Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, in the south west of England. It is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
,
seaside resort
A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germ ...
, regional centre for
aerospace
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...
industries,
spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...
and a
fishing port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
on the
North Atlantic coast of
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, approximately north of
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
and west of
Bodmin.
The town is bounded to the south by the
River Gannel
The River Gannel ( kw, Dowr Gwyles, meaning '' lovage river'') rises in the village of Indian Queens in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It flows north under Trevemper Bridge and becomes a tidal estuary, the Gannel ( kw, An Ganel, meaning ...
and its associated salt marsh, and to the north-east by the Porth Valley. The western edge of the town meets the Atlantic at
Fistral Bay
Fistral Beach is in Fistral Bay ( kw, Porth an Vystel, meaning ''cove of the foul water'') on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated half-a-mile west of Newquay at .
Fistral Bay is bounded by two promontori ...
. The town has been expanding inland (south) since the former fishing village of New Quay began to grow in the second half of the nineteenth century.
In 2001, the census recorded a permanent population of 19,562, increasing to 20,342 at the 2011 census. Recent estimates suggest that the total population for the wider Newquay area (Newquay and St Columb Community Network Area ) was 27,682 in 2017, projected to rise to 33,463 by 2025.
History
Prehistoric period
There are some
pre-historic
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
burial mounds
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built ...
and an embankment on the area now known as ''The Barrowfields'', from Trevelgue. There were once up to fifteen barrows, but now only a few remain. Excavations here have revealed charred cooking pots and a coarse pottery burial urn containing remains of a Bronze Age chieftain, who was buried here up to 3,500 years ago.
In 1987, evidence of a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
village was found at ''Trethellan Farm'', a site that overlooks the River Gannel.
The first signs of settlement in the Newquay region consist of a late
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
hill fort/industrial centre which exploited the nearby abundant resources (including deposits of iron) and the superior natural defences provided by
Trevelgue Head
Trevelgue Head, also known as Porth Island, is a headland north-east of Newquay, Cornwall, England, next to Porth at the eastern end of Newquay Bay.
It is the site of an Iron Age promontory fort with defensive ramparts and two round barrows ...
. It is claimed that occupation of the site was continuous from the 3rd century BC to the 5th or 6th century AD. A
Dark Ages house was later built on the head).
Medieval period
The curve of the headland around what is now Newquay
Harbour provided natural protection from bad weather and a small
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
village grew up in the area. When the village was first occupied is unknown but it is not mentioned in the ''
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
'', although a parcel of land was recorded at Treninnick, which is now part of suburban Newquay. Treninnick was then part of the manor of Coswarth and consisted of one virgate (value 15d)
ome 30 acres or 12 hectares
Ome may refer to:
Places
* Ome (Bora Bora), a public island in the lagoon of Bora Bora
* Ome, Lombardy, Italy, a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia
* Ōme, Tokyo, a city in the Prefecture of Tokyo
* Ome (crater), a crater on Mars
Tran ...
with five sheep. The village of
Crantock
Crantock ( kw, Lanngorrow) is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is approximately two miles (3 km) southwest of Newquay.
Crantock dates back to 460 AD when a group of Irish hermits founded an ...
is the only other recognisable name in the Newquay area also recorded in
Domesday, (as “Langoroch”). By the 15th century, a village referred to as “Keye” existed around the present harbour, near “Tewynblustri” (the spelling changed as Cornish evolved and is now rendered as “Towan Blystra”). “Towan” (or Tewynn) means dune or sand hill in Cornish, but the meaning of “blustri” or “blystra” is unknown. Some sources have suggested in the past that it meant boats, but this claim is not supported by modern authorities and is dismissed by Padel in his dictionary of Cornish place names. The name 'Towan Blystra', although often quoted as the Cornish equivalent of Newquay, was actually the name of a separate settlement called 'Towan' some 200m away from the harbour. There is no record of ‘Newquay’ as a name ever being rendered in Cornish. The anchorage was exposed to winds from the north east and in 1439 the local
burgesses applied to
Edmund Lacey
Edmund Lacey (or Lacy; died 1455) was a medieval Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of Exeter in England.
Lacey was educated at University College, Oxford, where he was a mature commoner, then Fellow, and subsequently Master of the College from 1 ...
,
Bishop of Exeter for leave and funds raised through the mechanism of an
indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...
, to build a new
quay
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locatio ...
from which the town derives its name. The name 'new quay' itself did not appear until the early 17th century.
1801–1900
The first national British census of 1801 recorded around 1,300 inhabitants in the settlement (enumerated as a village under
St Columb Minor
St Columb Minor ( kw, Sen Kolumm Vyghan) (Latin: ''Columba Minor Sancta'') is a village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
''St. Columb'' alone by default refers to the nearby St. Columb Major.The village of St Columb Minor ...
parish).
