The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

Cribyn & N escarpment

from Pen y Fan

102 The Great Outdoors Spring 2019

It was a good year for
reappearances, and when
winter storms stripped the
sand from Booby’s Bay, just
to the south of Trevose Head,
the 60-foot wreck of a German
ship re-emerged. Ater being
impounded in Cardif Docks
at the outbreak of World War
I, the SV Karl was being towed
to London when it broke free
during a storm and foundered
on this unforgiving coast, not
seeing the light of day again for
nearly 100 years.
Scatters of Mesolithic lint
tools, examples of particularly

rare Neolithic and Bronze Age

pots, a holy well and a medieval

church have all been covered

by the wind-blown sand in

the area, only to be exposed

again at later dates. All this

points towards the bay and its

protective headland having

been an important place for a

very long time.

When a JCB was driven

into a ield to dig test pits, not

far out along the headland

from the village of Harlyn, the

irst indications of a sizeable

village were exposed, sealed

beneath the sand and remains

of an early plough-soil. he

eventual trench was never very

big, but it was large enough to

reveal the hut circles, walls and

paved walkways of a sizeable

prehistoric village, complete

with broken pots, stone tools

and the remains of many a

ish dinner.

So, if you should choose

to walk this route, and if you

can tear your gaze from the

stunning coastal views, it

might be worth keeping an eye

on the ground. You never know

what a scufed boot-step might

uncover...

Further information

Maps: OS 1:25,000

Explorer sheet 106

(Newquay & Padstow)

Transport: First Kernow

bus A5 from Padstow to

Harlyn. Details from travelinesw.

com or 01637 871871

i

Information: Padstow TIC

(01841 533449)

[Captions clockwise from top]

Heading through the dunes to

Constantine Bay; Approaching

Trevose Head lighthouse;

Harlyn Bay; Round Hole