully from the sea so that it could be pumped dry. After a month's work to construct the dam, on the night before the gully was due to be drained, a storm obliterated the dam. Two years later an attempt was made to drive a mine shaft beneath the gully and up towards the surface so that the sand and coins would fall into the shaft. No coins emptied into the shaft, but the Atlantic Ocean did, and the miners barely escaped with their lives.
The name "Halzephron" is well documented as being derived from "Hell's cliff" in Cornish, but note that the "Hal" at the start does not mean "hell"; the words in Cornish are the other way around: als (meaning cliff) and yfarn (meaning hell). The cliffs were given their name due to the many ships that were driven ashore and wrecked here. Some of the bodies that washed ashore are buried on the cliffs as there was no legal requirement to bury the bodies of shipwrecked sailors in churchyards until the start of the 19th Century.
There are panoramic views of Mount's Bay from the end of the headland.
In November 1807, the army transport ship "James and Rebecca" was homeward bound with a squadron of the 9th Light Dragoons including their wives and children. At midnight, she ran aground at Halzephron Cliff due to a navigation error compounded by the dark night. The ship's guns were fired and many local people came to the ship's assistance. Over half the people onboard were rescued using a rope chair, but about 80 were still onboard when the ship broke up. Roughly half of these were rescued from the water but 10 sailors, 28 soldiers and 3 children died.
In November 1872, a sailing vessel called "The Lochleven's Flower", carrying a cargo of grain, was caught in a south westerly gale as it crossed Mounts Bay. It was obvious that she would not be able to escape the bay and must run for the shore. Local people gathered along the beach and the Porthleven lifeboat was launched. To the surprise of all, the crew disembarked into small boats and rowed to the shore. An account was published in the Western Morning News:
Breaker after breaker was surmounted. The features of the poor fellows were plainly seen, and it was hoped some at least would reach the shore. But a few seconds dispelled all hope. No sooner was the last roller passed than the boat fell into the truck, a huge mass of water rose like a wall, and all were engulphed. The boat was smashed into splinters, and the seamen were seen struggling for a short time in the white seething waters, and in sight of unavailable assistance and pitying friends they perished. An attempt was made by joining hands to rescue some, but the sea claimed its victims and all were soon lost to sight.
Meanwhile, the unmanned ship was driven against Halzephron Cliffs and smashed to pieces. It was thought that if the crew had stayed aboard the ship, they could have been rescued.
In 1846, the Norwegian ship Elizabeth was carrying a cargo of salt and was driven into the cliffs at Gunwalloe by a gale. Two men and a boy drowned and are buried in Gunwalloe churchyard but the landlord of the Ship Inn - Henry Cuttance - managed to rescue the remaining four members of the crew. He was awarded a silver tankard by the King of Norway. In 2017, a number of his possessions were sold at auction and the tankard fetched over £8000. Amongst the other items sold was a ledger of smuggled goods including brandy, cheese and cotton.
In January 1527, the San Antonio was sailing from Lisbon to Antwerp with a cargo including copper and silver ingots, cloth, candlesticks and musical instruments. The cargo was extremely valuable, with an equivalent value in the order of hundreds of millions of pounds today. The vessel encountered bad weather and anchored in Mount's Bay, hoping for it it pass before rounding the Lizard. However her anchor cable snapped and she was driven towards the shore. The captain attempted to beach the vessel on the shingle of the Loe Bar but instead struck the reef just off the beach near Fishing Cove. The ship was destroyed and nearly half the crew drowned. Much salvage took place from the wreckage and the survivors accused some prominent local gentry of robbery with violence. The King of Portugal pressed charges and a court case followed but the outcome is unknown, however, there is evidence that the estates of the three accused landowners grew substantially afterwards, presumably assisted by the value of goods salvaged. In the 1970s, a copper ingot was recovered by a shellfish diver, but the significance of this was not understood and the location of the wreck was not known until 1981 when a holidaymaker discovered a copper ingot washed up on the beach. A local diver then found a melon-sized ball of silver weighing nearly 9kg lying on the reef. The wreck is now protected and no diving is allowed within 75 metres of its position.
Records from the cellars indicate a pilchard industry was already established at Fishing Cove in the early 19th Century and likely dates from at least the previous century. Winches along the cliff edge were used to help bring boats up the beach to get them clear of tides and storms. During the 19th Century, capstans (similar to the one at Penberth Cove) were used to raise the boats but hardly anything remains of these. The winch remains you can see today are from the 20th Century and include the remains of a petrol engine.
