Cornwall takes a Herculean battering

Weather. The British love to hate it. Ask a foreigner for one of the Great British stereotypes? Talking about the weather. And queuing. With the South West of the UK taking a battering from various storms (with and without cool Greek God names) over the last few weeks, it’s been impossible to escape the media overload of Hercules this, mega storm that.
So, rather than doing the expected and having a whinge about the delayed trains, damp carpets and completely obliterated sea fronts, we thought we’d round up a bunch of stormy goodness for you to enjoy from the warmth of your own home.

See, weather AND queuing, as Newquay locals risk damp hair and wet feet to be a part of the huge backwash hitting Towan Beach.
Photo via Jess Monk

By the next morning, a huge part of the sea front became part of the sea…



Newquay’s Fistral has taken the brunt of the storm’s wrath over the last few weeks. The amount of sand swept away from the beach has left access from the car park pretty much impossible, a six foot cliff has been chopped out of the sand, leaving North Fistral looking more like a battlefield than a beach.



One of the most concerning outcomes seems to be the RNLI Lifeguard building. All the sand from underneath the two storey building has vanished, to the point where the vehicle access ramp floats above ground level. The signs attached to the foundations are warning that the whole place needs a thorough going over by some clever structual engineering chaps, before anyone goes anywhere near it in a pair of red Speedos.

Of course, it goes without saying, that the most obvious casuality of all these high tides and high winds is Newquay’s beach bar. This place is full of holiday makers and locals alike for the whole of the summer. Here’s hoping that the powers that be can get the balcony ship shape before summer arrives. I’ll happily pay some kind of Rattler tax to help them out…
Here’s some more stormy goodness from around the world wide web…

There’s some fun to be had, Alan Stokes get shacked and snapped.
Video: Roger Sharp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2esxl8en3GM
Snapped boats in France!

Surfing up rivers (and under bridges!) in Bude

And lets not forget, there’s more to come!
Photos: Lewis Harrison-Pinder