A little story from my archives

I visited Kynance Cove at the weekend with my wife, my son and a good friend who happens to be a former pupil of mine (circa 1988) and his girlfriend. It was a little awkward for my son as he was in the company of adults all day and before we left we asked him what he wanted to do so that he would have something special for himself. He said he wanted to scramble on the rocks. So I led him and my friend along the rocks. We started by judging the right time to leap into a gully and scale a little cliff while avoiding the sea as it flowed in and out. The little cliff was quite difficult to climb and I offered my son my hand to pull him up but he was determined to do it all himself.
Onve over the cliff we followed the rocks out until we reached a narrow crack in the rock and behind it was the most gorgeous rock pool, deep and teeming with life and totally inaccessible apart from by scrambling. A little further was an even more magnificent rock pool joined to the sea by a natural arch through which the water spiralled and foamed forming patterns of spray in the deep blue of the water always slightly different but always of similar form. There were shoals of fish there and rock to bask on. I thought of my daughters both mermaids who would love to swim here and discover its hidden depths with their snorkels.

You do not have to travel the world or be pushed to your physical limits to be an explorer, there is great beauty and adventure to be found close by you, you just have to be prepared to play a little and run the risk of getting your trousers wet.

Cornish Beach