Friday 14 February 2014
Ann E Brockbank Novelist : Poldhu Cove, Cornwall -The perfect beach side offi...
Ann E Brockbank Novelist : Poldhu Cove, Cornwall -The perfect beach side offi...: Poldhu Cove Beach Café, where better to sit and enjoy the wonderful view, good food and lovely staff. A perfect place to find ins...
Poldhu Cove, Cornwall -The perfect beach side office
Poldhu Cove Beach Café, where better to sit and enjoy the wonderful view, good food and lovely staff. A perfect place to find inspiration for my second novel.
Poldhu Cove Beach is a small, west-facing beach on the Lizard Peninsula in south west Cornwall and one of my favourite. Nestling in a sheltered cove, protected by cliffs, this National Trust owned beach is a popular family beach, offering everything you could need for a wonderful day out. The beach is well used both in the summer and winter months, providing good waves for surfing and body boarding all year round.
To the south side of Poldhu Cove,
high up on the cliffs, stands the Marconi centre.
On the 12th December 1901, Italian
physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi succeeded in sending the first
radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean ,
disproving detractors who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit
transmission to 200 miles or less. The message, simply the Morse-code signal
for the letter "s", travelled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall , England ,
to Newfoundland , Canada
From that pioneering first
transatlantic radio signal we now benefit from broadcasting to
satellite communications, mobile phones, broadband, and of
course the World Wide Web. We have a lot to thank Guglielmo and of
course Poldhu for being at the forefront of it all.
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Poldhu Cove has been a haven for holidaymakers, and at one time cars were even allowed on the beach. Fortunately this practice was banned in 1987.
This photo is courtesy of the National Trust, though no one knows of the approximate date this photo was taken.
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At one time it was a common practice
for local farmers to quite legally remove sand from the beach. This
ancient right ‘for the betterment of the land’ was probably sustainable when
all they had was a bucket, shovel and horse and cart. But by the 1990s,
there were regularly fleets of trucks on the foreshore being loaded up by JCB,
this unsustainable practice was fortunately stamped out in
2007.
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In 1987 when the cars were banned
from the beach the National Trust embarked on a ‘Dune stabilisation project’. Marram grass was planted, which
is tolerant of salt, wind and drought, binds the dunes together with a network
of tough exploratory roots, and timber posts were installed, helping the dunes
to form naturally. This enabled windblown sand, to be trapped amongst the
vegetation, making the dunes grow. This also encourages rare and unusual
plants such as sea knot grass and sea holly to grow amongst the grasses.
Not only do the dunes look
lovely but they have an amazing ecosystem, rich in wildlife and provide a
natural defence against the ravages of storms and high winds.
When huge waves, breached the dunes in early February, it washed a good deal of the beach onto the seating area of Poldhu Café, but, the National Trust have been working swiftly to redistribute the sand back to where it came from.
So, all will be well again soon, the beach will recover, though it may take some time, but Cornwall is wild and wonderful, and I hope someday everyone comes down to Poldhu Cove and enjoy the view whilst sipping a cappuccino. Nothing, not wind, rain, hail or storm, would stop me from visiting this inspirational place. Besides I have another book to finish writing, and you can't write books without coffee and inspiration.
Read my first novel Mr de Sousa's Legacy - A Cornish Love Story which is available from
Poldhu Beach Café
Also available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle form
From Waterstones Truro, Cornwall and all UK Waterstones by Stock Transfer.
Take a look at the Webcam of Poldhu for your daily fix of a Cornish beach
www.seasidecottagescornwall.co.uk/webcam.html
www.seasidecottagescornwall.co.uk/webcam.html
Ann E Brockbank is currently writing her second novel, follow her on
Twitter @AnnEBrockbank1
And Facebook
Saturday 11 January 2014
Gweek and the Helford River- The setting for Mr de Sousa's Legacy A Cornish love story
View towards the mouth of the Helford River
The Helford River is a (flooded river valley) in Cornwall , United Kingdom
Gweek Bridge
The main areas of settlements that adjoin the river are Gweek, the setting for my novel Mr de Sousa’s Legacy. Gweek is larger than the other villages and has a larger permanent population, with more businesses, shops and a pub, The Black Swan Inn. The Black Swan is the home of my female protagonist the young widow Rachel Pendarvas and her unruly step daughter Verity.