The manor of Towan Blystra (including the quay) was bought by a businessman from London called
Richard Lomax in 1770. In 1832 Lomax began the construction of the north and south quay, He died in 1837 before the harbour was completed.
The harbour was at its most prosperous in the 25 years following its purchase in the 1870s by the Cornwall Minerals Railway. In 1872 the middle jetty was added to expand capacity.
To the north of the harbour there were fish cellars in the 19th century, where pilchards were salted and packed in casks. The two remaining areas are Fly cellars and Active cellars, although the others have disappeared.
A mansion called the Tower was built for the Molesworth family in 1835: it included a castellated tower and a private chapel as they were practising Roman Catholics and no church for that denomination existed in the area. The Tower later became the golf club house. After the arrival of passenger trains in 1876, the village around the port of Newquay started to grow quickly.
Several major hotels were built around the end of the 19th century, the first being the
Great Western Hotel which opened in 1879 on Station Road, now Cliff Road. Other early 'grand' hotels included the
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
(1899), the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
(1892) and the
Headland (1900) near Fistral, while many smaller hotels were emerging, many were created around this period by converting large houses, with many originally built by wealthy visitors as holiday homes, particularly along Narrowcliff.
1901–2000
![Newquay War Memorial - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Newquay_War_Memorial_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1096008.jpg)
Three churches were built early in the twentieth century, including the present day
parish church of St Michael the Archangel, which was consecrated in 1911. Growth of the town eastwards soon reached the area around the
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
: Station Road became Cliff Road around 1930, and the houses beyond, along Narrowcliff, were also converted into hotels. Narrowcliff was known for a while as Narrowcliff Promenade, and then Narrowcliff Road. On some pre-war maps, it is spelt Narrowcliffe.
At the time of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the last buildings at the edge of the town were a little further along present-day Narrowcliff, including the Hotel Edgcumbe. Post-war development saw new houses and streets built in the Chester Road area, accompanied by ribbon development along the country lane which led to St Columb Minor, some away. This thoroughfare was modernised and named Henver Road, also some time in the 1930s. Development continued in this direction until the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, by which time much of Henver Road had houses on both sides, with considerable infilling also taking place between there and the sea.
A thriving knitting industry became established in Newquay in the early part of the 20th century. In 1905, Madame Hawke began selling machine-knitted garments in a shop in the centre of the town.
Debenhams
Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...
was sent a sample of her work and commissioned her as a supplier. She opened a factory in Crantock Street, which has since been converted into housing. Several competing knitting companies were also set up in the town in this period.
In the early 1950s, the last houses were built along Henver Road. After that, there was a virtually continuous building line on both sides of the main road from the other side of St Columb Minor right into the town centre. The Doublestiles estate to the north of Henver Road was also built in the early 1950s, as the name of Coronation Way indicates, and further development continued beyond, becoming the Lewarne Estate and extending the built up area to the edges of Porth.
Other areas also developed in the period between the wars were Pentire (known for a time as West Newquay) and the Trenance Valley. Other streets dating from the 1920s included St Thomas Road, which provided the approach to the town's new cottage hospital at its far end, to be followed by others in the same area near the station, such as Pargolla Road.
More recent development has been on a larger scale: until the late 1960s, a passenger arriving by train would not have seen a building by the line (with the exception of Trencreek village) until the Trenance Viaduct was reached. Today, the urban area starts a good inland from the viaduct. Other growth areas have been on the fringes of St Columb Minor and also towards the Gannel. More development beyond Treninnick, south of the Trenance Valley, has taken the urban area out as far as Lane, where more building is now under way. The Trennnick/Treloggan development, mainly in the 1970s and 1980s, included not merely housing but also an industrial estate and several large commercial outlets, including a major supermarket and a cash and carry warehouse.
Modern period since 2001
One of the UK's worst hotel fires occurred in the town in 2007 in the
Penhallow Hotel fire
The Penhallow Hotel fire was a suspected arson attack that occurred in Newquay, Cornwall on 18 August 2007. Three people were killed and it was reported as the worst hotel fire in the United Kingdom in nearly 40 years. The hotel was a well-known ...
.
The first phase of a new
Duchy of Cornwall development began to be built in 2012 at Tregunnel Hill, which was sometimes unofficially called Surfbury after the similar Poundbury development in Dorset. It has 174 houses of traditional designs.
There is now a similar but much more substantial development in progress inland, and construction on a large site known as
Nansledan
Nansledan is a major new suburb of Newquay in Cornwall, England. Nansledan has been developed by the estate of the Duchy of Cornwall since 2013, with residents first occupying their homes in 2015. The development, officially described as 'an ex ...
(‘broad valley’ in Cornish) is now apparent along the Quintrell Road. Plans were approved for the development of 800 homes at Nansledan in December 2013, but the plan now includes more than 4,000 homes, shops, a supermarket, church and a 14-classroom primary school which opened to its first pupils in September 2019. Following the example set at Tregunnel Hill, the buildings are again of traditional designs and all street names are in Cornish.
