Re: Sennen Cove - got kind of rambly, sorry! Re: Something to do

June 30, 2001

I love Sennen Cove - I went there on a climbing course in 1995, I guess, and

fell in love with the place.

DH and I spent our first holdiay together there - well, camping in a village

just down the coast called Trewellard, and climbed the Commando Ridge at

Bosigran which is an easy but long route, with spectacular views. You

approach from a ruined mill shaft, and walk down to the cliff edge. There

is a cliff face to your right as you look out to sea, and the ridge is to

your left. You scramble over the crest of the ridge, and abseil down the

far side, down to the base. It has to be timed carefully, as the climbing

starts below high tide level, and once the tide is coming in there's no

retreat - you simply have to keep going up. The ridge was first climbed as

a Commando training exercise in the 50s, I think - men leaping off landing

craft and assaulting the ridge with hawser-aid ropes and in army boots: so

it can't be that hard!! Anyway, this was some years after DH had ostensibly

given up climbing and he was just there to humour me (though is a far better

climber than I) and once we got to the bottom, he put his boots on and led

off (climbing boots are kind of like ballet shoes, and very tight fitting

and slightly pointed at the big toe - they're very tight and you typically

buy them slightly too small so you can be sure your toes are on the rock,

and not an empty space at the end of your boots. They have 'sticky' rubber

on the sole and over the tops of the toes - the same stuff that airplane

tyres' inner tubes is made of). He's a good bit taller than I am, and had

no problem getting away. When he'd tied himself to a belay (safe point on

the rock) I set off. The first bit of the climb is vertical wall. You

stand at the blunt end of the cliff, with the water just below your feet -

very atmospheric and slightly intimidating. The rock here is very dark

black, and wet all day and covered in barnacles and sea-weed - very slippy.

I *just* couldn't reach the first few holds and ended up using a barnacle to

stand on - very bad ethics! - which popped off so I slithered down the rock

and ended up back at the bottom in a bad mood. Eventually, I moved round

the point of the ridge, and began climbing up the side - the rock still wet,

and in the shade now, so cold, but at least I was making progress! Once

above the high tide level, the climbing is more positive. The rock in

Cornwall is very, very good to climb - sharp granite with lots of crystals

and very easy to grip to, but unforgiving on clothes and skin! I had to get

off the side wall and onto the ridge proper. At this point, I was some 40ft

from the water - the tide was coming back in and crashing against the base

of the cliff in a fairly intimidating way, and the rock I was moving on is

in the shadow most of the time and fairly featureless and uninteresting.

DH, meanwhile, was bringing the rope in and watching the birds swooping

around, having a lovely relax!

It must have been nearly lunchtime by the time I made my way onto the

ridge - so we'd have been climbing for about 45 mins all told. Then we both

moved off together. After that, there are very few frightening moves - it's

purely the height and the exposure and the waves crashing below you so the

actual climbing is mostly a mind game. There was no real need to be roped,

but it's a hassle to take a rope off and coil it and so on, so we stayed

roped and occasionally used some protection. We saw all kinds of plant life

and birdlife that nobody simply walking on the cliff top would ever have

seen - seabirds with young in nests, butterflies basking on the rock,

lichens in interesting configurations. I have a wonderful photo of

looking like a conquering , standing up on the crest of the ridge with

the rope leading from him to me, and nothing but air and sea behind him! We

were climbing for about 3 hours altogether: taking it slowly and enjoying

the views and each others' company and the sun - it was a lovely, rich day

which I will always treasure.

The next day we cycled to Sennen and had lunch at the Gunnard's Head pub -

and saw a shoal of dolphins in the cove - about 10 of them, I think. We

raced up the cliff to watch them, and had a clear view of them all the way

round the point. Then back down to Sennen beach which, I swear, is one of

the best in the world - miles of white sand, blue sea and often very few

people. We've been back several times since - virtually once a year. It

was DS' first beach - and first climb,too - in Sennen Cove itself when he

was about 14 months, I suppose - scrambling (well, crawling!) over a big

boulder just before DD2 was born.

Next year, perhaps we'll go back - I've felt my climbing gear pulling me

towards the attic this year, but not sure I want to take it up again while

the DKs are so small...

Happy memories!

Vicki

> I'm not in a coastal area, but would highly recommend this. We spent

> a week in Sennen Cove last month, near Land's End

June 30, 2001

Sounds wonderful - I could almost smell the sea as you were describing

your climb

Todman

Treasurer, Stansted Branch (R5)

Mum to , 3½

I love Sennen Cove - I went there on a climbing course in 1995, I

guess, and

fell in love with the place.

July 1, 2001

If you ever get a break away from the children (probably not a good idea to

take them to the cliff edge!) you can walk up to the lookout post at the top

of the cliff past Sennen Harbour (past the art gallery - which is lovely,

have you been in? - and through the car park and keep on up the footpath).

