Author: gloversure

The North coast of Cornwall is a smörgåsbord of beautiful beaches and great surf breaks to which Mawgan Porth is of no exception. A few miles north of Watergate Bay, Mawgan Porth is a picturesque village with everything you could need for a great holiday!

Mawgan Porth Beach has all the right ingredients – sitting at the bottom of steep cliffs, this large sandy beach has rock pools, rolling surf and amazing sunsets.  It’s no wonder The Times named it one of the best beaches in Britain stating ‘There are better-known and busier beaches in Cornwall, but few can match the raw beauty of Mawgan Porth’. Mawgan Porth Beach is one of Cornwall’s quieter beaches making it popular with families with younger children.

Coming off the beach and exploring the village you’ll find the local deli, cafes, surf shops and hire, craft workshops and jewellery and clothing boutiques.

Trans Surf takes centre stage in the village, selling and hiring surf equipment and more. From wetsuits to custom made boards, vintage Levis and cowboy boots to fair trade Cornish clothing you could search the store for hours.

 

Next door you’ll find Roo’s Beach. With a sister store in Porth, Roo’s Beach is building a reputation as the ‘beachiest’ boutique in North Cornwall. Fun and funky is the only way to describe their eclectic style.

 

And don’t forget to visit Disco Beads. Created in 2009 by jewellery designer Vic Harrigon, as quickly as she could make the jewellery she was selling it. Now with her own shop in Mawgan Porth, you can purchase ready made bracelets and necklaces or create your own.

Disco Beads have a mirror inside which makes them highly reflective giving them the bright and glowing look of a disco ball when they catch the light.

After a few hours retail therapy we’d worked up an appetite for coffee! At the end of the village we spied ‘Laid Back Coffee co‘, an independent, mobile coffee business selling great coffee and home baked cakes from the back of a 1969 Morris Minor Van.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for proper pub grub served at morning, noon and night (full English breakfasts and muffins, freshly filled baguettes from Chough Bakery in Padstow, and stone baked pizzas), then the Merrymoor is for you.

Walking back towards the beach we were nearly convinced by the Kingsurf guys to take a surf lesson. Running since 1997, Kingsurf has taught thousands of people how to catch the waves and ride them all the way into shore.

There is a great local vibe in Mawgan Porth; the residents of the village really work hard to keep everything local. If you want an authentic Cornish holiday, Mawgan Porth is for you.

Check out our holiday lets in Mawgan Porth.

Summer is here, sea temperatures are warming and marine wildlife is teeming around our shores. It’s the perfect time to set foot beyond the beach and try coasteering.

It’s been a long winter gazing seaward. But the time has come to twist your perspective on the Cornish coastline. As the ocean warms up this is the season to take the plunge and explore the swell-lashed territory where land meets sea. Coasteering brings you face to face with marine life, while taking you into creases of our rugged shores that are inaccessible by any other means. Be prepared for your knees to wobble and your heart pound as you swim through gulleys, ride whirlpools, explore sea caves, scramble up cliff faces and leap from rocky ledges. A coasteering trip isn’t for the faint-hearted, but for families with an adventurous streak, there’s no better way to get under the salty skin of North Cornwall.

For coasteering virgins, you can expect your initiation to go a bit like this… Feet and hands clinging fast like barnacles to the rocks, trying desperately to resist the pull of the swell taking you back into the sea. Heart in your mouth as you leap from a granite ledge. Salty bubbles of adrenalin bringing you back to the surface where you bob like a seal (only ungainly and badly dressed), eyeing gulls and cormorants that swoop overhead. Coast path walkers are just specks on the land; they have no idea what it feels like to see the coast from out here. You ride the next surge of the ocean into the mouth of a sea cave. Another hit of adrenalin. You’re addicted.

The terrain you will witness is unlike anywhere else in the country with its sheltered coves, wave-hewn headlands, natural sluices and smugglers’ caves. And there’s no better time to experience this territory than in summer. “After a long winter the wildlife goes into overdrive,” explains Ben Spicer of Cornish Rock Tors. “In inter-tidal zones you might see starfish or giant spider crabs, while a seal might pop up in deeper waters.” Elliot Walker of Pure Activities agrees: “Coasteering is an amazing activity to experience in summer when clifftops are covered with gorse and wild flowers, birds return from their winter migrations, dolphins are exceptionally playful and sunny days make sea temperatures more comfortable.”