Places like Trencreek, Porth and St Columb Minor have long since become suburbs of Newquay: it had been reported that it was possible that by the 2030s, should present development trends continue, the south eastern edge of the town could stretch beyond the present boundary set by Nansledan and encompass
Quintrell Downs
Quintrell Downs is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, close to Newquay, at the junction of the A392 and A3058 roads.Ordnance Survey ''Landranger 200; Newquay, Bodmin & surrounding area, 1:50 000''. 1988 It is named after the surroundi ...
, from the town centre. However, the Newquay Neighbourhood Development Plan, which was approved in a referendum held on 6 April 2019, said it was important to retain a 'green buffer' between Newquay and Quintrell Downs.
In April 2012 the
Aerohub enterprise zone for aerospace businesses was set up at
Newquay Airport
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the main commercial airport for Cornwall, United Kingdom, located at Mawgan in Pydar, northeast of the town of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. Its runway was operated by RAF St Mawgan before 2008, and is now o ...
. In September 2014, the UK's
Homes and Communities Agency
Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
HCA in turn was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2 ...
and the
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and s ...
agreed to fund the construction of a £6 million Aerohub Business Park there. A plan to launch space vehicles from a new Spaceport alongside the airport moved ahead in July 2018 when a contract was signed with
Virgin Orbit
Virgin Orbit is a company within the Virgin Group which launch service provider, provides launch services for small satellites. On January 17, 2021, their ''LauncherOne'' rocket successfully reached orbit for the first time, and successfully dep ...
. The first launches are due in 2022.
Churches
![St Columb Minor Church Tower - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/St_Columb_Minor_Church_Tower_-_geograph.org.uk_-_127957.jpg)
The first Methodist preaching at Newquay was recorded by Richard Treffy in 1802, an innkeeper, Carter, being the host. In 1810, preacher
William O'Bryan
William O’Bryan (6 February 1778 – 8 January 1868) was a Methodist preacher and founder of the Bible Christian movement.
Life
O'Bryan was born William Bryant at Gunwen farm, Luxulyan, Cornwall and was converted to Wesleyan Methodism.
In 1815 ...
came to Newquay and formed the nucleus of the first Methodist Society. The Society, later known as the
Bible Christians
The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O’Bryan, a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. The first society, consisting of just 22 members, met at Lake Farm in Shebbear ...
or 'Bryanites', built a chapel in the Deer Park, now Sydney Road.
The Baptists were the first to have a building. The
Newquay Baptist Church
Ebenezer Baptist Chapel is a Reformed Baptist and Evangelical church, located at the southern end of Broad Street at Chapel Hill, overlooking the western arm of Manor Road in Newquay, Cornwall. It is one of the oldest religious building in Newqu ...
, formerly the Ebenezer Baptist Chapel founded in 1822, is one of the oldest religious buildings in Newquay. The worshippers at Ebenezer were Strict and Particular, or
Calvinistic Baptists.
The first Methodist chapel was built in 1833, at a cost of £170. It was originally built as Crantock Street Methodist Chapel in 1833, the second such Methodist building in Newquay. Some members left in 1852, while the rest moved to the Steps Chapel in 1865. Following a visit by General
Bramwell Booth
William Bramwell Booth, CH (8 March 1856 – 16 June 1929) was a Salvation Army officer, Christian and British charity worker who was the first Chief of Staff (1881–1912) and the second General of The Salvation Army (1912–1929), succeedin ...
in 1924, the building was taken over by the
Salvation Army in 1926, just as the mineral railway it overlooked was being closed down.
Before the Baptist chapel was built the
Strict Baptists formed themselves into a community and met for worship in the old malthouse opposite Primrose House on Beach Road. They had a regular Sunday supply of preachers from
Plymouth,
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...
, and
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
.
![The Parish Church of St Michael the Archangel, Newquay - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/The_Parish_Church_of_St_Michael_the_Archangel%2C_Newquay_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1252198.jpg)
The first
Anglican chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
was built in Newquay in 1858 as a chapel-of-ease, in a fine Cornish Perpendicular style; it was known as St Michael's due to the dedication of a side chapel. The parish itself was created in 1882 from part of
St Columb Minor parish. By 1896 St Michael's Church had been twice enlarged, a north and a south aisle being added, and its capacity increased to 500. By the turn of the 19th century, however, it was quite inadequate to hold the summer congregation. The cramped and inconvenient site meant that no further enlargement of the chapel was possible, and it seemed inevitable that a new church would have to be built on a different site.
The present church, the
Newquay Parish Church of St Michael the Archangel
The Newquay Parish church of St Michael the Archangel, (also known as St Michael's Church) is located in Newquay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, and is dedicated to the St. Michael the Archangel. Since 1951 the church has been designated as ...
is dedicated to
St. Michael the Archangel, was originally designed by
Ninian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects.