Just before you get to the lookout post, there's a fork in the footpath

which, if you take the right hand branch takes you to a lovely spot on the

cliff edge where you can either stop and watch the climbers, or easily

scramble down the side of the cliff - honestly easily, it's just some

boulder hopping - to the platform where they climb from. It is a lovely

spectator sport - very ballet-ish! Though the language can be choice. The

platform is safe - it's above high tide level - and can be very atmospheric

in high waters as the waves crash over the edge and you all get sprayed!!

Vicki

Vicki Portman

http://www.plushpants.co.uk

Sennen Cove - got kind of rambly, sorry! Re: Something

to do

>

> > I love Sennen Cove - I went there on a climbing course in 1995, I

> guess, and

> > fell in love with the place.

>

> Oh, lovely to hear from another Sennen fan! I'm not a climber but

> you make it sound wonderful. It really was a great holiday this year

> and I'm tempted to rebook for next year already. We went down with

> my parents and one sister which was useful as DS3 was 7 weeks old, so

> there were spare hands/babysitters. We stayed in a wonderful cottage

> on the harbour front so 3 of the 4 bedrooms overlooked the

> spectacular beach/harbour/sea.

>

> The reason we had a visit to the lifeboat is because I'd been in

> touch with the wain who runs a website while waiting for a

> distress call (www.sennen-cove.com) which has bits of news about the

> village, latest lifeboat callouts (last night) and a daily picture,

> so while I don't check it every day, I often pop in to see that

> gorgeous beach with so few people on it......

>

> I'll keep quiet now before too many people find out about this

> place :-)

>

> Hannah

>

> *** NCT enquiry line - 0 ***

>

> Live chat http://www.yahoogroups.com/chat/nct-coffee

>

> Have you found out about all the other groups for the NCT online?

>

July 1, 2001

Yes, I know it. In fact, we stayed in a cottage just past the art gallery,

the last cottage on the left before you get to the Harbour car park, so

walking up to the look out was only about 5 minutes. I noticed on the

website that a climber fell there two weeks ago and had to be airlifted off

the rocks by helicopter from Culdrose, before being taken to hospital with

head injuries. I was not happy about taking the boys up there so didn't

spend too much time up there, but DH had a few good walks and my parents and

sister walked to Land's End a few times. My 4yo is quite sensible and will

hold my hand, but the 2yo is the type to run without looking where he's

going, usually watching me chasing after him and the more panic-stricken I

get, the funnier he thinks it is!! He is a little horror and not the type

to take up on a cliff top walk. Also it's difficult to chase after him with

a baby in a sling..... Maybe next year I will have more walks.

Have you been down this year already? There's a new cafe if you haven't

been down in the last year, as they only opened last July - it's called

z and serves the most fantastic cream teas, pasties, sandwiches, cakes,

breakfasts, coffees, etc. He does everything himself, it's all homemade and

he won't even use anything out of the freezer. You really notice the

difference compared to other cafes. You can tell where I spent most of my

time on holiday when not chasing after the children!!

Hannah

Re: Sennen Cove - got kind of rambly, sorry! Re:

Something to do

If you ever get a break away from the children (probably not a good idea

to

take them to the cliff edge!) you can walk up to the lookout post at the

top

of the cliff past Sennen Harbour (past the art gallery - which is lovely,

have you been in? - and through the car park and keep on up the footpath).

Just before you get to the lookout post, there's a fork in the footpath

which, if you take the right hand branch takes you to a lovely spot on the

cliff edge where you can either stop and watch the climbers, or easily

scramble down the side of the cliff - honestly easily, it's just some

boulder hopping - to the platform where they climb from. It is a lovely

spectator sport - very ballet-ish! Though the language can be choice.

The

platform is safe - it's above high tide level - and can be very

atmospheric

in high waters as the waves crash over the edge and you all get sprayed!!

Vicki

Vicki Portman

http://www.plushpants.co.uk

Sennen Cove - got kind of rambly, sorry! Re:

Something

to do

>

> > I love Sennen Cove - I went there on a climbing course in 1995, I

> guess, and

> > fell in love with the place.

>

> Oh, lovely to hear from another Sennen fan! I'm not a climber but

> you make it sound wonderful. It really was a great holiday this year

> and I'm tempted to rebook for next year already. We went down with

> my parents and one sister which was useful as DS3 was 7 weeks old, so

> there were spare hands/babysitters. We stayed in a wonderful cottage

> on the harbour front so 3 of the 4 bedrooms overlooked the

> spectacular beach/harbour/sea.

>

> The reason we had a visit to the lifeboat is because I'd been in

> touch with the wain who runs a website while waiting for a

> distress call (www.sennen-cove.com) which has bits of news about the

> village, latest lifeboat callouts (last night) and a daily picture,

> so while I don't check it every day, I often pop in to see that

> gorgeous beach with so few people on it......

>

> I'll keep quiet now before too many people find out about this

> place :-)

>

> Hannah

July 1, 2001