Polzeath

Polzeath
The beach at Polzeath.
OS Grid Reference:	SW937788
Lat/Lon:	50°34′N, 4°54′W
Population:	1,449 (2001 Census, includes Trebetherick)
Dwellings:	460 (2001 Census, includes Trebetherick)
Formal status:	Village
Administration
County:	Cornwall
Region:	South West
Nation:	Cornwall
Post Office and Telephone
Post town:	POLZEATH
Postcode:	PL27
Dialling Code:	01208

Polzeath is a small village on the North coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a location for surfing, with waves rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean. There are lifeguards on the beach during the daytime in the season. Dolphins may sometimes be spotted and the surrounding coastline is a particularly good area for many types of coastal bird including puffins.

The main beach is totally covered on a spring high tide. The car park has known to be covered by water but this only happens on a spring high tide with an extremely large tidal surge.

There are many local shops, providing everything required for the holidaymaker. Within the village are a number of pubs, cafés and restaurants.

On September 2, 2007, 300 surfers arrived at Polzeath beach, Cornwall to set a new world record for the highest number of surfers riding the same wave (as part of the Global Surf Challenge and part of a project called Earthwave to raise awareness about global warming). The official world record stands at 44, set by Lahinch surf school in Ireland (unofficially the highest figure is 73, held by the Kahuna Surfing Academy in South Africa).^[1]

Literary associations

Polzeath was a favourite haunt place of the late poet laureate, Sir John Betjeman and is celebrated in some of his verse.

Another poet, Laurence Binyon wrote the Remembrance Day ode For the Fallen in 1914 while sitting on The Rumps, Polzeath or "Polseath" as it was then called, during World War I.

In the first of Enid Blyton's Famous Five novels, the eponymous children express disappointment that their holiday will not, as usual, be spent at Polzeath.

The authoress Joolz Denby lived in a caravan in Polzeath for a year while researching her novel Borrowed Light (ISBN 1-85242-905-4), published in England by Serpent's Tail in February 2006. The novel is largely set in Polzeath, though the town's name is changed to Polwenna to allow some artistic licence with locations and buildings.

The cartoonist Posy Simmonds created a fictitious place in Cornwall called Tresoddit. When the BBC made the short film Tresoddit for Easter in 1991, it was filmed in and around Polzeath.