Decided to have a low-tide outing today in the sunshine. Off we headed to Trebarwith Strand, a place we first visited before marriage and children, so that’s well over 34 years ago. Now it is an all-year-round dog-friendly beach, so that’s lovely.
It’s a beautiful place between Port Isaac and Tintagel, accessed by a narrow single-track lane down a steep-sided valley. The beach, once you get past the hefty stones, was busy though not packed, as the sun shone on an azure sea and the fabulous off-shore waves hit Gull Rock. It was an idyllic scene (ignoring the fact that I forgot my wellies and got wet feet).
What was sad was that, while parking in the council car park is currently free, people still chose to drive as far down as they could and park on the road.
Also, that virtually every house seemed to be a holiday let. It’s not surprising if locals have been priced out, of course, as the Daily Mail back in 2021 told of a former shop (I recall House on the Strand there from the 1980s) converted to apartments, offering a two-bedroomed property on the market at £495,000 (the shop was divided into three).
As the article says: Up until 2017, the site had operated as a shop, selling inflatable lilos, beach toys and ice cream to tourists and local beachgoers.
Trebarwith remains a beautiful place, a little pocket of gorgeousness, but the emptiness of those beautiful but vacant holiday lets will stay with me.
Plenty of people, but probably no real community there any more. Or am I missing something?