The Halzephron Inn was built in 1468, making use of the timber from shipwrecks. Many features of the pub are centuries old, including the bar counter. Within the thick wall between the lounge and "Fishermen's Bar" is a shaft leading to a tunnel. It is thought this connected the Inn to a nearby monastery and is also said that it connected to a passage from Fishing Cove, used by smugglers.
The settlement of Chyanvounder was first recorded in 1345 when it was spelt "Chyenvondre". The name transliterates from Cornish as "Cottage the lane", but the implication was probably "on" or "beside". A lack of prepositions still hangs over in Cornish dialect in use today such as "We'm goin' beach". The Cornish word for lane, bownder, crops up on quite a few road signs these days. In case you're wondering where the "b" went, it mutates to a "v" after an (the Cornish word for "the").
Public byways are rights of way down which motor vehicles may be driven depending on how brave you are and how expensive your car is to fix. You are also permitted to use a horse-drawn carriage, should you own one. Byways tend to be surfaced in an ad-hoc manner either with gravel or occasionally with a smattering of tarmac, but still leaving plenty of room for a good crop of grass to grow down the centre. They are conventionally marked using red waymarks or a "Public Byway" sign. There are 130 miles of byways in Cornwall.
The ruined building is part of the remains of the lost settlement of Burgess, recorded as a farm tenement in 1840 and still extant at the start of the 20th Century. The byway connected this to the main road at Chyanvounder.
The succulent leaves of navelwort can be eaten and used in a salad. Older leaves become more bitter so the younger leaves are recommended. The crunchy stems can be added at the last minute to a stir-fry as an alternative to beansprouts. Care should be taken not to pull roots out of a wall when breaking off leaves.
The Latin name of the buttercup, Ranunculus, means "little frog" and said to be because the plants like wet conditions. It is thought it may have come via a derogatory name for people who lived near marshes!
The bramble is a member of the rose family and there are over 320 species of bramble in the UK. This is a big part of why not all blackberries ripen at the same time, and vary in size and flavour.
Common knapweed (also known as black knapweed) is most easily recognised by its bright purple thistle-like flowers but without spiky leaves. It's actually a member of the daisy family and is often seen along paths and roadside verges. Other names for the plant include "hardhead" (used in Cornwall in Victorian times) and "loggerhead" due to the sturdy flower heads. "knap" is from the Middle English word for "knob" and consequently another name for the plant is "knobweed".
It is an important plant for pollinating insects and was rated in the top 5 for most nectar production in a UK plants survey. In terms of plants that produce both nectar and pollen, it is rated as the top producer overall, producing a good amount of each.
The collective noun for a group of crows is a "murder". The term has been traced back to around the 15th Century, originally as a murthre (which was a Middle English word that meant "murder"). It is thought that the expression may be based on crows scavenging carcasses.
The buildings at the top of the hill form a settlement known as Chypye.
The settlement of Chypye dates from mediaeval times - the first record of the name is from 1492 when it was written Chypy. The name is thought to be based on the name of the owner as well as the Cornish word chy, meaning "cottage".
Researchers think that hemlock produces alkaloid compounds to attract pollinating insects. The compounds are volatile so they evaporate in the warm weather and carry in the air. Although the plants are poisonous to mammals, they are the main food plant of some butterfly species.
Wetlands act as sponges, storing and gradually releasing water which helps to prevent floods and buffer river levels during dry periods. Sediment and nutrients washed off the land by rainwater are absorbed by the wetland plants, feeding the wetland ecosystem but also filtering and cleaning the water before it enters rivers.
The grassy slope here can be a good spot for parasol mushrooms.
Along the coast, from June onwards but particularly in the late summer and autumn, parasol mushrooms are common. They are one of the easier mushrooms to recognise due to their huge size (and umbrella shape when fully open). The brown flecks on their otherwise white flesh are caused by the rapidly expanding young mushroom bursting through a brown outer coating as it grows (a bit like "sugar puffs" breakfast cereal!). Other characteristic features include a snakeskin-like brown pattern on the stem and there's often a ring around the stem which is detached (can be carefully slid upwards to verify).
Despite their large size, parasol mushrooms are quite delicate and cook quickly. Any heavy-handed cooking (e.g. frying) causes them to shrivel away to nothing. We've had good results by gently folding slices of the parasol into a sauce just a couple of minutes before serving so it gets lightly cooked but the texture is preserved.
