IN ST. IVES HARBOUR
"There is a charm in the Cornish coast which belongs to no other coast in the world." So wrote Dean Alford many years ago, and no portion of Cornwall possesses greater charm than the section as seen from Newquay Beacon. Like so many of its neighbouring holiday resorts, Newquay was a very small and not very well known little place until the Great Western Railway gave it four trains a day from London, advertised its charms in the press, and depicted them in glowing colours on innumerable posters. The result is that Newquay has boomed to such an extent that it is now the great centre of attraction on the north coast. Twenty years ago Newquay was little more than a cluster of cottages, but so rapid has been its development that we seem to be centuries away from the days when there was no fashionable hotel on the Headland, and when the place was reached along a jolting little mineral line from Par Junction.
The town itself is not old enough to be interesting, and as it possesses no "front" but few of its streets command a view of the bold promontories, fine beaches, tidal inlets, and the singularly blue sea, that make it such an attractive place for a holiday.
As Mr. J. Henwood Thomas says: "One of the chief glories of Newquay is its grand headland. Running right out into the Atlantic it forms a bold, natural pier, in comparison with which the costly artificial piers which are to be found at most watering-places of repute are mere toys. Nothing can be more exhilarating than a walk to the extreme end of this jagged promontory. It is like breathing a vitalizing essence."
Here, on the beaches of Newquay and Fistral Bay, one may go to the verge of the waves, and breathe the ozone that rises from the line of breakers, without the necessity of making detours to avoid fruit-stalls and bathing-saloons. Fortunately the fine sands around Newquay have not yet become a mart for sweetmeats and cocoanuts, nor are they the happy hunting ground of the negro minstrel and other troupes of fantastic entertainers.
The chief, and one might say the only glory of North Cornwall, is the magnificent line of coast, particularly that portion of it bounded by Bedruthan Steps on the one hand, and Watergate Bay on the other, with Mawgan Porth and Beacon Cove lying between.
At low tides Watergate Bay has a splendid stretch of sands, more than two miles in length, and along the cliffs here sea-pinks, sea-lavender, and golden samphire may be found, although the last named is becoming extremely rare. The cliffs along this portion of the coast are pierced by numerous shady caves and caverns, some of which, like the Cathedral Cavern and the one known as the Banqueting Hall, are of vast extent, and are not infrequently used for concerts and other entertainments held in aid of local charities.
In spite of the necessary changes and improvements due to the ever increasing number of visitors, there is still much that is primitive to be seen around Newquay. Almost every ruin, rock, and church has its legend, more or less ancient and authentic, and once off the beaten track there is much that will interest the lovers of saint and folklore, as well as the admirers of coast scenery of a bold and broken kind.
All visitors to Newquay make their way to Crantock "churchtown", situated on the western side of the Gannel, a small tidal stream which is crossed by means of a plank bridge. The village of Crantock is ancient and interesting, but the great attraction of the place is the church. Less than a dozen years ago the fabric was in a ruinous condition until the vicar succeeded in raising sufficient funds with which to preserve the building. In his appeal for help, an appeal that was well responded to by the visitors to Newquay, the vicar explained that "the foundation dates from the sixth century, when the Celtic Bishop, Carantoc—or Cairnech—whose name the church bears and who was a companion of St. Patrick, first founded a religious cell here. The church became collegiate before the time of King Edward the Confessor, and continued so, with large endowment, until it was utterly despoiled, and its community scattered by King Henry VIII."