When it comes to choosing which sands to relax on in Cornwall, you can do much worse than choosing a National Trust beach. The organisation owns and manages a handful of stretches of sand across the county and they are always well-kept, safe and clean. Take Chapel Porth Beach, for instance. This may look like a pretty wild stretch from afar but, thanks to the dedication of the trust, it’s also a pretty welcoming one too.
Chapel Porth is just down the coast from the gorgeous and similarly National Trust-managed St Agnes Head, which is itself not too far from St Agnes village and neat family-friendly beach Trevaunance Cove, not to mention being pretty darn close to both Perranporth and Redruth too. In fact, taking a walk from Chapel Porth is a highly recommended activity as you can easily get to St Agnes Head and nearby Wheal Coates, where you can learn all about this area’s rich mining past, as well as its unique landscape, flora and fauna.
In fact, there’s a ton of mining heritage and history all around, with a handful of buildings perched on the clifftops that were once used in the industry of extracting copper and tin from the rocks around here. The views all around the beach are spectacular, really. One of the best times to visit is in the late summer as the hills that surround the sands are bursting with life and colour thanks to the yellow and purple blankets of heather and gorse that are strewn across the heathland.
There’s a pretty good coffee shop that’s imaginatively titled the Chapel Porth Beach Café here alongside some decent toilets. It’s all within easy reach of the car park, as is the beach itself, which is pretty big at low tide but disappears into thin water at high tide. A few caves surround the fine sands and the sea is always clean and clear. There’s a lifeguard service on the beach over the summer, as well as a seasonal ban on dogs. All in all, plenty to see and do at the Chapel. All thanks to the NT.