His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the de ...
and built in 1910-11, but the tower not completed until the 1960s.
Arthur Mee
Arthur Henry Mee (21 July 187527 May 1943) was an English writer, journalist and educator. He is best known for ''The Harmsworth Self-Educator'', '' The Children's Encyclopædia'', ''The Children's Newspaper'', and ''The King's England''. The ...
, in his ''Cornwall'' volume of the
King's England
''The King's England'' is a topographical and historical book series written and edited by Arthur Mee in 43 volumes. The first, introductory, volume was published in 1936; in 1989, The King's England Press was established to reprint the series.
...
series, describes the perpetual light maintained in the church as a memorial to the men of Newquay who died in the First World War. The stained glass windows and rood screen are also described: the main themes are St Michael, the three other archangels, and
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and Mary the
Blessed Virgin. The St Michael, chapel-of-ease continued to serve the people of Newquay until 1911 when the chapel was sold to the Women's Institute which owned it for a number of years until it was sold again to
FW Woolworth for a new Woolworths store. The chapel was demolished in 1937.
The
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
of the
Holy Trinity is earlier, having been built in 1903: until 1985 it was dependent on monks from
Bodmin but then became part of the
Diocese of Plymouth
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese in England. The episcopal see is in the city of Plymouth, Devon, where the bishop's seat ( cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface. ...
.
There have also been
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
and Bible Christian
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
s in the town, the Wesleyan being a fine (picturesque) building of 1904.
Tourism
![Newquay Fistral Beach-IMG 8001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Newquay_Fistral_Beach-IMG_8001.jpg)
Newquay has been a
major tourist destination for more than a century, principally on account of its coastline and nine long and accessible sandy beaches, including Fistral.
Around 25,000 people live in Newquay, but the population can increase to 100,000 or more in the summer because Newquay has a large stock of holiday accommodation.
Established in sections throughout the 20th century, Trenance Leisure Gardens are in a wooded, formerly marshy valley on the quieter edge of Newquay, stretching down to the Gannel Estuary. From the
Edwardian era
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victor ...
it provided recreation for tourists with walks, tennis courts and a bowling green. The gardens are spanned by a stone railway viaduct which was rebuilt just before the Second World War. The boating lake was dug during the depression of the 1930s as a work creation scheme. In the late 1960s, further enterprises were established by the council, including mini-golf, a swimming pool, the
Little Western Railway miniature railway which opened in 1968 and
Newquay Zoo
Newquay Zoo is a zoological garden located within Trenance Leisure Park in Newquay, England. The zoo was opened in Cornwall on Whit Monday, 26 May 1969 by the local council (Newquay Urban District Council, later Restormel District Council). It w ...
, which opened in 1969.
Newquay was also known for the "Run to the Sun" event, which took place for many years during the public holiday on the last weekend in May at Trevelgue Holiday Park. People visited the town in
Volkswagen camper vans, Beetles and other custom cars. The last RTTS took place in 2014.
Other events in recent times have included the large Boardmasters music festival, which attracts another 50,000 visitors over one weekend in early August and is held on sites at Watergate Bay (outside the urban area) and Fistral Beach. Cornwall Pride moved to Newquay from Truro in 2017, and this took place in 2018 on the last Saturday in August.
The
South West Coast Path runs through the town.
Town trail
Newquay Discovery Trail
is made up of 14 Cornish slate discs, each in diameter, sunk into the ground at strategic points around the town. Each of the discs features a series of 'conundrum' words carved by sculptor Peter Martin. The trail starts in the centre of town at the Killacourt.
Education
Newquay currently has one higher education campus,
Cornwall College
The Cornwall College Group (TCCG; kw, Kolji Kernow) is a further education college situated on eight sites throughout Cornwall and Devon, England, United Kingdom, with its head office in St Austell.
Campuses
There are eight campuses withi ...
Newquay, which is a member of the Combined Universities in Cornwall Partnership. It offers foundation degree courses in Zoological Conservation, Marine Aquaculture, Animal Science and Wildlife Education and Media. Appropriately, the campus is close to
Newquay Zoo
Newquay Zoo is a zoological garden located within Trenance Leisure Park in Newquay, England. The zoo was opened in Cornwall on Whit Monday, 26 May 1969 by the local council (Newquay Urban District Council, later Restormel District Council). It w ...
in the Trenance Valley. There are also two secondary schools:
Newquay Tretherras is a state-funded
academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
with specialist
Technology College
In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were ...
status, and
Treviglas Academy
Treviglas Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Newquay, Cornwall, England. The age range of the students is 11 to 18.
The original buildings were opened in the early 1960s but further development has taken pla ...
is a specialist
Business and Enterprise College.
A new centre of higher education for Newquay had been due to open alongside the Airport and Spaceport (see Transport for details) in 2020, to be known as the International Aviation Academy and attached to RAF St Mawgan. It will cater for students who wish to gain air- or space-related qualifications. The project has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Second World War
Among many schools evacuated to Cornwall (notably
Benenden
Benenden is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The parish is located on the Weald, to the west of Tenterden. In addition to the main village, Iden Green, East End, Dingleden and Standen Street settle ...
