ACTIVITY BREAKS HAYLE ONDERING WHERE to go for an action-packed W caravanning break? Well, I reckon North Cornwall is hard to beat. Of course, the activity that springs to mind at the mention of Cornwall is surfing. And just down the lane from the Club’s Godrevy Park site you’ll find the excellent Gwithian Academy of Surfing, on the beach beside the Sandsifter Hotel. If you’ve never caught a wave before, this is where to start. It’s a beautiful spot, the dune-backed beach stretching four miles from Godrevy Point to the Hayle Estuary. On top of that, the academy offers teaching for all levels. A two-hour lesson is recommended for learning the basics – that should be enough to get you standing on a board in medium DID YOU surf. The first half hour is spent on shore KNOW? dealing with issues such as safety and Mick Fleetwood of ‘self-rescue’. Then you spend half-an-hour rockMac band wasRedruth Fleetwood born in body-boarding to put it all into practice. Safety equipment – full-face helmet, seen, in ruined mine buildings and The second half of the lesson starts on goggles, body armour, elbow and knee pads ventilation shafts, spoil heaps, ponds and the the beach again, learning how to get from and gloves – is supplied, and you must wear copper-coloured River Carnon as it flows lying on the board to standing – in the blink full-length trousers, long-sleeved tops and beneath the Carnon railway viaduct. Main image: learning to surf at the of an eye! Not only must it be done quickly, trainers. Three types of Yamaha quad bike Refreshments are available at pubs along Gwithian Academy but you must be correctly positioned on are available. The bigger-engined models the trail, including The Fox & Hounds and the board to maintain balance. are capable of 35mph, which feels fast as The Plume, both at Scorrier, and The Old Above: quad biking Unsurprisingly, you’ll spend a lot of time you dice wheel-to-wheel with other bikers. Quay Inn at Devoran, as well as at Elm will test your off-road driving skills hauling yourself onto the board for the It may not be racing as such, but it can be Farm Cycle Centre (the Bike Barn) at paddle back out through the surf. Hence a competitive. Twenty minutes on the full Cambrose and the Bissoe Café, both of Below: on the Coast second lesson is a good idea, so you can really circuit costs £25 for over-16s, 30 minutes which offer bike hire. n to Coast Trail get to grips with controlling the board. cost £30. Under-16s are £5 less. It’s very physical, so you need to be fit There are plenty of opportunities for and able to swim 50m. Lessons are held more traditional activities in the area, too, INFORMATION twice daily from April to October, subject such as hiking and cycling. Walkers have to conditions, with prices starting at £30 the South West Coast Path, which is harder per session, including use of board and work than you might imagine as the trail BOARD wetsuit. However, the more lessons you negotiates the rugged coastline. There book, the cheaper it works out. For are plenty of narrow lanes for lovers of example, a two-day special, with four two-wheeled transport, although these two-hour lessons, costs £85. can be frighteningly busy at times. For those who don’t like getting wet, Offering a great alternative are the but don’t mind a bit of mud, quad biking Mineral Tramways, a 38-mile network of might be more fun. The ATV Centre at tracks around Camborne and Redruth Blackwater, just off the A30 east of making use of the old tramways that served SITE Full details of Godrevy Park Caravan Club Site can be found on Redruth, has a mile-long circuit comprising local copper and tin mines. Open to cyclists, GAMES p75 of the Sites Directory & Handbook 2011/12. To book, call tight turns, undulations, a long straight and walkers and horse riders, they seem most 01736 753100 or see caravanclub.co.uk/searchandbook. Don Jolly catches some various jumps to test your bravery. First, popular with cyclists, especially the Coast waves in the surfing capital though, you need instruction on the learner to Coast Trail which runs for 11 miles from CONTACTS circuit before a couple of acclimatisation Portreath on the north coast to Devoran on n Gwithian Academy of Surfing – call 01736 757579/755493 laps on the short circuit. the south coast’s Restronguet Creek. It is or 07905 630345 or see surfacademy.co.uk of England and seeks out n – quad biking. Call 01872 560753 or see the longest of the individual routes, its The ATV Centre atv-centre.com other, more leisurely pursuits largely gentle gradients making for a n The Bike Barn – cycle hire and map. Call 01209 891498 or ❖ comfortable round-trip of 22 miles, almost see cornwallcycletrails.com all off-road on well-surfaced tracks. n – birdwatching at Hayle Estuary RSPB Ordnance Survey Other activity options Landranger Maps 203, 204 In its former existence, the tramway, part reserve (call 01736 711682 or see rspb.org.uk); BMX and of which dates from 1812 when the trams mountain biking at The Track, Parc Erissey, Redruth (call were horse-drawn, was used to transport 01209 211073 or see the-track.co.uk); horse riding from Wheal Buller Riding School, Buller Hill, Redruth (call 01209 copper ore from the mines near Redruth to 211852 or see cornish-riding-holidays.co.uk); coasteering, ships in Portreath and Devoran. The route, sea kayaking, surfing at West Cornwall Adventure, Portreath which ends close to Portreath’s harbour (call 07773 380604 or see westcornwalladventure.co.uk beside the Portreath Arms Hotel, passes through delightful woods and heathland, CENTRE ACTIVITIES and is waymarked by large granite stones Extend your stay in Hayle by finding out whether a Centre rally is taking place in the area. To search, log onto bearing an image of a mine engine house. caravanclub.co.uk/rallies. There are still industrial remnants to be 60 The Caravan Club Magazine August 2011 The Caravan Club Magazine 61.