Cornwall: Constantine Bay to Padstow 11/7/2000****

 

Goose barnacles   Arca tetragona   Chauvetia brunnea   Irus irus	On Constantine beach we found goose barnacles Lepas anatifera washed up by stormy seas.  At Booby Bay the coastguard had erected red flags to warn of heavy surf in front of a strong north wind.  At the far end was a slate seat, reflecting the rock dominating this coast.  Many of the stiles, too, are of slate, a vertical slab at the top of a couple of slate steps.  The attractively-marked introduced snail Theba pisana ran riot over the vegetation as the path ascended to Trevose Head.  A strong honey scent wafted from meadows of white clover.  There was golden samphire, dyers greenweed and the local rock sea-lavender Limonium britannicum ssp britannicum on the cliffs.  We passed a collapsed sea-cave, “Round Hole”.  The bare path housed multitudes of mining-bees that flew up at each step.  At Trevose Head the wind blew at gale force, bombarding us with stinging rain, forcing a retreat to the lighthouse.  Through a small disused quarry in an outcrop of igneous rock the path descended past a lifeboat station in an isolated position at the bottom of the cliff into Mother Ivey’s Bay.   We had a close view of a kestrel hovering perfectly still in the fierce wind.  Most of the bays from here to Padstow had caravan parks above them.  We rose over another headland by pyramidal orchids to Harlyn Bay where, undeterred by what was now a heavy storm, and as other beach-users were scuttling away, kayakers were revelling in the surf.  We moved on quickly to Trevone Bay where winds brought foam from the sea right over the cliffs to pepper the fields with white patches like snow.  We saw a pair of fulmar.  Arable fields stretch almost to the cliff-edge and villages are some way up the valleys, so there are few facilities on the coast.  At least at Trevone we found a solitary beach café for a warming cup of coffee.  There is much concrete reinforcement of the cliffs here, to prevent erosion by the prevailing westerly winds.  We came to a stony beach with piles of storm-tossed limpet shells.  Another “Round Hole” now appeared in the middle of a field, with no fence to keep out sheep.  A few people had gone down a steep path into it.  We could see the sea entering, although well back from the cliff line.  Marshes and boggy streams featured bog pimpernel, bristle clubrush, southern marsh orchid and yellowwort.  The cliffs continued for a mile and a half with clear dark and light banded rocks all the way to Stepper Point where a tower had promised brief respite, but as low windows allowed the wind to enter and eddy furiously around inside, we made a quick exit.  The path turned up the large Camel estuary, at last providing shelter through scrub inhabited by dunnock and whitethroat as it passed between arable fields with many annuals like fluellen.  At the top of a low cliff was a patch of the rare yellow vetch.  The flowers were mostly over, but the hairy pods were even more conspicuous.  We eventually dropped down to the huge beach of Doom Bar, where fine sand held many small scallops and tiny gastropods, with dry wind-blown collections of older shells at the top.  We found specimens of Arca tetragona, Chauvetia brunnea, Irus irus and Turbonilla acuta.  A small inlet formed Harbour Cove where the saltmarsh had clumps of sharp rush.  In the long-grass meadow above, yellow bartsia grew very tall.  An easy path followed very low cliffs past a war memorial and the low-tide ferry point all the way into Padstow.  On the quay among lobster pots and crates we found further small shells that had been dredged up.  We stayed at Rick Stein’s famous Seafood Restaurant, which had been in Padstow for 25 years.  Naturally we tasted much of the local catch – monkfish, brill, and John Dory.			Theba pisana   Yellow vetch   Turbonilla acuta
Constantine Beach   Folded rocks approaching Stepper Point		Lighthouse at Trevose Head   Padstow ferry at Rock	Folding in Purple & Green Slates of Upper Devonian at Stepper Point