Porth Sawsen beach

Porth Sawsen has been recorded as "Porth Saxon" on OS maps since the 1880s but records of Porth Zawsen date from the 1860s. It is thought to be based on a personal name. The beach faces south into the Helford river estuary so it gets the sun throughout the year. The estuary is quite sheltered from sea swells so there isn't much in the way of waves but currents in the river are quite strong, particularly at mid-tide. At high tide the beach is mostly slate pebbles but as the tide goes out there is some grey-gold sand. There is a WW2 pillbox at the left hand end of the beach where the pebbles increase in size to small rocks towards the low tide line.