Bantham !!!

[gavin]

HI i got a few days off & was wondering if anyone fancied hooking up at Bantham?

Gav...

[Vince Noir]

its a trap

[Back to Top]

/\

[buttholesurfer]

Got a puppy and any sweets?

[Philshoz]

Which carpark?, what time?.........OOO

[well-chilled-out]

Well the beach has degenerated with a yuppy, mobile sandwich bar cause the estate's got no money 'cause the RNLI are shafting beach owners with increased charges which no-one can afford & do we need the RNLI anymore ? There's a debate so the carpark may as well become a dogging site as well for Gavin- just leave a few quid in the tin..

[gavin]

You cruel people !!!
I'm just an old skater trying to learn to surf in a new area...

Shame on you ...

[Underdog]

Well the beach has degenerated with a yuppy, mobile sandwich bar cause the estate's got no money 'cause the RNLI are shafting beach owners with increased charges which no-one can afford & do we need the RNLI anymore ? There's a debate so the carpark may as well become a dogging site as well for Gavin- just leave a few quid in the tin..

Sounds like a similar situation here in Cornwall

While Cornwall's District Councils were intact, the RNLI incrementally manoeuvred itself towards a monopoly commercial (not charitable) contract with Cornwall Council (sidelining the specialist and long established SLSA who SHOULD be running Beach Safety in The Duchy via their network of SLSA clubs). Cornwall Council PAYS the RNLI under the terms of that commercial contract. The RNLI is busy cluttering Cornwall's beaches with suburbanising 'iconic' buildings (see doomed Fistral eyesore) and a surplus of noisy mechanical aids disturbing the beach scene and crushing the sea-life in the sand (as succinctly described by the Gwithian caller on the Laurence Reed Show today). The RNLI is red flag averse - putting business interests and cynical 'rescue' 'points' donation garnering publicity above public safety - just Google 'mass beach rescue rnli lifeguards cornwall' - testament to RNLI carelessness, insensitivity, foolishness and over-reliance on mechanical aids more than 'heroism'. Most beach rescues and medical assistance incidents take place on or in the water above the mean tidal foreshore. The Duchy of Cornwall claims ownership of Cornwall's foreshore up to the mean high water mark. The Duchy of Cornwall contributes NOTHING to beach safety provision on the Duchy's beaches. In fact, Cornwall Council PAYS a lot of money every year to The Duchy of Cornwall for public use of many of the beaches! So - Cornwall Council pays The Duchy for the public use of the Duchy owned foreshore AND additionally pays for the lifeguard service that patrols the Duchy owned foreshore! It's a shocking tale of yet another Duchy Of Cornwall abdication of its Public Authority duty, responsibility and provision (as in 'ripping off' the people of Cornwall - yet again 'n again 'n again!).

[ATTMFKH]

Parking charges in Cornwall are a joke ...... £4.80 in Sennen today.....greedy bastards

[danny1]

is that all day? or a couple of hours? ive not been down the SW for a recreational visit for years. everything is too crowded. must be a mare to live there n the summer

i

[Black]

ok sometimes I go mad in summer with the crowds but city centre parking costs are equivalent or more for a whole day so to park at somewhere resembling heaven the sting doesn't hurt so bad. I do believe free parking would be a better boost to economy. NT is £3 I think.

[danny1]

aye fair enuff i pay £5 for 24 hrs city centre

or 70p an hour in short stay.....

does that compare?

[Black]

Not done short stay for some years but 70p/hr sounds quite rich. Parked for nothing today, shared some below par waves with surprisingly few folk. Sliced my foot on some glass on the way back to car. Its a funny old world but I reckon free access pays for itself in the long run by appreciation.

[ATTMFKH]

£4.80 all day Danny.....don't mind paying it there .. Beautiful spot , kids got waves too ..... Then walked over the cliffs to Lands End witth the shirt off in glorious sunshine.

The ballache is having to have change all the time to pay, especially doing morning and evening sessions, soon adds up and your thinking about running out of time wheb your in the water - a new one on me. Mal-Nourished gave me his NT card so that helps, except its out of date since May so needs to be a quick brass neck flash.......