Despite full-throttle adventure credentials, coasteering is a family-friendly activity and doesn’t require superhuman levels of fitness. Launching off sea cliffs and disappearing into tidal caves might feel like breaking all the sea-safety rules that have been drummed into you, but in the hands of expert guides you’re doing so in a safe, controlled environment. There are coasteering trips for all ages and abilities, from easygoing routes for first-time families to power coasters (with aid of a RIB boat) for extreme adrenalin junkies.

“Newquay is the hub of coasteering in the South West,” declares Rob Barber of Newquay Activity Centre. “So standards of service are high.” He points out a culmination of factors that make the coast between Newquay and Polzeath an incredible place for coasteering: “Not only are we lucky enough to have the Gulf Stream warming our waters, but it’s down to the fusion of pristine environment, some of the country’s most eye-catching indigenous wildlife and consistent swell.” Whatever you encounter on a coasteering trip it’s the raw beauty of the coastline that smacks you squarely in the face. Well, that and the North Coast swell.

Where can I have a go?

Extreme Coasteering

Adrenaline Quarry

Cornish Coast Adventures

BREAKING NEWS:  Dinosaurs have been spotted in the St. Austell area heading towards Eden Project.

Until now dinosaurs were thought extinct, but it seems the abundant plant life of Eden Project has given the prehistoric creatures new life.

The team at Eden are calling on all junior (and senior) explorers to help them track down the escaped dinosaurs and learn all about our Earth’s past.

There is no time to lose, we must find the dinosaurs!

Head to Eden Project this summer between 21 July and 2 September for a truly immersive experience, Dinosaurs Unleashed, it’s a sensory feast that you’ll never forget! Step boldly into an ancient, exotic landscape of raw earth, rocks, roots, ferns, dripping mosses and giant redwood trees, habitat of the frog, snake and giant centipede. As you walk through atmospheric morning mist, you’ll hear Pterosaurs soaring overhead and smell the subtle scent of conifers on the air.

Become an explorer – Clue up at Basecamp before striking out on your expedition. At this first base, you’ll learn all you need to complete your quest around Eden.

Explorer Field Stations – Meet explorers from the past. Find out why they went down in history as some of the greatest adventurers and what we can learn from them.

The Crater of the Tyrant King – Dare you enter the Crater? You’ll encounter the most feared predator of all, a Tyrannosaurus rex, as it devours its Triceratops prey!

The Dig Pit – Dig deep into the past to uncover a dinosaur skeleton, and see how humans discovered and pieced together this world by finding fossils. A great activity for the whole family to get stuck into! There will also be a junior version for the under-5s.

Dinosaur exhibition – In our Core building, discover why people are so fascinated by dinosaurs. Find out why scientists think they were so BIG and why they think they were wiped out 65 million years ago.

The exhibition will also feature an amazing collection of dinosaur fossils that has never been publicly exhibited before, including real dinosaur eggs, a fossilised brain, a whole skeleton and a real T-Rex tooth.

Adventure Journal – When you arrive at Eden you’ll be given a free Adventure Journal where you can record details of your adventure here.

Note for parents and carers of youngsters (of a possibly nervous disposition): the Crater of the Tyrant King is an authentic and immersive experience. It shows a very realistic (and slightly gory!) scene. Please check with our staff if you have any questions/concerns before joining the queue.

Cornwall’s next generation of cooking talent have been in competition to win the title of Top Chef across Cornwall and the winner has a could be part of the in-house catering team at a Beach Retreats property!

Merryn McCluskie, age 12, from Mawgan Porth was announced the overall winner at the final cook-off at Treviglas School on June 28th. Coming through a series of heats, Merryn was crowned overall winner across all age groups after a ‘masterchef’ style cook off in front of a respected judges including two from Fifteen Cornwall. The prize includes a Fifteen Cornwall apron and day at the restaurant in Watergate Bay.

