The Beach
Backed by low dunes, the top of the beach comprises about 80m of dry, very loose sand, making it very popular with families. Lower down it is hard-packed. The beach slopes gently, and therefore the sea is shallow for quite a long way out. Even at high tide there is plenty of soft sand exposed.
On the eastern side of the dunes, erosion has formed sand cliffs over 4 metres (13 feet) high. New dunes are now building up close to the access boardwalk.
When the tide is fully out, the flats at the far south-eastern end extend for nearly a mile and almost reach Gwbert on the other side. However, due to the estuary there are unpredictable currents at this end of the beach.
At the north-western end of the beach there are rock pools which support a myriad of sea-life.
The area is a gathering spot for surfers and boogie-boarders. As such, daily surf reports are issued. The hard sand below the high tide line also attracts power-kiting, land-boarding and buggying.
The beach is dog-friendly. Although some restrictions apply in the summer months, there is nevertheless a large area set aside for dog-walkers. The beach and the estuary flats are popular with dog-walkers all year round.
For fishermen the beach offers good catches of flounder, cod and whiting in winter, and mullet can be caught near the river mouth. Salmon and sea trout run the river from March to October (an Environment Agency rod licence is necessary if trying for sea trout on the incoming tide).
Local photographer Michael Jackson spent a considerable amount of time between 2007 and 2012 photographing Poppit Sands beach, from above and at dusk. His work won numerous awards, including 3 Hasselblad Masters Finalist places (in 2008, 2009 & 2010). The work has been exhibited in the UK, Hong Kong, Copenhagen and New York, and has also been published in a book entitled "Poppit Sands Moonscapes".
Read more about this topic: Poppit Sands
Famous quotes containing the word beach:
“On the beach at night,
Stands a child with her father,
Watching the east, the autumn sky.
Up through the darkness,
While ravening clouds, the burial clouds, in black masses spreading,
Lower sullen and fast athwart and down the sky,”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
“Across the lonely beach we flit,
One little sandpiper and I;
And fast I gather, bit by bit,
The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry.
The wild waves reach their hands for it,
The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,
As up and down the beach we flit—
One little sandpiper and I.”
—Celia Thaxter (”Laighton”)