SUMMERLEAZE is a large beach within easy walking distance of Bude town centre in North Cornwall. Like neighbouring Crooklets beach, Summerleaze has been awarded a Blue Flag, showing it is one of the best all-round beaches to visit.

There is a car park behind the beach and several activities are available including surfing, paddleboarding and kayaking. Bude Lifeboat Station is also located at the car park.

Bude Sea Pool, built on a rocky foreshore at Summerleaze and dating back to the 1930s, provides a safe place to swim away from the roaring surf. The semi-natural seawater pool was utilised by American troops training for D-Day during the Second World War. The Americans also practised scaling cliffs in the Bude area in the run-up to the huge operation to liberate mainland Europe.

The Bude Light installation was created to celebrate the millennium. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)
The Bude Light installation was created to celebrate the millennium. (Picture: Andrew Townsend) (Picture: Andrew Townsend)

The River Neet, after passing sand dunes and the Bude Canal, runs into the sea at Summerleaze. The canal, itself, provides attractions for visitors, as does the neighbouring leisure area which features the Bude Light installation created to celebrate the millennium. The Bude Light also commemorates inventor Sir Goldsworthy Gurney who created the Bude-light, a very bright lamp in the 1830s, naming it after the town where he lived.

Bude Breakwater on a windy day in the winter. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)
Bude Breakwater on a windy day in the winter. (Picture: Andrew Townsend) (Picture: Andrew Townsend)

Off Bude Breakwater, on one side of Summerleaze beach, is Barrel Rock which carries a barrel on a pole to warn vessels to keep clear. The pole is actually the propellor shaft from the steamship Belem which was wrecked at Menachurch Point north of Bude in 1917.

Standing on the coast above the breakwater is Storm Tower. This landmark building was dismantled and then re-erected 100 metres inland in 2024 to protect it from looming coastal erosion. Originally built in the 1830s, this was the second time the tower had been moved.

Storm Tower was dismantled and then re-erected 100 metres inland in 2024. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)
Storm Tower was dismantled and then re-erected 100 metres inland in 2024. (Picture: Andrew Townsend) (Picture: Andrew Townsend)

• 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 - bit.ly/AndrewTownsendAuthor

Cornwall Favourites For One And All! is available as an ebook on Amazon
Cornwall Favourites For One And All! is available as a book and an ebook on Amazon. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)