CROOKLETS is the first beach you reach as you walk into Bude from the north on the South West Coast Path. The pebbly and sandy beach, backed by a car park, is well set up for holidaymakers and daytrippers with places to eat and drink, beach huts to hire, outdoor activities to take part in and a promenade to stroll along.

Crooklets is one of a relatively small number of beaches in Cornwall that has been awarded a Blue Flag signifying that it is a quality beach destination. As well as having a vast expanse of sand at low tide, the beach has rockpools to explore. In addition, Summerleaze Beach, home to the Bude Sea Pool, can be reached across the sands when the tide is out.

Crooklets is also home to the Bude Surf Lifesaving Club, the first such club in the country. Australian Alan Kennedy, who had been involved in surf lifesaving in his homeland, founded the Bude club in the 1950s and it has since gone on to log more than 1,000 rescues.

The best time to surf at Crooklets is said to be an hour either side of high tide when those out with their boards will often benefit from small peeling waves within the shelter of the bay.

During winter storms, some of the sand at Crooklets can get shifted around, occasionally revealing the fossilised remnants of a coastal forest from thousands of years ago.

Meanwhile, slightly inland from Crooklets is the Maer Lake Nature Reserve, a 25-acre wetland meadow owned by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, which is recognised as an important site for migratory birds. Visitors include sandpipers and spoonbills. Though not open to the public, activity in the reserve can be watched from nearby.

*Andrew Townsend is a journalist and writer. He further explores the county in the travel book, Cornwall Favourites For One And All!: A Quick Guide To Good Places To Visit Across The County, which is available in print and as an ebook. More details on Andrew’s books and ebooks can be found via this link to his author page on Amazon - https://bit.ly/AndrewTownsendAuthor