Gwithiansandpitjackmoon: Traces of Human Intervention

Tourism has had a massive effect on the site. It is more popular then ever for visitors from local dog walkers to outsiders coming to make use of its recreational potential. The effect that human activity has had on the site can be clearly seen and is demonstrated in the images below.

Fences have been built all over the site for a variety of reasons. Some are there to keep people from certain, more protected areas, others are to prevent people from bringing bikes onto the site and threatening the safety of the wildlife and plantlife.

During the summer people come to enjoy the beach and surrounding scenery. This image demonstrates the combination of human interaction with natural scenery.

The image above illustrates one of the the man made structures that have been built on the site altering the landscape and removing the unspoiled scenery that ironically is what attracts people in the first place.

Dog walking is a common use for the site. The man in this image very kindly allowed his portrait to be taken, illustrating one of the most common uses for Gwithian sand pit.

Another common use for the site is surfing. Even on days like this with flat seas and limited potential, determined surfers take to the water to make the most of any waves that might come along.

Impacts of Tourism & Recreation

With the decline of traditional industries such as tin mining, fishing and agriculture, tourism has become the mainstay of the Cornish economy. The sand dunes tend to be a very popular site with local people for recreation. The Towans has been estimated to receive 100,000 visitors per year.

People visiting the sand dunes for recreational purposes can have a severe impact on the environment if they do not act responsibly. Some of the things to look out for include:

Litter - Unsightly and can be mistaken for food by animals potentially causing them harm.

Dog fouling - On the dune habitats acts as an unwanted fertiliser, harming rare plants and habitats. It also smells, looks bad and can spread disease.

Motorbikes - Tear up the dune grassland which takes years to recover. Can also disturb ground nesting skylarks, causing them to desert their young.

Fires - Similarly damage the dune habitat.

Archaeology Beneath the Towans

Along certain stretches of the north Cornish coast lie undulating sand dunes that that are unique havens for wildlife and archaeology. Gwithian is one such place.
This particular landscape became the focus of a major campagn of archaeological work from 1949 through to the early 1960s.
Over 70 sites of different periods dating from the Mesolithic through to the post medievil periods were discovered. All were recorded and some were excavated. This campagn became one of the major national projects in Britain during the post-war period as sites of national significance were discovered.

Human Land Uses (past & present)

1) The growth of housing.

2) Agriculture - the light, well drained soils are perfect for arable farming and market gardening.

3) Sand extraction - the sand has a wide variety of uses such as in the construction industry, as bedding for farm animals kept in stalls for winter and as a source of valuable minerals.

4) As the site of the National Explosives Works - put here in 1888 to manufacture nitro-glycerine and ammunition until 1919 for the first world war and then to store explosives until its demolition in the 1960s. Much of the debris from this has been left behind.

5) Holiday parks, caravan parks and campsites to accomodate the thousands of visitors to the dunes and beach during the summer months.

6) Large number of electricity pylons, which were put here originally as there used to be a small coal-fired power station at the southern end of the dunes on the shores of the Hayle estuary.

7) Car parks, roads and footpaths to allow access to the increasing numbers of people who use the dune for recreation. Evidence can be found of erosion from both uncontrolled car parking and the footpaths which run all over the dunes.

8) Chalet development - these have been built in the last 50 years with little or no planning and design control. Most used to be small and of wooden construction and were distinctive in their character. Now however, many have been demolished and replaced with bigger, more sustainable concrete buildings, which somewhat lack the same character.

9) Dredging in the Hayle estuary which marks the southern end of the sand dune system - this has recently been highlighted by some as a possible source of sand loss from the beach and dunes. This could further de-stabalise the system.

History

Before the Sandsifter there was a Beach House. It was built in 1912 by the Cornish Tin Sands Company, (the first of many companies to quarry the once vast sand dunes at Gwithian) to house their site manager, Mr Gray and his family.
A series of companies continued to quarry sand until 2005, when Hanson Ltd. were forced to halt activities to save important habitats, although they were allowed the concession of being able to dig below sea level in the area that now forms St. Gothian Sands local Nature Reserve.
The dunes at Gwithian provided tens of thousands of tonnes of sand for the building of Plymouth after the Second World War, and the area is scarred with the evidence of mass excavation. Sand was carried to and from the Sandsifter area in cable cars, the foundations of which can still be seen dotted around the area.

Gwithiansandpitjackmoon

Wildlife at Gwithian Sands

Traces of Human Intervention

Archaeology Beneath the Towans

The Sand Dunes

Human Land Uses (past & present)

History

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