Editing Polzeath

{{For|the steamship|SS Polzeath}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2010}}
{{Infobox UK place 
|country =                 England
|map_type=                 Cornwall
|static_image_name=        Polzeathbayjuly2006.jpg
|static_image_caption=     The Beach at Polzeath
|coordinates = {{coord|50.57356|-4.91514|display=inline,title}}
|official_name=            Polzeath
|cornish_name=             
|population =              1,449
|population_ref =          ([[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 Census]], includes [[Trebetherick]])
|civil_parish=             
|unitary_england=          [[Cornwall Council|Cornwall]]
|lieutenancy_england =     [[Cornwall]]
|region=                   South West England
|constituency_westminster= [[North Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)|North Cornwall]]
|post_town=                POLZEATH
|postcode_district =       PL27
|postcode_area=            PL
|dial_code=                01208
|os_grid_reference=        SW937788
}}
[[File:PentireHeadMapCornwall.jpg|thumb|Sketch map showing Polzeath and the surrounding area]]

'''Polzeath''' is a small [[seaside resort]] village in the [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] of [[St Minver]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mapping.cornwall.gov.uk/website/ccmap/ |title=Cornwall Council interactive mapping |accessdate=2010-05-01 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927050041/http://mapping.cornwall.gov.uk/website/ccmap/ |archivedate=27 September 2013 |df=dmy-all }} Cornwall Council online mapping. Retrieved June 2010</ref> in [[Cornwall]], England, United Kingdom. It is approximately {{convert|6|mi}} north west of [[Wadebridge]] on the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast.<ref name=OS>Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' {{ISBN|978-0-319-22938-5}}</ref>

Polzeath has a sandy beach and is popular with holiday-makers and [[surfing|surfers]]. The beach is {{convert|1500|ft|m}} wide and extends {{convert|1200|ft|m}} from the seafront at [[tide|low water]]; however, most of the sand is submerged at high water.<ref name=OS /> At exceptionally high [[Tide#Range variation: springs and neaps|spring tides]] the sea floods the car park at the top of the beach.

Polzeath beach is patrolled by lifeguards during the summer and is described on the [[RNLI]] website as "a wide, flat beach with some shelter from winds, it sees good quality surf and is quite often extremely crowded".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/southwest/beaches/PolzeathNorthCornwall |title=RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution - Saving Lives at Sea |accessdate=2010-06-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128154244/http://rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/southwest/beaches/PolzeathNorthCornwall |archivedate=28 November 2010 |df=dmy-all }} RNLI Lifeguards, Polzeath. Retrieved June 2010</ref>

Dolphins may sometimes be spotted in the bay and the coastline north of Polzeath is a good area for seeing many types of birds, particularly on migration but also including occasional [[puffin]]s nesting on the offshore islands.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.birdingplaces.eu/en/birdingplaces/united-kingdom/pentire-point-and-the-rumps|title=Pentire Point and The Rumps|access-date=9 May 2023}}</ref>

The main street runs along the seafront and has a [[parade of shops]] catering for holidaymakers and residents. There are pubs, cafés, restaurants, a caravan site and several camping sites in the immediate area. The road rises up steep hills at both ends of the seafront, towards the village of [[Trebetherick]] to the southwest and [[New Polzeath]] to the northeast.<ref name=OS />
[[File:Looking back towards Polzeath.jpg|Looking back towards Polzeath from the [[South West Coast Path]] near Pentire Point.|thumb]]
The [[South West Coast Path]] runs from [[Daymer Bay]] in the South through Polzeath and up to [[Pentire Head]] in the North.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk/print-walk/199/|title=Pentirely Superb - Print walk - South West Coast Path|website=www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk|access-date=2017-12-27}}</ref>