Trees need a lot of water. A large oak tree can absorb around 450 litres of water per day, most of which is released into the atmosphere as water vapour through transpiration. Trees therefore help to reduce flooding from heavy rain in low-lying river floodplains and also reduce erosion from runoff.
A broad-leaved dock produces around 60,000 seeds each year and the seeds can survive a long time in the soil, thus accumulating over time. Docks are also able to regenerate from small root fragments and survive a range of challenging conditions from arid ground to being submerged in floodwater. The combination of these factors makes them very hard to remove from farmland.
The name "daisy" is thought to be a corruption of "day's eye" (or "eye of the day", as Chaucer called it). The name comes about because the flower head closes at night and opens each morning. In mediaeval times, it was known as "Mary's Rose".
Willow trees are usually found in wet places including riverbanks and waterlogged ground. Common species include grey willow and goat willow but these often hybridise so they are more often known by the more broad-brush collective term "pussy willows" (due to their catkins). In January the fluffy, grey male catkins appear and and turn bright yellow in March when they release their pollen. Then in April, the fertilised female catkins develop into woolly seeds. In early May, air can be filled with the downy seeds that look a bit like dandelion seeds.
Since the multi-lobed leaves are found in shade, whist the teardrop leaves are found in sun, this allows the leaves of ivy plants growing up trees to be used as a compass. Unless something is in the way then the sunniest side of a tree is to the south and the shadiest is to the north.
The settlement of Sowanna was first recorded in 1201 by a Latin-literate scribe as "de Sancto Ywene". The original Cornish name is likely to predate this and is possibly from the Cornish word sen, meaning "Saint", and the name of the Saint in question, which would have been something along the lines of "Wenna".
A beef cow produces around 30kg of dung per day. As dairy cows need to eat more to produce milk, they also produce roughly double the amount of dung which adds up to around 20 tonnes per year.
Cow dung is high in nitrogen compounds which makes it a useful fertiliser but depending how this is spread on the fields (e.g. sprayed as a liquid), harmful ammonia can be released into the air and run into watercourses. Large tanks of slurry can also decay anaerobically releasing methane so storage mechanisms are being re-examined in light of climate change.
The settlement of Cury is thought to date from a religious settlement in the Dark Ages. The circular shape of the churchyard is thought to be the remains of this. In 1201, the settlement was recorded as "Eglosculy". The name is from the Cornish word Eglos, meaning church, and the name of a Celtic saint, so it is thought that there would have been a church here by this time.
The church is dedicated to St Corentin and the building dates from the 11th Century. An 11th Century doorway and font remain from this time. In the 13th Century, it was owned by an Abbey in Gloucestershire and attached to the parish of Breage. In the 15th Century, the church was rebuilt and much of the current building dates from this time. Money was left for extending the church in the 16th Century but the work was never carried out.
The head of the mediaeval cross now standing in the churchyard was found lying in a ditch within the churchyard and was reunited with its base in 1849.
Another place that alexanders are commonly found is near the sites of mediaeval settlements, in particular religious settlements where they were cultivated by monks as a vegetable. In mediaeval cuisine they were used as an alternative to celery (which was a more bitter plant back then). It was traditionally one of the "pot herbs" that were added to stews and the dried seeds can also be used as a spice. Alexanders were particularly useful during lean winters as its new growth is available in the late Autumn, before many other spring greens.
Almost 90% of plants depend on pollinating insects. In the UK it has been estimated that honeybees pollinate crops worth about £200 million a year, and their total contribution to the economy may be as high as £1 billion.
Growing daffodils has been an important industry in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly for over a century. When the Great Western Railway reached Cornwall, this provided a means to export perishable goods such as fresh flowers and fish which previously would not have survived the long journey by boat or horse and cart. Out of respect for the dead, coffins were transported by the railway for free. It was therefore not unheard of for coffins filled with daffodils to arrive in London from Cornwall.
A typical large onshore wind turbine can produce enough power for over 1,000 houses. The wind turbines being built offshore are larger and benefit from it being windier much more often, so each one can power thousands of homes.
The footpath that continued ahead leads to Nanplough farm. The farm was first recorded in 1302 when it was spelt Nasbloth. The name is from the Cornish words nans, meaning "valley", and blough, meaning "bare".
At the top of the field was the mediaeval settlement of Pentire which was first recorded in 1327. The last record of the settlement still standing was in 1813. By 1880, all that was left was a small enclosure, and even that has now disappeared.
