Helston

Loe Bar beach is a half mile shingle bank which separates the Loe, the largest natural fresh water lake in Cornwall, from the sea. This was originally the mouth of the River Cober which led to a harbour in Helston. However, by the 13th century the bar had grown is size and cut Helston off from the sea and formed the pool.

Loe Bar has a well-earned reputation for being treacherous and over the years several lives have been lost. The combination of powerful waves, a steep slippery shingle bank and vicious currents make it a very dangerous stretch of beach.

Rumours of these incidents being the results of a freak wave that claims a life every seven years abound, but at the end of the day the best advice is to heed the signs and don't even think about swimming here. Another legend states that the a man called Tregeagle was, as part of a punisment, to remove all the sand from Gunwalloe and take it to Porthleven, from where the sea would return it. On one of these journeys he is said to have dropped a bag of sand at the entrance of Helston harbour and this formed the Bar.

You can walk to the bar from Porthleven along the South West Coast Path, or down through the Penrose Estate from Helston, where you can also hire bikes and cycle down.