Girls' School), 240 boys and 20 masters of
Gresham's School were evacuated to the town from
Holt,
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, between June 1940 and March 1944. Gresham's occupied the Bay Hotel and the Pentire Hotel.
Between 1940 and 1944, the Royal Air Force used hotels in Newquay as a Ground school for aircrew Initial Training Wings No 7, No 8, and No 40. Recruits were taught basic flying theory and service protocols, and were sorted into their likely future RAF trades, such as Pilots, Observers, Navigators, Wireless operators, and air gunners. The training took place in the Highbury Hotel and men were billeted in nearby hotels.
Several of the large hotels in Newquay were requisitioned as convalescent hospitals for the Army, Air Force, and Royal Navy. These were the Atlantic Hotel, the Headland Hotel, the Hotel Victoria, the
Fistral Bay Hotel
Fistral Bay Hotel is an abandoned hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, England. it overlooks Fistral Beach and a nearby golf course.
The Fistral Bay Hotel thrived during the 1950s and 1960s when Newquay benefited from increasing holiday travel to Cornw ...
and St Rumons (now called the Esplanade).
Hospital and emergency services
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary
Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) in England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of .
Hi ...
maintains a substantial police station in Tolcarne Road. The modern fire station in Tregunnel Hill is run by
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, and is the home of one of the two aerial ladder platforms based in Cornwall. The fire station has 24-hour cover during the summer and is day-staffed in the winter. A separate specialist fire service is maintained at
Newquay Airport
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the main commercial airport for Cornwall, United Kingdom, located at Mawgan in Pydar, northeast of the town of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. Its runway was operated by RAF St Mawgan before 2008, and is now o ...
.
Ambulance cover is provided by the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust from an Ambulance Station in St Thomas Road. Cornwall Air Ambulance is also based just outside the town, alongside the airport. In addition, the airport at Newquay is one of ten UK bases for the Search and Rescue service, which is run by
Bristow Helicopters on behalf of
Her Majesty's Coastguard
His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the ...
.
Newquay Hospital
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
is also at the end of St Thomas Road, and is a local hospital catering for both in- and outpatients, with a number of clinics and a minor injuries unit. The nearest general hospital and full A+E department is in
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
. Proposals in recent years for the Newquay Growth Area, east of the present town, have included a new and larger hospital.
Newquay also has a 14-person coastguard rescue team based at Treloggan Industrial Park and a
Royal National Lifeboat Institution station based in the harbour.
Transport
Rail
Newquay railway station
Newquay railway station serves the town and seaside resort of Newquay in Cornwall, England. It is the terminus of the Atlantic Coast Line from Par, measured from . The station is situated in the heart of Newquay, close to the town centre itse ...
is the terminus of the
Atlantic Coast Line from
Par. The railway was originally built as a mineral line in the 1840s to provide a link with the harbour. A passenger service followed on 20 June 1876, and from then on the town developed quickly as a resort. The station is close to the beaches on the east side of the town centre.
Newquay handles daily direct services to and from Plymouth, Exeter and London between May and September. It is the only branch line terminus in Britain still served by scheduled intercity trains.
Two of the three former platforms were taken out of use in 1987, but
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
had planned to restore one of the disused platforms to improve capacity. However, the latest draft Route Utilisation Study for the Great Western routes, published in September 2009, makes no mention of this. Instead it favours a restored crossing place (a short section of double track where trains can pass) at St Columb Road. This will depend on the progress with developing a proposed eco-town in the
China clay
Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedra ...
area, much of which lies near the line.
A local user group has been campaigning for the line to be upgraded, not merely with at least one additional platform to be provided at Newquay, but also for passenger trains to run from St Dennis Junction (near St Columb Road) to Burngullow, on the Cornish Main Line west of
St Austell. This would require the restoration of several miles of track, and also the improvement of a China clay line which still operates between Parkandillack and Burngullow. This route was proposed in 1987 as a possible replacement for the line to Par, much of which could then have been closed. However, although the
British Railways Board
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
obtained the necessary legal powers, the plan was not carried out.
History
The goods line which would be acquired later by the Cornwall Minerals Railway was opened in 1846 from inland clay mines to the harbour, worked by horses. Parts of the old line from the present station to the harbour are still in existence: the most obvious section is a broad footpath from opposite the station in Cliff Road to East Street, known locally as the "tram track", and complete with a very railway-style overbridge. From East Street, the line continued towards the harbour along the present-day Manor Road.
