42 St Merryn to Mawgan Porth
A spectacular coast in rainy weather – wide beaches of golden, fine-grained sand, jagged jumbles of cliff rocks, a lifeboat station that saved many sailors, two more huge, alarming, deep holes, and a famous beach at Bedruthan Steps.
The route, day 42
Down the hill from St Merryn, then all day on the Southwest Coast Path. 13.5 miles/21.5 km, 575 metres ascent.
Harlyn Bay
Harlyn Bay to Long Cove
Harlyn Bay looking west
View back to Harlyn Bay
Beach at Long Cove
Long Cove and lifeboat station
Padstow Lifeboat Station at Long Cove
Trevose Head to Porthcothan
Trevose Head lighthouse
Dinas Head
Constantine Bay, in better weather a surfers' beach, on this day with wind for kitesurfing
Minnows Islands
Portcothan
Two More Unnerving Holes in the Ground
A deep circular hole at Dinas Head, unfenced
The hole at Minicothan beach, with a view through a gap of the sand beyond
Porthcothan to Mawgan Porth
Bedruthan Steps, a famous beauty spot since Victorian times, but due to cliff falls the steps down to the beach were closed.
So I was unable to walk along the sands at low tide, and stayed on the cliff top, where summer flowers were turning brown.
A misty view of the cove at Mawgan Porth, not a long beach but deep, the sea receding a long way at low tide.
The beach at Harlyn Bay. John Sykes was here, 8 September 2024.