THE sandy beach encountered just before reaching the neighbouring settlements of New Polzeath and Polzeath in North Cornwall is Pentireglaze Haven which is joined to the huge Hayle Bay beach, at Polzeath, at low tide.

Polzeath, itself, faces west and is renowned among surfers for the quality of its waves. The resort, with its wide range of facilities and amenities for holidaymakers, has a surf lifesaving club and a marine conservation group.

The village of Trebetherick sits closeby and many of its properties have been built to benefit from views of the Camel estuary. Daymer Bay beach fringes part of Trebetherick and is popular with swimmers and windsurfers.

The sandy beach at Pentireglaze Haven around the corner from Polzeath in North Cornwall. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)
The sandy beach at Pentireglaze Haven around the corner from Polzeath in North Cornwall. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)

When the tide is out, the beach links up with long expanses of sand on the estuary’s shoreline. The Doom Bar, a dangerous sandbar, as the name would imply, is located in the estuary off Trebetherick. Hundreds of vessels have been stranded or wrecked on the bar which can be seen at low tide.

Legend has it that St Petroc, a patron saint of Cornwall, first landed at Trebetherick before crossing the estuary and going on to establish himself at Padstow, originally known as Petrocstow, in the 6th century.

The Camel estuary seen from the Trebetherick coast near Daymer Bay. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)
The Camel estuary seen from the Trebetherick coast near Daymer Bay. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)

Brea Hill rises to over 200ft above the south side of Daymer Bay and is the location of Bronze Age burial mounds. From the hill, you can look over the St Enodoc Golf Club links courses. Among the fairways is St Enodoc Church which was lost to the shifting sands in the area for part of its long history before being dug out and renovated in Victorian times. Twentieth century poet laureate Sir John Betjeman is buried in the churchyard, his headstone looking out towards the sea. The poet had a long association with the area.

*Andrew Townsend is a journalist and writer. He further explores the county in the travel book, Cornwall Favourites For One And All!: A Quick Guide To Good Places To Visit Across The County, which is available in print and as an ebook. More details on Andrew’s books and ebooks can be found via this link to his author page on Amazon - https://bit.ly/AndrewTownsendAuthor

Cornwall Favourites For One And All!, a lovely tour around the county, is available as an ebook on Amazon.
Cornwall Favourites For One And All!, a lovely armchair tour around the county, is available as a book and an ebook on Amazon. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)