The last trains ran through to Newquay Harbour in about 1924, but general goods traffic continued to reach
Newquay railway station
Newquay railway station serves the town and seaside resort of Newquay in Cornwall, England. It is the terminus of the Atlantic Coast Line from Par, measured from . The station is situated in the heart of Newquay, close to the town centre itse ...
until 1964. The goods yard then closed as part of much wider changes on British Railways. However, the passenger station and its approaches were enlarged more than once, with additional carriage sidings being built at Newquay in the 1930s. The originally wooden viaduct just outside the station, which crosses the Trenance Valley, was rebuilt in 1874 to allow locomotives to run over the structure and then again after World War II to carry double track, which extended until 1964 for approximately 1 mile to Tolcarn Junction. The line is now single throughout again, but the width of the viaduct is still obvious.
Tolcarn Junction itself was the point where a second passenger route diverged from the Par line between 1906 and 1963. This branch ran to
Chacewater, west of Truro, via
Perranporth
Perranporth ( kw, Porthperan) is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 1 mile east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 8 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its long beach f ...
and
St Agnes, and provided through trains to Truro and
Falmouth.
The surviving branch line from
Par, which includes other viaducts—mainly in the Luxulyan Valley—and also numerous level crossings, still brings many visitors each year from the junction at Par (on the Cornish Main Line) to Newquay. From the 1890s until 1947 the branch was owned by the
Great Western Railway, then becoming part of
British Railways Western Region
The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex-Great We ...
until the late 1980s, when it was transferred to the Provincial sector of BR. This sector was renamed
Regional Railways
Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982 that existed until 1997, two years after privatisation. The sector was originally called ''Provincial''.
Regional Railways was the most subsidised (per pas ...
at the start of the 1990s.
After BR passenger services were franchised in 1996 and 1997, the line was operated by
Wales & West
Wales & West was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the South Wales & West franchise from 1996 until 2001.
The franchise was operated by Prism Rail from October 1996 until July 2000, when the firm was taken over by N ...
(originally South Wales & West) from October 1996. Wales & West was a franchise owned by
Prism Rail
Prism Rail was formed in July 1995 to bid for rail franchises in the United Kingdom during the privatisation of British Rail. It expressed interest in eighteen franchises, was shortlisted for twelve and was ultimately awarded four, LTS Rail, Va ...
, but Prism did not stay the course: it was taken over by
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
in early 2001 and the Wales & West franchise was then divided, its South West of England area becoming
Wessex Trains
Wessex Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wessex Trains franchise from October 2001 until March 2006, when the franchise was merged with the Great Western and Thames Valley f ...
. This situation lasted until April 2006, when the Wessex franchise was absorbed by the new
Greater Western franchise
Greater Western is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services from London Paddington to the Cotswolds, West of England, South West England and South Wales. The current holder is Great Western Railway.
History
In 2003, as part of ...
, which is operated by
Great Western Railway.
Air
Newquay Airport
Cornwall Airport Newquay is the main commercial airport for Cornwall, United Kingdom, located at Mawgan in Pydar, northeast of the town of Newquay on Cornwall's north coast. Its runway was operated by RAF St Mawgan before 2008, and is now o ...
provides links to many other parts of the United Kingdom. It is an HM Customs port because it also handles increasing numbers of foreign flights, both scheduled and chartered. Newquay is the principal airport for Cornwall, although there are several minor airfields elsewhere in the county.
Until 2008, Newquay Civil Airport (as it was formerly known) used the runway and other facilities of
RAF St Mawgan
Royal Air Force St Mawgan or more simply RAF St Mawgan is a Royal Air Force station near St Mawgan and Newquay in Cornwall, England. In 2008 the runway part of the site was handed over to Newquay Airport. The remainder of the station continues t ...
, but in December 2008 the
Ministry of Defence handed over most of the site to the recently formed Cornwall Airport Limited. The first stage of the conversion into a fully commercial airport was completed in 2011, although further substantial development is planned. The handover, which was due to take place at the end of 2008, was delayed for almost three weeks because of problems in obtaining the essential Civil Aviation Authority licence, which was withheld until further work had been carried out.
The name has changed several times since 2008, and the airport is now marketed as Cornwall Airport Newquay. However, the IATA code is still NQY.
Usage of the airport had been rising sharply until the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-22. On summer Saturdays in 2018 there were almost 50 arrivals and departures, including flights to Germany and other European countries.
Spaceport
Newquay is obtaining a licence to operate as a Spaceport. A decision had been expected about the sites of UK spaceports in the summer of 2017, but the additional general election in June 2017 delayed necessary legislation for a time. Cornwall's bid was supported by Cornwall Council and Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership. The proposal also included the related Cornish space tracking station at
Goonhilly, which is near Helston in south Cornwall. On 16 July 2018 a new partnership was announced with Virgin Orbit to create the spaceport, with the intention of launching satellites from Newquay within three years. On the same day, the government confirmed that a grant worth £2 million would be available to developing spaceports. The first satellite from Newquay, Kernow Sat 1, will measure ocean pollution and deforestation and is due to be launched in summer 2022. On 24 February 2022 Business Secretary,
Kwasi Kwarteng
Akwasi Addo Alfred Kwarteng (born 26 May 1975) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne (UK Parliament constituency), S ...
