Perranporth

Perranporth has miles of golden sand facing the Atlantic Ocean, wonderful for surfers and walkers alike.   The amazing sand dunes here are important in terms of conservation, classed as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and are one of the largest dune systems in Cornwall, spanning 620 hectares.

In Cornish legend, St. Piran, the infamous merry patron saint of tin miners was washed up on the beach here in the 5th century. The story unfolds that he was thrown over a cliff by King Angus of Muster in Ireland tied to millstone. In rather miraculous fashion the millstone floated and brought St Piran over the Irish Sea to Cornwall. After landing on the sands St Piran made a fire to warm up and noticed a silvery liquid running from the stones below the flame. This liquid was tin, and from this point onwards St Piran took up the mantle of the Cornish Tinner's and the many relics of engine houses on the cliffs around bear witness to this. 

Find stunning rock stacks at the south of the beach, a carved hermit cave in protected by a wooden door and a cliff staircase that takes you up to a magnificent ‘Millennium Sundial’, installed in 2000 and designed by local artist Stuart Thorn,  displaying Cornish rather than GMT Time.  Just to the north east of the village can be found the Perran Round,  an Iron Age hill camp where the amphitheatre would have been used for games and mystery plays. 

Modern pilgrims enjoy Perranporth for the three miles of golden sands offering every type of watersports from safe bathing to kite surfing. The beach is one of Cornwall's best loved with its huge wide perfect sands that seem to stretch into infinity - great for a pre-dinner amble. Several restaurants and pubs offer a wide choice of dinner from the laid back surf cool of The Watering Hole to the relaxed dining of St Georges Country Hotel. Anyone who has watched the television series Poldark, won’t be surprised to learn that Winston Graham wrote his first book here, and the detective Wycliffe was also created here by author W J Burley who lived at Holywell Bay.