==Geography==
The catchment surrounding Polzeath is approximately 40,900 hectares<ref name = EA>{{cite web |url= http://environment.data.gov.uk/bwq/profiles/profile.html?site=ukk3104-33300 |title= 2020 Bathing Water Profile for Polzeath |publisher= Environment Agency |accessdate=29 March 2020 }}</ref> and is drained by several streams. The Polzeath Brook stream rises near [[St Minver]] {{convert|2|mi}} to the east, and with several tributaries<ref>{{cite web |url= https://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/data/search |title = Search Data |work= National River Flow Archive |publisher= UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology |accessdate= 29 March 2020 }}</ref> drains farmland before flowing through the middle of the Valley Caravan Park campsite and into the sea across Polzeath beach.  The Trenant Stream is 900m long<ref name = EA /> and also crosses the beach, this time entering from the north-east corner. There is also a small stream 1.5 kilometres long,<ref name = EA /> which flows onto Pentireglaze beach (also known as ''Baby Bay'') which is at the northern end of Polzeath beach but is separated from it at high tide by Slipper Point.

Shilla Mill at the edge of Polzeath, stands at the confluence of the streams.<ref name=OS /> Built around 1590, it ceased working as a mill in 1885 and was converted into a house.

==History==
In 1911 a [[Methodist]] chapel was built on the road towards Trebetherick at Chapel Corner. The original building was demolished in 1932 when the village street was widened and a new chapel was opened on 15 April 1933. Since 2006 the chapel has been called the Tubestation and is an active church with services every Sunday. The rest of the week it is a surfers cafe.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://tubestation.org/| title = Home - Tubestation}}</ref><ref name=charm>{{cite book | last = Drew | first = Alan | title = The Charm of North Cornwall | publisher = Triskele Publications | year = 1993 | location = Ticehurst | pages = 36–37 | isbn = 978-0-9520627-0-7}}</ref>

Until 1934 the main street through the village crossed the stream by means of a [[Ford (crossing)|ford]] and a footbridge was provided for pedestrians although this was sometimes washed away by winter storms. For vehicles the road surface stopped short of the ford and cars splashed through the water on a sandy area occasionally causing vehicles to become stuck in the sand. In 1934 the current road bridge was built with a low wall separating the road from the sandy beach.<ref name=charm />

During [[World War II]] the beach would, alongside other beaches in Cornwall, have barbed wire on it in preparation for a German naval invasion.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.intocornwall.com/features/war-in-cornwall.asp| title = War in Cornwall | website = intocornwall.com|accessdate = 26 July 2022}}</ref>

The [[2013–14 United Kingdom winter floods|winter storms of 2014]] changed the topography of the beach creating a sand bar up to 1m high located at approximately the high tide mark, a feature that was not previously recorded.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-28758454 |title=RNLI lifeguards at Polzeath beach rescue 32 in one hour – BBC News |first= |last= |website=bbc.co.uk |year=2015|accessdate=29 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/aug/13/lifeguards-rescue-rip-current-cornwall-beach-polzeath |title=Lifeguards rescue 32 people from rip current at Cornwall beach &#124; UK news &#124; The Guardian |first= |last=|website=theguardian.com |year=2015|accessdate=29 August 2015}}</ref> This was gradually washed away so that by 2019 the beach had returned to the even slope visible in pictures up to 2014.