The Black Swan at Gweek
where the love story begins.
A little further down the river, was the fictional hamlet and location for Pond cottage, used in my novel Mr de Sousa’s Legacy, where my characters witness the strange phenomenon which is Phosphorescence. If you are lucky enough to travel down river by boat from Gweek, the cottage, which is privately owned, can be seen on the north bank.
Excerpt from Mr de Sousa’s Legacy
They stood at the water's edge and listened to the night sounds of the river. As the water licked at their feet they both stood back a step and noticed glowing footprints where they had stood.
“Look at that.” Rachel exclaimed pointing to her feet.
“Oh God, it’s phosphorescence, I’ve heard about it but never seen it.” He bent down and selected a smooth flat pebble and skimmed across the still river. It splashed in a brilliant cloud of light, and left a distinct trail lasting for almost a minute, until it gradually faded. Rachel was mesmerised, she had never seen anything like it in her life. It was magical.
“Quick, go and get something warm for us both to wear, we’ll take the boat out. We can’t miss this opportunity. I’ll fetch the rowlocks and oars.”
A couple of minutes later, Adam had pushed the rowing- boat across the pebble beach, and they both climbed aboard pulling their coats about them. As soon as they hit the water they laughed out loud at the beautiful sight around them. Each dip of the paddle caused a swirl of luminescence, and in the wake of the boat, a gleaming trail was visible for at least fifty yards behind them. Every stroke, every motion through the water made it ‘come alive’ with green/blue phosphorescence. Rachel dipped her hand into the cool water and scooped a handful of light; the splashes she made sent thousands of diamond jewel-like droplets.
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Port Navas
Port Navas is the next village down and is home to the Duchy Oyster Farm and the ‘Port Navas Sailing club’. Its focal point the Grade II listed Port Navas Quay. The quay, owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, has been allowed to become degraded and damaged. A campaign group has been set up to protect and preserve Port Navas Quay and to reverse associated environmental damage in the
Helford Village
Helford village has a shop/Post Office, and pub The Shipwrights and is a truly beautiful tranquil place. It is also the home of Helford River Sailing Club. Helford Passage on the North bank has a pub, The Ferryboat. Durgan , also on the North bank is a small, picturesque village near the mouth of the
The river has long been an important industrial and agricultural marine highway serving local mines, farms and quarries as well as the local fishing industry. Most of this industry has now gone, although commercial fishermen still use the river to land their catch and the oyster fishery is being revived. The industries have largely been replaced by tourist activities, in particular those relating to the sea, although at the head of the river the landscape is dominated by the extensive operations of Gweek Boatyard and the base of marine drilling and construction company Fugro Seacore, although the latter has moved its main base to Falmouth. These businesses now dominate the head of the river where once coal and timber were landed. On the opposite bank is the Cornish Seal Sanctuary, where injured seals are nursed back to health before being released to the freedom of the
Thank you for reading my blog, if you would like to read my novel Mr de Sousa's legacy - A Cornish Love Story. You can buy it from the following outlets:-
Amazon Kindle
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DS6DO6A/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_5hy0sb1ZKN7CB via @AmazonUK
Paperback
Mr de Sousa's Legacy: A Cornish love story by Ann E Brockbank http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1490930760/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_pjy0sb0S4HZHY via @AmazonUK
Also available at Waterstones Truro and all Waterstones by Stock Transfer
Gweek premier shop, Cornwall
Poldhu Beach Café, Cornwall
The Black Swan at Gweek, Cornwall
Follow me on Twitter
Like my Authors page on facebook
https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Ann-E-Brockbank/229210743875484
Please come and visit the Helford next time you are in Cornwall, it is truly beautiful.
Ann xx
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