NEWQUAY, SURFING FISTRAL BEACH

Fistral Beach, Newquay, is one of the best for surfing. There is a consistency and quality of surf. Newquay is often quoted as being the surfing capital of the UK.

It's a lovely stretch of sand and high on the cliffs is the impressive Headland Hotel.

The hotel was first opened in June 1900 and has hosted royalty. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were the first to stay at the hotel in the early 1900's. Charles, the current King, and also Princess Ann, the Princess Royal have also enjoyed several visits - at least I presume they enjoyed themselves! Hard to tell what they are thinking at times.

The town of Newquay is on Cornwall's north coast and is very much a seaside resort. The population of the town is around 20,000 but this shoots up to nearer 100,000 in the main summer season. So, to say it gets busy, is an understatement - it heaves with people in the main summer holiday period. The attraction? Sandy beaches, I believe there are 11! Oh, and surfing, as I have already mentioned.

In the photo above, on the cliff top is a small white building. This is the Huers Hut mentioned in a previous post.

Changing the subject: a while back there was a clean up of Fistral Beach Litter was found going back to the 1970s and 80s! The rubbish lay buried under a collapsed sand dunes.

I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about litter. I fail to understand why people can't take their rubbish home. Why pollute beautiful scenery? It's interesting though how some of the items found have survived for perhaps 30+ years. We really are polluting our Earth - and not just with plastic.

 Here are just a few of the items found under the sand dunes

# A 1984 Smiths Crisps packet  that offers a free Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Poster 

# Coca Cola can dated 1984 
# A Marathon chocolate wrapper also from 1984
# Packet of Golden Wonder crisps offering a model of a Laker Airways DC-10 - Laker went bankrupt in 1982!
# Burton's Smax
# Treets, who changed their name in 1988

And so it goes on.

That's it for today. It's cup of tea time,  and hopefully a biscuit or two

Thanks for visiting my blog ~ Mike.

Sand, Sea and Sunshine at Newquay, Cornwall

After we eventually found somewhere to park our car in Newquay we wandered slowly along the cliffs, all was well with the world.

The weather was perfect and there were flowers along the cliff tops. Lewinnick Lodge could be seen on the Pentire Headland.

Looking back the Headland hotel can just be seen,  to the right of the photo.

 If you like sand and lots of elbow room the Gannel Estuary must be paradise - but beware of the tides, this can also be a dangerous place to swim or wade.

We noticed this memorial bouquet amongst the shrubs. A reminder, perhaps, to appreciate our loved ones.

It's quite pleasant to sit overlooking the sand dunes.

We then retraced our steps.

There was a reminder not to fall off the cliffs. We were happy to comply with the request.

Getting nearer to the Headland Hotel, built in 1897, and the popular Fistral beach.

A closer look at the majestic Headland Hotel. It was was opened in June 1900 and has hosted royalty. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were the first to stay at the hotel in the early 1900s. The current Prince of Wales (Prince Charles) and Princess Ann have also enjoyed several visits - at least I presume they enjoyed themselves! Hard to tell what they are thinking at times.

Gradually the colours of the evening could be seen.

During the day, in the summer months, cars are parked along the road ... 

... this is because there are paths leading to Fistral Beach and also many hotels  - with the Headland Hotel in the far distance.

That's all for today, all good wishes ~ Mike.

P.S. It's interesting how many people worldwide are interested in Cornwall. Here are the top 10 countries visiting my blog over the previous month.

(1) UK - I guess this is expected.

(2) USA

(3) Germany

(4) France

(5) Australia

(6) Canada

(7) Ireland

(8) Italy

(9) Russia - most unexpected!

(10) Netherlands