==Economy==
Tourism developed in the 19th and 20th centuries to be the most significant part of the local economy.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=40564889|title=A CENTURY OF CHANGE ON THE COAST OF CORNWALL: Seaborne Trade, Fishing and the Tourist Industry in the Mid-19th and 20th Centuries|first=W. J.|last=Bennett|date=1 January 1952|journal=Geography|volume=37|issue=4|pages=214–224}}</ref> UK prime minister [[David Cameron]] and his wife holidayed there between 2010 and 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/28/camerons-surfing-polluted-sewage-polzeath-beach-cornwall |title=Without a paddle: Camerons go surfing in water polluted with diluted sewage &#124; Politics &#124; The Guardian |first=Jessica |last=Elgot |website=theguardian.com |year=2015 |accessdate=29 August 2015}}</ref> The beach is a favourite destination for wealthy teenagers from [[Private school|independent schools]] who often engage in anti-social behaviour. In July 2022, police imposed a two-day 10pm curfew after drunken late-night beach parties of around 200 teenagers consistently got out of hand. Residents found broken prosecco bottles littering the beach, bonfires on the beach that were made from benches, fences and shed doors stolen from local houses and emergency life-saving equipment was vandalised. Local resident Andy Stewart, a former police officer, said the teenagers were often children of million-pound second home owners in the nearby village of [[Rock, Cornwall|Rock]]. He said, “They don’t realise there is excessive drinking, cocaine, [[nitrous oxide]], underage sex and big fires.” Stewart has refused to identify the schools where many of the teenagers study, though he has been in contact with their senior staff. In 2023 a CCTV camera system was installed to watch the beach, along with rechargeable floodlights.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fazackerley |first=Anna |date=8 July 2023 |title='In the morning they are comatose on the sand': the Cornish village fighting back against private-school parties |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/08/in-the-morning-they-are-comatose-on-the-sand-the-cornish-village-fighting-back-against-private-school-parties |access-date=8 July 2023 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=29 July 2021 |title=Polzeath anti-social behaviour growing 'exponentially' |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-57987591 |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref>

Bathing water quality is measured at Polzeath by the Environment Agency with measurements being taken between May and September each year. The quality was rated as "excellent" in 2020 based on measurements taken between 2016 and 2019.<ref name = EA />

==Literary associations==
[[File:ForTheFallenPlaqueCornwall.jpg|thumb|For The Fallen plaque on Pentire Head, with The Rumps in the distance]]
Polzeath was a favourite haunt of the poet laureate, [[Sir John Betjeman]], and is celebrated in some of his verse.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ourcornwall.co.uk/polzeath |title=Polzeath Cornwall |first= |last= |website=ourcornwall.co.uk |year=2015 |accessdate=30 August 2015}}</ref> Another poet, [[Laurence Binyon]], wrote the [[Remembrance Day]] ode ''[[s:For the Fallen|For the Fallen]]'' in 1914 while sitting on [[Pentire Head]], Polzeath (or "Polseath" as it was called), during [[World War I]].

In the first of [[Enid Blyton]]'s ''[[The Famous Five (novel series)|Famous Five]]'' novels, the eponymous children express disappointment that their holiday will not be spent at Polzeath as usual.<ref name=blyton>{{cite book  | last = Blyton | first = Enid | title = Five on a Treasure Island | year = 1942 | publisher = Hachette Children's |isbn = 9781844569595 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKwhHhzB7TYC&pg=PT6 }}</ref>

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.

The [[Poldark (1975 TV series)|BBC adaptation]] of [[Winston Graham|Winston Graham's]] [[Poldark]] series of books filmed some scenes at Pentireglaze. In his book ''Poldark's Cornwall'' Graham described this as "an area which could hardly have changed in a century".<ref>{{cite book | last = Graham | first = Winston | authorlink = Winston Graham | title = Poldark's Cornwall | year = 1983 | publisher = The Bodley Head Limited | location = London | isbn = 0-370-30678-3 | page = 95 }}</ref>

==Notable people==
*[[Edgar Anstey (psychologist)|Edgar Anstey]] (1917-2009), [[Civil Service (United Kingdom)|Civil Service]] [[psychologist]], lived in Polzeath from 1977 until his death.

==See also==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
*[[Trebetherick]]
*[[Wadebridge]]
*[[Pentire Point]]
*[[River Camel]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
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{{Commons category|Polzeath}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051029045254/http://www.ncdc.gov.uk/media/adobe/k/n/St%20Minver%20Ward.pdf Local government census report, 2004]
* [http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='polzeath') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Polzeath]
* l [https://stminverhighlands-pc.gov.uk/ St Minver Highlands parish council]

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[[Category:Villages in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Beaches of Cornwall]]
[[Category:Seaside resorts in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Cornwall]]