Wee grom at Sennen today with purple wetsuit and purple log, ballet dancing up and down his board , noseriding like a pro, unreal, makes my unsightly shuffling up to the nose look seriously lame

[well-chilled-out]

Ha ha...£5 Bantham.....which isn't time orientated, so, you turn up late afternoon, still £5 ? For a great days surf / beach I don't mind that. The estate has to pay for itself..What is rich is that I have always loved Bantham for its total uncommercialised stance...Because the RNLI has fingered nothing but scare tactics on owners ie :RNLI risk assessors 'strangely' concluding that the beach is unsafe without their assistance & that insurances listen to the mighty cog that is the RNLI charges have been born by councils/owners...My argument is that 'do we actually need lifeguard cover in anything other than the school holiday periods...Local lifesaving clubs (like OZ etc) have willing voluntary members to cover weekends any other time...
I look at brand new four wheel drives, quads, new buildings,a mass of staff, the waste, the admin & I see a grinding organisation that has to 'self fund' by other means as we are not putting into the charity pot because the country's gone tits up...I know the RNLI have cut back, they have to but for us, the beach user to have to foot the bill by both car park charges & our taxes is too much to bear in this climate..
Bantham doesn't need a mobile sandwich store it will put a fine little local shop out of business because they're now not within grasp of the car park..Result will be yet another village store gone in the name of short term profit...We need to look after our village stores with a passion in the south West, not put them into insolvency...
I find the whole thing crass at Bantham & I can't blame the estate as they are trying to survive as well...It's time the RNLI looked at their organisation, not as a money making machine & an actual service to the public...Of course you will say, saving one life is worth it but people use lifeguards as a back up rather than an emergency these days...

[Ferral]

When the estate let the surf-school in the other year I joked we'd have a burger van and then a funfair.. fingers crossed I dont get two prophesies right!!

Who's running the burger van W-C-O? It wasn't in evidence when I was last back. Not another close relation of the RNLI heirachy by any chance??

[insideout]

I understand the burger van being a joke, but the RNLI do a good job i think you're very narrow minded to suggest their presence at the beach isn't worthwhile. You go on about businesses going under locally etc, but i bet a good majority of people who holiday in the South Hams come here on the fact that their young children can go and play safely on the beach and in the sea. Take the RNLI lifeguards out of the equation and i bet there will be even less people visiting the coastline, especially Bantham as it is well known for being a dangerous beach for the inexperienced.

[well-chilled-out]

So I'm narrow minded to suggest that the only deaths ever recored were from those attempting to cross the River Avon on spring lows ...No RNLI cover in that area as out of view...There is no RNLI cover at beaches such as Lannacombe etc..Very family friendly, gets incredibly busy. has Weever Fish, has rip tides yet no-one has drowned..Seems ironic that RNLI has installed on council run beaches such as Slapton (no drownings), South Milton (no drownings)...Me thinks it's due to fear of possible litigation & simply scare tactics....You have an extremely higher chance getting run over yet do we have a national 'Charitable' organisation helping us to cross the road ? No..just the benefit of Pelecan Crossings for us to judge ourselves when safe to cross....Risk is a part of everday life, you enter the water, you put yourself at risk..I haven't said get rid of the lifeguards, yes, in the school holidays..private estates will then be able to afford cover without having the headache of trying to find ways to fund the service & my understanding of a charitable trust is that you DON'T charge for your service hence the tax breaks.How do the RNLI get away with charging at all for providing cover ? Can you REALLY claim that not having cover deter families from using the beaches,I suggest shitty weather,expensive UK accommodation,high petrol prices,stupidly high parking charges, cheaper foreign holidays with guaranteed sun (in countries with no equivalent lifeguard cover) are far more valid reasons than not having a teenage,loud hailer wielding inlander who has done a NARS course,sat inside a Mitsubishi pickup (they don't even patrol the beach these days) is....

[spewing]

Im no fan of the lifeguard system but the RNLI lifeguards do seem a lot more professional than the old South Hams Council lifeguards.

Regardless when the RNLI started running the life guard service I did wonder how much they were charging for the service and I thought I hope there making a profit from it and then using that profit to help fund there lifeboat service.

There are plenty of people who bitch on about the RNLI life boat service being over funded and waisting money etc etc but the bottom line is when it all goes tits up for me it will probably be a RNLI life boat that comes and gets me out of the shit and at that point I wont care about funding and who pays what. Ill just be glad to see that big orange boat coming.

Unless of course its the Hope Cove inshore life boat that is independently funded but that will just open up another can of worms.
And while were posing questions. Why isn't the life boat service funded by the government, why are they closing coast guard stations, why are the decreasing the number of search and rescue helicopters, why are they being run by private companies etc etc etc