Rock this way!
As we strode out from Polzeath towards the mouth of the Camel Estuary the sky was jet black, an ominous rain cloud racing in off the Atlantic. By the time we reached this vast tidal inlet’s eastern entrance, Pentire Point on the headland, we were drenched. Wiping our rain-splattered glasses, we scrambled onto the point’s rocky extremity. From here, the panorama was simply immense.
Across the estuary’s broad mouth, a tower perched atop the Stepper Point headland marks the Camel’s western gateway. These two mighty promontories - Pentire and Stepper - shelter what is, actually, a ria (drowned river valley) from the Atlantic’s brutal rages.
Upstream, the Camel narrows to the fishing port of Padstow. To our south the Trevose headland, with its lighthouse, was clearly distinguishable. To the north, tracing the manic squiggles and bunched contours on my OS Explorer map, I could just about make out other peninsulas melting into the stormy distance towards Port Isaac.
Our outlook from Pentire Point more or less matched the area we hoped to walk, offering us
