In darker days the Cligga Cliffs in Cornwall hummed with the iconic drone of Spitfires. Fighter pilots, scrambling east towards the cities or returning from scrappy dogfights out at sea, would bobble down the runways at RAF Perranporth. The tin mine chimneys of St. Agnes beacon were always a welcome site to returning aces. The view from the cockpit back then wasn’t too dissimilar to how it looks now – sandy beaches, craggy cliffs and rolling, hedge-lined countryside. But at the end of the old RAF base, now decommissioned and used instead by a local flying school, is a new addition that’s nestled more subtly amongst this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Open for some years and once hosting camping fighter pilots, Blue Hills Touring Park is run by affable owners Ginny and Martin Brant. This delightful spot on the route of the South West Coast Path is as charming from terra firma as it looks from above the clouds. Despite the name, beckoning at the mobile home community, this is not a spot gleaming with a grid-work of static caravans. Yes, it has a healthy dose of the motoring types – electrical hook-ups at every pitch and chemical waste facilities see to that – but it also keeps a natural, countryside feel, untarnished by tarmac artificiality. There’s no clubhouse or bar and the only music you’re likely to hear is the gentle tune on entering the toilets.
Tent campers can hideaway in their own tent-specific field or pitch in the main area where spaces are equally flat and well spread out. Even as a whole the campsite has just 30 pitches, so there’s never a fear of being wedged amongst a crowd. Martin and Ginny have also cleared the neighbouring field since they arrived, to create an open space for playing ball games – certainly a popular decision with the kids. Dog owners too can come safe in the knowledge that part of the meadow is set aside for off-lead enclosed play.
While facilities are excellent and the camping fields retain their rural feel, it is the atmosphere that creates the real pleasantness of this site. There’s a lively mix of types. Caravan and campervanners bimble down the narrow Cornish lanes, family campers head kid-first towards the beach, surfers rinse out their wet-suits in the sun and walkers pack away their slim-line tents, ready to rejoin the 630-mile coastal path. It’s a half-hour stroll for the less serious ramblers, heading across to nearby St. Agnes – home to a few great eateries. A little further inland, the Miner's Arms is the old RAF haunt. Sip a pint of Bass Pale Ale at the bar and imagine the place smokey with the pipes of World War II airmen. Flyers of small planes can still park up the lane and take the 10 minute wander to camp, just like the old days. A short stroll to Trevellas Porth (also known as Happy Valley) gives you access to a lovely dog-friendly beach. At low tide, you can head to Trevaunance Cove to see the old harbour and have a well-earned pint at Driftwood Spars’ micro-brewery – pretty much the perfect summer’s day.