Merryn is the daughter of Pippa and James who run Blue Bay House in Mawgan Porth. They provide an in-house catering service for guests – everything from a grand banquet to picnic baskets, so it’s easy to see where Merryn picked up her cooking skills.

Merryn cooked her favourite food – asparagus – as part of the two courses in the final:

Tregassow Asparagus wrapped in pancetta served with wild leaves and flowers, parmesan shavings and drizzled with French dressing.

Fresh fillet of Cod with a herb crust, baked and served with a lemon butter sauce, seasonal vegetables and Cornish new potatoes.

Read more about Blue Bay House and their personalised in-house catering options for guests.

After all those questions about the differences between Brazil and Cornwall we’d worked up an appetite. Luckily Aline was on hand with a traditional Brazilian pie and we’d brought some traditional Cornish treats in the form of pasties and cream teas.

Brazilian chicken pie or torta de frango, in Portuguese, is very different to a British pie. Usually served cold, it can be eaten with hands, much like a pasty. Substituting gravy for a light cream cheese sauce, this is the only thing you should be eating on match days during the World Cup.

Serves 8

Ingredients

Pastry
600g plain flour
500g margarine
1 egg
Pinch of salt

(Can buy pre-made shortcrust pastry to save time)

Filling
1kg chicken breasts
2 onions
4 cloves of garlic
1 can of sweetcorn
2 chicken stock cubes
250g cream cheese
100ml tomato sauce/ passata/ chopped tinned tomatoes
2 dessert spoons of corn flour
Chopped parsley

Other ingredients such as mushrooms or olives can be added if you wish.

Method

Pastry
Place the flour and salt into a bowl and add cubes of butter.

Combine with your fingertips until you achieve a texture of coarse breadcrumbs with no butter remaining.

Break the egg into the mix and bind.

Wrap the dough in clingfilm for 10-15 minutes before using.

Filling
Meanwhile boil the chicken breasts in water with stock cubes until its tender.

Once cooked, remove the chicken from the stock and shred.

Chop the onions and garlic cloves and saute in olive oil until the onions are soft.

Add the shredded chicken and saute for a few more minutes.

Add sweetcorn to the mix plus the tomatoes and any other ingredients you want to use.

Add the two dessert spoons of corn flour and stir until the sauce thickens.

Finally add the cream cheese and parsley and stir once more.

Set aside to cool.

To construct
Set aside a quarter of your pastry and roll to about 0.5cm for the lid of the pie.

Roll the remaining pasty to, again 0.5cm thick and place a greased oven proof dish.

Once the filling is cold fill the pastry dish evenly. Place the pastry lid on top and seal the edges.

If you have any pastry left over you could decorate the pie.

Coat the lid with an egg wash and place in the oven for 40-45mins at 180 degrees or until the pastry has turned golden brown.

Let it cool down before you serve so the filling stays together. You can then enjoy this pie whilst watching the football!

And if you fancy whipping up some homemade pasties check out our recipe here.

The World Cup is all anyone is talking about at the moment…including us, we’re hooked. And with all the talk of Brazil we got to thinking, ‘how does Brazil differ to Cornwall’. To answer our questions we asked friend of Beach Retreats, Aline, and her family to join us for a Brazilian-Cornish lunch.

Names:  Gustavo Pinhata Silva, Aline Del Bianco Dalfre, Paulo Humberto Dalfre and Nelia Del Bianco Dalfre.

Home City:  Sao Paulo, located in South East region of Brazil.

Q. What are the main differences between Cornwall & Brazil, apart from the weather?

When I first moved to Cornwall I was surprised at how narrow and windy the roads were. It took me a while to get used to them as in Brazil our roads are newer and follow the grid like pattern of the US. There is also a lot less traffic here so everywhere is far quieter.

Looking out at the coastline of Cornwall, it’s far more rugged. In Brazil we don’t have big cliff-scapes instead the coast gently slopes down towards the sea, which happens to be much warmer than the Atlantic!
(Watergate Bay, Cornwall)

 Q. What differences are there in the Food and Drink?

In Brazil we have a lot of national dishes, much like the Cornish have pasties and cream teas, in Sao Paulo feijoada and dobradinha (tripe). Throughout Brazil the different regions all flavour a different dish which is mostly influenced by the colonies that settled in Brazil many years ago.

