Praa Sands
Praa Sands, pronounced 'Pray Sands', is a beach and coastal village on the south coast of Cornwall. It is in the parish of Breage and lies off the main road between Helston and Penzance. Formerly serving the local mining industry, it is now mostly a tourist-oriented area.
The village is the site of Pengersick Castle, a small castle keep, in private hands, which markets itself as a 'haunted castle' and holds regular ghost-hunting activities and other similar pursuits.
Praa Sands and District Community Centre holds events throughout the year for the local community.
Geography
Situated in a sheltered indentation within Mount's Bay, it has a long, wide sandy beach facing South, lapped by comparatively large waves for the area. The beach, which has shallow waters and seasonal lifeguards, attracts surfers and holidaymakers. Adjacent to the beach are traditional retail outlets serving the holidaymaker.
Praa Sands lies within the 'Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty'; as does almost a third of the county.
The western side of Praa Sands beach contains Folly Rocks Site of Special Scientific Interest, noted for its geological aspects, including a granite porphyry.[1] The geology is most interesting, and there have been found here the roots of a submerged forest, preserved in the mud from ancient times.[2]
To the west of the village is another small beach, at Kenneggy, which is accessible from the cliff path at low tide.
The Sunderland plane crash
In June 1943 after an air battle against eight German aeroplanes over the Bay of Biscay, a Short Sunderland flying boat made its way to home waters, a flight of 800 miles, heavily damaged in the battle. The pilot, Colin Walker managed to land and beach the aircraft at Praa Sands. The local people of Praa Sands took the crew into their houses, and gave them medical assistance. Walker received the Distinguished Service Order and several of the other crew members also received medals.
On 2 June 2013, a memorial was opened on the green at Praa Sands.[3]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Praa Sands) |
- Location map: 50°6’16"N, 5°23’9"W
References
- ↑ rock SSSI listing and rock.pdf designation
- ↑ French, C.. The 'submerged forest' palaeosols of Cornwall. http://ussher.org.uk/journal/90s/1999/documents/French_1999.pdf. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
- ↑ "Crew of Praa Sands WWII crash plane remembered". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-22746173.