, formally launched the construction of a £5.6m Centre for Space Technologies alongside the Spaceport, and the new Centre is expected to create 150 jobs.
Bus
![Newquay Bus Station - Go Cornwall 2025 (WA20DVN)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Newquay_Bus_Station_-_Go_Cornwall_2025_%28WA20DVN%29.JPG)
There are regular bus services from Newquay to many parts of central and north Cornwall, including the neighbouring urban centres of St Austell and Truro as well as Boscastle, Bude, Camelford, Falmouth, Fowey, St Columb Major, Padstow, Perranporth, Redruth, Tintagel and Wadebridge. Services are mainly operated by
First Kernow
Kernow (formerly known as First Kernow) is a bus company operating services in Cornwall, England. It is part of First South West, a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
History
Kernow is a division of First South West, which was formed from two previ ...
and
Go Cornwall Bus while the town is also served by
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
and Stagecoach Megabus coaches. The bus station is in Manor Road, which runs parallel to the shopping area in Bank Street. A scheme to upgrade and improve the bus station with the additions of a new enclosed waiting area and accessible facilities began in February 2018 and was completed in July. Further changes occurred in April and May 2020, because Cornwall Council has awarded an eight-year contract to run subsidised services in the county to Go Cornwall, which also operates as Plymouth CityBus and is owned by the Go-Ahead Group. Changes included new direct services between Newquay and Redruth.
Sport and leisure
Newquay has two
non-league association football clubs. They are
Newquay A.F.C.
Newquay Association Football Club is a football club based in Newquay, Cornwall, England. Nicknamed "The Peppermints", they are currently members of the and play at Mount Wise Stadium.
History
The club was established in 1890 as Newquay Foot ...
who play at Mount Wise Stadium and
Godolphin Atlantic F.C. who play at Godolphin Way. Newquay Hornets rugby football club play at Newquay Sports Centre.
Newquay have a successful, four-team cricket club based at the SportsCentre. Their 1st XI currently compete in Cornwall's County One, and at the start of the century were a major power in regional cricket, winning the ECB Cornwall Premier League in 2003, boasting star players such as Ryan Driver, Tim Walton and Barry Purchase. Newquay's academy in the past 15 years has produced four full-Cornwall players — Rob Harrison, Neil Ivamy, Joe Crane and Adam Cocking, in addition to numerous County youth representatives. They have youth teams from age ranges Under 9 - Under 19. In 2016, their overseas professional was former Zimbabwean test match batsman Mark Vermeulen. In 2017, the teams all competed well in their respective Divisions, and have now gone down the route of not having a professional, instead of investing in improving the ground, coaching and infrastructure. Newquay is a prime destination for touring cricket sides and the club specialise in hosting touring teams.
Newquay also plays host to the Newquay Road Runners who are based at the sports centre.
Surfing
![BoardmastersFistralPre2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/BoardmastersFistralPre2010.jpg)
The resort is widely regarded as the surf capital of the UK. Newquay is a centre for the surf industry in Britain, with many surf stores, board manufacturers and hire shops in the town.
At the centre of Newquay's surfing status is Fistral Beach which has a reputation as one of the best beach
breaks
Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to:
Time off from duties
* Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties
* Break (work), time off during a shift/recess
** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...
in Cornwall. Fistral is capable of producing powerful, hollow waves and holding a good sized swell.
Fistral Beach has been host to international surfing competitions for around 20 years now. The annual
Boardmasters Festival
Boardmasters Festival is an annual event held in Cornwall, United Kingdom, usually spanning five days on the second weekend of August. The event is a combination of live music and surfing/skateboarding competitions in and around the town of ...
takes place at Fistral beach, with a music festival taking place at Watergate Bay.
Newquay is also home to the reef known as the
Cribbar
The Cribbar ( Cornish - ''kribow'': reefs), also known as the Widow Maker, is a reef off the Towan Headland in Newquay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the Un ...
. With waves breaking at up to , the Cribbar was until recently rarely surfed as it requires no wind and huge swell to break. It was first surfed in September 1965 by Rodney Sumpter, Bob Head and Jack Lydgate and again in 1966, by Pete Russell,
Ric Friar and Johnny McElroy and American Jack Lydgate. The recent explosion in interest in surfing large waves has seen it surfed more frequently by South African born
Chris Bertish, who during a succession of huge clean swells in 2004, surfed the biggest wave ever seen there.
Towan, Great Western and Tolcarne beaches nearer the town and nearby
Crantock
Crantock ( kw, Lanngorrow) is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is approximately two miles (3 km) southwest of Newquay.