Lampra Mill is recorded on the Tithe map of 1839 and on later OS maps as a corn mill - but it was probably around for some time before this. There were two sources of water available: the small stream which the route crossed a little earlier via a footbridge, and a leat was also run from the main river at Chypons. The 1839 Tithe map shows a large pool above the mill fed by the two water sources which then drained via a short third channel into the main river just below the mill. Another pool is shown further up the stream with no other mills in between so presumably this was some kind of header reservoir.
The track from the mill is planted with camellias. There are also snowdrops, daffodils, primroses, and wild garlic which flower along the track in spring.
Camellias are native to eastern and southern Asia. The first camellia grown in England was in 1739. Many varieties now popular in Britain as ornamental garden plants are from species collected during plant hunting expeditions in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They were regarded as the ultimate luxury flower in Victorian times.
The channel alongside the driveway was the mill leat connecting to the stream at Chypons. Part-way along the leat crosses beneath the driveway to the other side which seems to be the original configuration from recordings on Victorian maps.
Chypons dates back to mediaeval times and was first recorded in 1416. The name is Cornish, meaning something along the lines of "Bridge Cottage".
The streams in the area rise on the moorland of Goonhilly Downs and combine to form the stream that enters the sea at Poldhu Cove.
The farm that you pass on the right is Polhormon.
The settlement of Polhormon dates from mediaeval times and was first recorded in 1301. The spelling has drifted around over the centuries - the road is Polhorman Road (with an "a" rather than "o"). It is thought that a number of the existing buildings date from the 1880s.
At the junction, you can make an optional diversion to the left into Mullion to the church and pub, which are approximately one-third of a mile from the junction.
The church in Mullion dates from the 13th century but most of the stonework that can be seen today dates from the 15th Century with some restoration in the 20th Century. The main south door dates from the 13th century and has a dog flap to allow restless sheepdogs to be released during a long service. The wooden-studded north door is thought to have been brought from another church and to be around 1,000 years old. The north door was known as The Devil's Door as it was opened during baptisms to allow evil spirits to escape. The carved bench ends are thought to date from Tudor times and the wood is reputed to be from an ancient oak forest that once covered part of the Goonhilly Downs.
At the first bend in the track, just before you reach Angrouse Cottage, is a pedestrian gate on the left behind which is Mullion's commemorative stone to John Wesley.
John Wesley's visit to Mullion is commemorated on the stone near Angrouse Farm, engraved in 1762 which simply says "ST 1762". Wesley was invited to preach in Mullion by the wife of the farmer at Angrouse and "ST" is the initial either of the farmer or his wife (their surname was Triggs and the "S" is either "Samuel" or "Sue", short for Ursula). Wesley also recorded the event in his journal:
I rode on to Mullion, near the Lizard Point. A man who was a sinner gladly received us, for he knew God had received him - having been deeply convinced of sin the last time I preached near Helston, and not long after filled with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. A flame was kindled almost as soon as I began to speak, which increased more and more all the time I was preaching as well as during the meeting of the society. How tender are the hearts of this people! Such is the advantage of true Christian simplicity!
Angrouse Cottage is thought to date from the early 18th Century and was once the farmhouse for Angrouse Farm. It is said that the original roof beams included deck planks from wrecked ships. The name is Cornish for "The Cross", and may refer to a mediaeval wayside cross which was once nearby.
After his successful preliminary tests near Lizard Point, Marconi set out to build a high-powered transmitter, one hundred times more powerful than any built previously. He selected the site near Mullion as it faced West, had a hotel to accommodate the workforce, and was away from the prying eyes of competitors and the press. Work began in October 1900 and a huge circular aerial was constructed supported by a ring of twenty masts each 200ft tall.
By September 1901, Marconi was close to being ready to make a long-range test transmission, but a gale in Mount's Bay destroyed the massive Poldhu aerial. A makeshift "fan" aerial was hastily constructed as a replacement.
Marconi then travelled to Newfoundland by steamer and found a site where he could hoist aerials attached to kites and balloons. He then had to wait for a lull in the bad winter weather to get his kite aloft and finally on 12 December 1901, Marconi made history by detecting the Morse code for the letter "S" on his earphone.
The wireless transmission from the makeshift aerial at Poldhu had successfully propagated over 2,000 miles of open ocean by repeatedly bouncing off the electrically charged layer in the upper atmosphere and the reflective surface of the sea.
