Portreath pier splash

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What happens when an irresistible force hits an immovable object - well in this case you get a big splash. This is the pier that protects the harbour entrance at Portreath on the North Cornish coast.

Notice the lack of the hut on the end. The little stone hut, known as the "Monkey house" was washed off a few weeks earlier in an equally violent storm.

The harbour here is in a pretty ridiculous spot, but there are no options between St Ives and Newquay otherwise. It is also right next to the old mining heartland of Camborne and Redruth, so its convenience won out over sense. The idea of bringing a big boat in here in anything but flat seas gives me the fear!

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