I went to Kynance Cove on The Lizard this Saturday morning, complete with my lovely sister and a small dog called Podge. As far as we know it was Podge’s first trip to the sea (she is a rescue dog), and she had a whale of a time, once she realised how water behaves on a beach!
With Podge, discovering the sea
It was a lovely day, sun shining, a crisp but not-too-cold breeze, salt on the air, and a very quiet beach, with only a few other friendly people sharing the beauty of the sea and sand. Dogs are allowed from 1 October until Easter, and Podge, after scrambling nervously down onto the beach from the rocks (she only has little legs), enjoyed the experience as much as we did.
Kynance Cove is lovely to visit in summer – it’s warm and you can paddle and enjoy an ice cream at the cafe – but it’s also very crowded. At this earlier time of the year, when the cold edge is leaving the air but the visitors haven’t yet arrived, it’s a different place – more peaceful, relatively secluded. You have longer to contemplate the view and investigate the swirling patterns of the serpentine in the rocks.
Kynance Cove
Sea campion at Kynance Cove
On our way across the beach towards the cafe we enjoyed some of the early signs of spring, including lesser celandine and sea campion. The mass of flowers that will soon adorn the cliffs are not yet there, but this made the sight of these few early flowers bravely blooming all the more lovely, with no competition to detract from their prettiness. Seeing them, these short-lived plants of delicate beauty, set against the aeons-old famous exposures of serpentine, the swirling waves of the sea and the warm-coloured sand, is a reminder of the amazing contrasts of time and form we find in nature.
Kynance sky
Also amazing was the delicious apple cake we enjoyed at the cafe, which we were delighted to find open!
If you want to take a spring trip to Kynance Cove, you can park in the National Trust car park signposted from the A3083 just before you get to Lizard Village. Parking there is free to National Trust members, but otherwise there’s a charge (less this time of the year than in the summer). It’s worth checking the tide times, as the beach is much more restricted at high tide. But then, you can always take the path that avoids the high tide and enjoy a delicious cake in the cafe while you’re waiting for the beach to reappear…