Marconi later said that "the experiment had involved risking at least £50,000 to achieve a result which had been declared impossible by some of the principal mathematicians of the time".
The Marconi Centre was erected in 2001 to mark the 100th anniversary of Marconi's transatlantic experiment and is the base for the Poldhu Amateur Radio Club, with displays on the history of the site.
After the success of his experiment, Marconi developed Poldhu into a wireless station to communicate with ships on transatlantic routes. It operated commercially until the 1920s, and played a key role during the First World War. It was closed and demolished in the 1930s, leaving only embankments in the field and concrete foundations as a reminder of what was once here.
Snowdrops are a member of the onion family. Although it is often thought of as a native British wild flower, the snowdrop was probably introduced in Tudor times, around the early sixteenth century.
Snowdrops are one of the earliest plants to flower. They use energy stored in their bulbs to generate leaves and flowers during winter, whilst other plants without an energy reserve cannot compete. The downside to flowering so early is that pollinating insects are more scarce, so rather than relying exclusively on seeds, they also spread through bulb division.
Snowdrop bulbs are poisonous but contain a chemical compound which is used in the treatment of early Alzheimer's, vascular dementia and brain damage. The plant produces another substance in its leaves which inhibits the feeding of insect pests. This is being researched to see if this substance can be introduced into other plants to reduce the use of pesticides.
In October 1910, the French schooner Olympe was on her way to Swansea with a cargo of wood for use in the coal mines when she was driven ashore at Gunwalloe Church Cove in a gale. The crew were saved by workers from a nearby hotel who formed a human chain to get the men ashore. Along the high-tide line, the beach was strewn with the cargo.
Golf developed in The Netherlands during the Middle Ages and was introduced into Scotland towards the end of this period where it evolved to its present form. The word golf is thought to be a Scots alteration of Dutch colf meaning "club". Golf is first documented in Scotland in a 1457 Act of the Scottish Parliament, prohibiting the playing of the games of gowf and futball as these were a distraction from archery practice.
In mediaeval times, golf balls were made from wood. In the 17th Century, the "featherie" was created, made from leather and stuffed with feathers. In the mid-1800s, balls moulded from sap were the first to be mass-produced. They could also be heated and re-cast if they went out of shape from being hit. However people noticed that battle-scarred balls that had been used a long time seemed to fly more consistently. Golf ball manufacturers began etching different protrusions on the surfaces in attempts to improve the aerodynamics. The potential of a ball of elastic bands was discovered by a bored golfer waiting for a friend to finish work and by the 1890s, these were being coated in sap to make golf balls. In the early 1900s, it was found that indentations (rather than protrusions) on the surface resulted in better aerodynamics.
The word "tee" is from the Scottish Gaelic word taigh meaning "house" and is related to the coloured circles known as a house in the sport of curling. Teeing off was originally done within a circle of one gold club length from the hole. A mound of sand would be placed somewhere within this circle and the ball rested on top. In 1892, an Englishman patented a rubber-topped wooden peg which was sold as the "Perfectum". In 1899 an American dentist designed "an improved golf tee" consisting of a wooden cone containing a rubber sleeve to hold the ball but this didn't seem to catch on. Peg-based tees were adopted widely by the 1920s.
The slightly long-winded name of Gunwalloe Fishing Cove is to distinguish it from Gunwalloe Church Cove and from other Fishing Coves in Cornwall (one at Godrevy and another at Trebetherick Point next to Daymer Bay). It's also known as Halzephron Beach.
The beach is mostly sand with some small ridges of rock. Along the top of the beach, the sand is fairly coarse and this gets finer towards the low tide line. There's not much beach at high tide but at low tide the beach runs all the way to the Loe Bar.
It is a deceptively dangerous beach despite its innocent appearance which makes swimming very unwise. As well as strong currents around the headland, cavitation of the shingle beneath the sand caused by breaking waves makes it easy to fall or be hit by a projectile pebble, be stunned and inhale seawater. Both humans and dogs have drowned along this stretch in recent years. Local names include "Death beach".
Since water drains away quickly through the sand, marram grass has evolved a number of strategies to capture and retain water including its waxy, curled leaves which contain hairs inside to minimise evaporation caused by moving air. Its roots form a fibrous mat which traps water but also plays a vital role in stabilising the dunes by stopping the sand blowing away. During the 17th Century, large amounts of marram grass were harvested for thatch and this destabilised the dunes so much that farms, estates and even entire villages were buried.
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