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ho’d have thought that you could find such a quiet spot on the sand, just a stone’s throw from Padstow?

Tucked away along the coastal path (you can walk it from Padstow Harbour), Hawker’s is one of those places you feel reluctant to tell people about – or at least we did…

The walk from Padstow takes about 40 minutes, and your reward is a sheltered spot of sand where there are rock pools for the kids to ferret about in, gentle waters if they fancy a splash and lots of birdlife milling about.

Along the coastal path from Padstow to Trevone, you'll also find a small tea garden. It's situated about 150m from Hawkers Cove Beach at the back of the old Coastguard Houses. You can tuck into homemade cakes, sandwiches and cream teas while enjoying the superb views across the Doom Bar and mouth of the Camel Estuary, to Polzeath and Daymer Bay.

If you really want to get away from it all, though, how about booking a room at Lellizzick Farmhouse just nearby? It’s walkable from the beach (in the opposite direction from ‘Padstein’) and has a gorgeous garden looking out across fields and along the coast.

The couple that run the place, Rupert and Verity, are really chilled – and can recommend lots of other nearby places to check out.

How about a trip to Jamie Oliver’s restaurant at nearby Watergate Bay?