In order to get down to the sandy beach at Bedruthan,
between Newquay and Padstow on the north Cornish coast, you have to descend a
long zigzag stairway, but these are not the steps in question!
The Bedruthan Steps are a group of sea stacks that stand on
the beach at low tide. At one time the coastline was beyond where the stacks
are now, but erosion of the slate cliffs created firstly caves and then arches
which collapsed, leaving the harder bits of rock behind as isolated stacks.
As one might expect, there is a local myth that explains the
stacks in far more interesting terms. This is that Bedruthan was a local giant
who used the stacks as stepping stones (hence “steps”), although nobody is all
that sure where he was trying to get to!
Visitors can make use of the clifftop National Trust shop
and café
that used to be the office of the Carnewas iron mine. This visit can be before
or after the climb down the wooden steps to the stone ones, at the base of
which can be found rock pools in which all sorts of small marine life can be
found.
The problem with climbing down a cliff is that you have to
climb back up again at some point. So maybe the Cornish cream tea at the café
can be your reward!
© John Welford
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