Crantock dates back to 460 AD when a group of Irish hermits founded an ...
and
Watergate Bay
Watergate Bay ( kw, Porth Tregoryan, meaning ''cove at Coryan's farmstead/village'') is a long bay or beach flanked by cliffs centred two miles NNE of Newquay below the B3276 Newquay to Padstow road near the hamlet of Tregurrian in Cornwall, Uni ...
also provide high quality breaks.
Notable people associated with Newquay
*
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel ''Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 1980 ...
, novelist, author of ''
Lord of the Flies
''Lord of the Flies'' is a 1954 novel by the Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. Themes ...
'', was born in Newquay
*
Alexander Lodge (1881–1938) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
inventor who did early work and held some
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
s on the
spark plug.
*
Ruarri Joseph, singer-songwriter, lives in the Newquay area
*
Richard Long, 4th Viscount Long
Richard Gerard Long, 4th Viscount Long, (30 January 1929 – 13 June 2017) was a British peer and Conservative politician.
Life and career
Born in London, the second son of Richard Long, 3rd Viscount Long, he was educated at Harrow and se ...
, lived at The Island, a house on a rock linked to the mainland by a private suspension bridge
*
Chris Morris, a former
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
and
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
footballer, was born in Newquay
*
James Morrison, singer-songwriter, grew up in the Newquay area: he attended
Treviglas College
Treviglas Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Newquay, Cornwall, England. The age range of the students is 11 to 18.
The original buildings were opened in the early 1960s but further development has taken pla ...
*
Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead (born 7 October 1970) is an English musician, widely known as singer, primary lyricist, and guitarist of shoegaze band Slowdive. He has been hailed by AllMusic as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters", and '' Time Out'' as ...
, singer-songwriter, currently resides in the area
*
Phillip Schofield
Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2014, 2018–present) alongside Holl ...
, television presenter, attended
Newquay Tretherras School
*
John Coulson Tregarthen
John Coulson Tregarthen (9 September 1854 – 17 February 1933) was a British field naturalist and author, described as "the best loved Cornishman of his time".
Tregarthen was born in Penzance, Cornwall, the son of James Tregarthen of St Mary's ...
, naturalist and novelist, lived in Newquay
*
Sir David Willcocks
Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambrid ...
the choral conductor, organist and composer was born here in 1919
*
Nicholas Charles Williams, English painter, is based in Newquay
*
Richard David James
Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Journalists from publicatio ...
(Aphex Twin), a musician/producer, resides in Newquay
*
Charlotte Mary Matheson, novelist, lived at Porth Veor
Twinning
Newquay is
twinned with
Dinard
Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France.
Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this ...
in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
, France.
Newquay in films
* The Headland Hotel, next to Fistral Beach, has been used in several films, including ''Wild Things'' (1988) and ''
The Witches'' (1990).
*
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
filmed part of the ''
Magical Mystery Tour
''Magical Mystery Tour'' is a record by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double EP in the United Kingdom and an LP in the United States. It includes the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same name. The EP ...
'' film in Newquay. Scenes were filmed at the Atlantic Hotel and Towan Beach.
* Some of the scenes in ''
Blue Juice
''Blue Juice'' is a 1995 British drama film directed by Carl Prechezer and starring Sean Pertwee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ewan McGregor, and Steven Mackintosh. It follows JC (Pertwee) as he attempts to reconcile his surfer lifestyle and loser f ...
'' (1995) were filmed in Newquay.
Geography
Climate
As with the rest of the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
and South West England, Newquay experiences a
maritime climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station is St. Mawgan/Newquay Airport, about 3.5 miles to the north east of the town centre. Temperature extremes in the area since 1960 vary from in June 1976 and August 1995 down to during January 1987.
Geology
The bedrock underlying Newquay is the
Devonian age
Meadfoot Group, a succession of interbedded
mudstones,
siltstones and
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
s, with occasional beds of
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
.
Quaternary age deposits of blown sand cover the bedrock in the western part of the town. Some mineralisation associated with the
Cornubian granite batholith that intrudes into much of the peninsular is found in the western part of the town near
Fistral Beach
Fistral Beach is in Fistral Bay ( kw, Porth an Vystel, meaning ''cove of the foul water'') on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated half-a-mile west of Newquay at .
Fistral Bay is bounded by two promontor ...
, in the form of
lode
In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock.
The current meaning (ore vein) dates from the 1 ...
s of
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
minerals.
See also
*
List of topics related to Cornwall
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall:
Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and wes ...
*
Penhallow Hotel fire
The Penhallow Hotel fire was a suspected arson attack that occurred in Newquay, Cornwall on 18 August 2007. Three people were killed and it was reported as the worst hotel fire in the United Kingdom in nearly 40 years. The hotel was a well-known ...
, occurred in the town in 2007
References
External links
Newquay Community ProfileThe Official Newquay Tourism websiteNewquay Town CouncilNewquay Old Cornwall Society
*
{{Authority control
Towns in Cornwall
Cornish Killas
Seaside resorts in Cornwall
Fishing communities in England
Populated coastal places in Cornwall