In Sao Paulo our community is made up of a lot of Italians so those flavours are distinct in our food, however, you can find a lot of German, Portuguese and Spanish influences too.

(A Brazilian and Cornish table of food)

Brazil is known for Cachaça which is a distilled alcoholic spirit made from sugar cane, mixed with some sugar, lime and ice to make Brazil’s national cocktail Caipirinha.

(Samba Caipirinha cocktail)

Check out the 24 Traditional Brazilian foods you need to eat right now – BuzzFeed

Q. How are the beaches different?

Beaches in Brazil are far more crowded. When the weekends or holidays hit Brazil everyone leaves the city and heads to the beach.

(Rio)

Along every beach you’ll find kiosks selling food (fish, shellfish, chicken, fries etc), drinks – alcoholic, coconut water and ice cream. Drinking Caipirinha’s is very popular on the beach!

Depending where you are in Brazil,  beaches are better for different activities such as sunbathing & relaxing, windsurfing, surfing or snorkeling – there’s a coastline offering something for everyone (Brazil has 7,491km of coastline!)

 Q. What would be a typical beach holiday in Brazil – self catering, hotel?

Most families book self catering accommodation as holidays are seen as an opportunity to get family & friends together.  Self catering offers more of a home from home experience where the family gets together to eat and drink and enjoy time together.

Q. What’s a typical way you spend a day during a beach holiday in Brazil?

We’d usually spend the whole day from early morning until it gets dark relaxing, going for dips in the warm sea, playing volleyball or football and even going for rides on the banana boats.

Q. Are dogs allowed on the beaches?

If there are dogs on the beaches they’ll be street dogs as it’s illegal to take your dogs on the beach. Unlike the UK families don’t take their pets on holiday with them.

Q. What are the preparations like for the World Cup in Brazil?

There is a lot of buzz surrounding the World Cup. People are really interested in the players drafted for the teams and whether they would have made the same choices. We are excited to be the host for 2014 and can’t wait for the big parties to celebrate every win!

Q. What’s the atmosphere like on a Brazil match day?

Brazilian match days are seen as a social event and another great excuse to get family and friends together. Brazilians love any excuse to throw a BBQ with lots of beer.  You won’t see many burgers or sausages on the grill through, we go for big cuts of steak and chicken!  Others may go to a bar where the owners would have laid on more screens and chairs to accommodate the crowds – wherever they are there is always a good atmosphere!

 Q. Football is a popular sport in Brazil, which team do you support?

In Sao Paulo there are teams such as Palmeiras  and Corinthians (similar to Man Utd & Man City). Both Sao Paolo teams and big rivals so there’s a bit of a division here with the Silva’s supporting the Corinthians and the Dalfre’s supporting Palmerias.

 Q. What other sports are popular in Brazil?

1. Volley ball (beach & court)

 

1. Foot volley (volley a football over the volleyball net)

 

1. Indoor football

 

1. Ladies football

 

1. Handball

 

1. Swimming

In cities you’ll find courts with imported sand used for beach volleyball and beach football.

And finally, who is going to win the World Cup?

BRAZIL!

WORLD CUP FACTS:

– This is the second time Brazil have hosted the World Cup.

– 2014 is the most expensive World Cup ever.

– Brazil is the most expensive team in the World Cup.

– Argentina won the last two World Cup’s held in South America, winning in 1986 in Mexico and 1978 in their homeland.

– 25 referees will officiate the World Cup 2014.

– A European team has never won a World Cup hosted in South America but it is Germany who are best placed to do so.

– This will be the first World Cup with goal line technology.

– Brazil and Germany are tied for most World Cup games played, at 92 a piece.

– The all-time leading scorer in the World Cup is Brazil’s Ronaldo, with 15 goals.

– The highest scoring game in World Cup history was in 1954, when Austria defeated Switzerland 7-5.