beneath the surface: arthur's beach

a burst of sunshine and a sudden desire to go to arthur's beach for a quick break and swim. a man with an orange hat walks towards me. could it be arthur? he's exactly as i imagine him - a tall old man with a bushy white beard and a stick. i make a point of engaging him in conversation..... and ask him if he knows arthur. with a broad toothless smile he points to himself and, my god.....i'm so excited! he tells me a group of youngsters have just been taking his photo so i seize the opportunity and ask if i can take a few shots. he says he feels like a celebrity and he wishes he'd put in his false teeth......

i've been dying to meet arthur ever since i started swimming at "his" beach and little by little my nose has been leading me ever closer. so much to ask him i don't know where to start. he tells me that his bad knee makes it difficult to visit the beach as often as he'd like but assures me it doesn't stop him on the dance floor! he was born in 1935 and all his siblings have since died. he's lived in falmouth all his life and bought his four bedroom house when it cost just £2600. when he was on the dole he found some old council paint and named the beach. he finds money from metal detecting on the busier beaches.... and gold and watches..... lots of watches, though the one he's wearing is from his work. he used to be a mason after a period of military service. we talk about crabs and he tells me all about hell's mouth, a rock shaped like an indian's head and seals and lighthouses.

i climb across the rocks and down to where i'm hoping to swim but the tide is too high. i notice a circled 'AR' at my feet and a little further on, 'arthur's beach' is written in the sand. a group of students are performing cartwheels and handstands and excitedly tell me they've just met arthur. they saw him writing with his stick in the sand and were as happy as i was to meet the man himself. they tell me that they found a big crab claw on a rock and when they walked past arthur he threw them the other matching claw. they were amazed and clearly saw this as some form of wizardry. they too love this beach and a beaming girl tells me that meeting arthur has made their day.

i wander back and arthur is sitting in the sunny spot (which he calls sunny corner) in a big red jumper. he tells me he loves red jumpers and that various people over the years have always knitted them for him. he also mentions, with a twinkle in his eye, that he found two crab claws and left one on a flat rock and put the other in his pocket. he watched the students discover the one on the rock but they didn't know he'd put it there or that he'd seen them find it. so when he threw them the other one they genuinely thought it was magic!

meeting arthur exceeded my expectations and in the fairy tale world of my imagination he really is something of a modern day wizard.....

arthur on his beach

signing the beach

turquoise waters hiding mermaids

tagging the beach

one of the red jumpers

spying on a wizard

this poem was hidden in a little alcove at arthur's for years until it disappeared in 2012

a gloriously sunny january day.... i wander along the road past a young cormorant drying his out-stretched wings in the morning sun and head onto the coast path. it's wet and incredibly muddy, slippy and slidey, and although i hadn't planned to go swimming the sun feels strong and the sea is calling. i decide to head down to falmouth bay through the tangled network of little paths above arthur's beach. being winter and less overgrown it's actually possible to follow the tracks, although there are many branches tempting me in other directions. i follow my instinct and arrive at a sudden slope downwards. there are three ropes tied to the base of trees that you hold onto as if abseiling. when one runs out you pick up the next and then when that runs out there is another. seeing that they're well secured gives me the confidence to lean far back and swing down. it's incredibly fun and conjures up feelings and memories of my rock climbing adventures from way back. when i'm at the bottom i immediately want to do it again and again just for the experience.

this route brings me out onto arthur's beach and from there i clamber across the rocks to falmouth bay. it's bathed in a golden light, completely deserted and i take off my clothes. i'm just about to run into the sea when a man appears in the distance. i hesitate, then run, thinking i can be swimming before he gets any closer.... and his nearing presence is the motivation i need for a quick entry. it's cold but not unbearable and i swim as fast as i can out to a solitary rock only visible in this very low tide. i think the man might pass but he doesn't. he places his bag down quite a distance away and gets undressed. he wanders in up to his knees, seems to have a change of heart and then returns to the warmth of his woolly jumper. by now i'm a tad chilly and he's busy dressing so i seize the moment and run lightening fast to my scarf, which, today doubles as a towel. i wander around in my vest top and pants for quite a while as i dry off in the sun. i'm fully dressed and balance on one leg to dust the clinging sand off the sole of my other foot with the outside of my sock. the man approaches. he must be in his late seventies or eighties and he looks at me shaking his head, "that's a messy way of doin' it" he says in a strong cornish accent. with his stick he points out a flat rock with a little pool conveniently in front of it and explains that you can sit down, swish the sand off your feet in the water and do it that way. i'm not one who likes to be told how to do something so i continue as i am, swaying precariously on one leg whilst trying to keep up the conversation. he seems puzzled that i'm not acting on his advice so i tell him that i'll do this foot my way and the other foot his. immediately he gathers up my bag, my coat and the buoys i found earlier and walks them one by one and places them on his flat rock. i have to say- it's brilliant! it's comfy and you can have all your things next to you and the sand falls away effortlessly into the water and before you can blink the sun had dried your foot (well, not quite!) ....and you can leisurely pull your sock on and have a conversation at the same time, no problem. he looks like a man who's lived and learnt a bit.

he asks me if i'm an art student, "cos a lot come down 'ere," he says "but none as brave as you". i'm flattered and we get chatting. he's lived here all his life and between himself and two friends they regularly cut back the network of paths. i'd always wondered who tended to them and replaced the ropes when they became worn and frayed. he's a bit grumpy but he likes talking about his paths and takes me on a little tour of the ones that he proudly introduces as his own. we climb up above falmouth bay, his physical frailty and lack of breath become apparent but he mutters and swipes his stick at brambles with gusto. i gaze down on the rock i swam to and he waves his stick at things as if it were an extension of his pointing finger. he shows me where toads breed in the spring, we find a lone violet and he tells of his discovery of a rare orchid near where we are. he shows me a vast area of bracken and gorse and paints a picture of how it used to be when it was a luscious green field. there was once a big ramp for launching fishing boats which were towed down the paths by horses.

he mentions arthur and i ask if he means arthur as in arthur's beach. there is a big rock on the beach with 'arthur's beach' scrawled in yellow paint. it's been there for a long time gradually wearing away with every tide. "oh, yes", he says, "that's arthur for you. 'e daubed thaddon there". arthur is now in his seventies and isn't able to make it down to his beach as often as he used to. apparently he is known for saying to people, "had a good afternoon on ARTHUR'S beach have you?" and wandering off leaving them a bit perplexed. i imagine he's a bit of a character. i ask this man why arthur named the beach and he says loudly, "egotism" and then mutters, "all 'e's got goin' for 'im". so he's obviously not a big fan of the man! he looks at his watch and tells me it's 2pm and he'd like to go further but he has to get back home for his cup of tea. and without much of a goodbye he wanders off in the opposite direction, stick in the air, bashing brambles on either side as he goes.