| The Rame Peninsula is often known locally as "The
Forgotten Corner". It is bounded by water on 3 sides: the rivers
Lynher and Tamar and by Plymouth Sound. It is the south eastern-most
part of South East Cornwall lying just across the border with Devon
and the City of Plymouth. The name Rame means "The high protruding
cliff, the ram's head" and Rame Head can be seen from many miles
and has been a landmark for sailors for thousands of years. Right at
the top of Rame Head, some 320 feet above sea level, lies the ruined
chapel of St. Michael. The chapel, which was licensed for Mass in 1397,
is believed to stand on the site of a much older Celtic hermitage.
From 1486 Plymouth paid a watchman to maintain a beacon here to warn
sailors and to inform the city of approaching important ships. The
return of the Newfoundland fishing fleet used to be signaled from here
during the 16th century and in 1588 the Spanish Armada was also sighted
sailing up the channel. Today a coastguard station is still positioned
on Rame head and the views of the approaches to Plymouth Sound, Wembury
Bay, Great Mewstone Island, Polhawn Cove and the sandy beaches of Whitsand
Bay remain as stunning as ever. Nearby lies Rame Church first consecrated
in 1259 and dedicated to St Germanus.
Whitsand Bay lies south-west of Plymouth Sound with Rame Head forming
its eastern boundary and the small village of Portwrinkle to its west.
Polhwan cove is in the east of the
bay, then long stetches of sandy beaches run to the west interspersed
with rocky headlands and small bays, over Sharrow Point through Freathy
beach to the wide expanse of Tregantle beach. Fort Tregantle overlooks
Tregantle beach, still occupied by the Ministry of Defence, and Tregantle
beach itself is closed when the firing ranges at the fort are in operation.
The holiday settlement of Freathy, a collection of chalets, huts and
shacks forms an haphazard settlement stretching along and down the
cliffs,
quite an eyesore to an otherwise dramatic view. The bay is popular
with scuba divers because of its marine life and in 2004, HMS Scylla,
the
former Royal Navy frigate was scuppered nearby an existing World War
II wreck, the Liberty Ship James Eagan Layne, to provide a new underwater
reef for divers. The James Eagan Layne was built in 1944 in the United
States of America. After only three month's war service, on 21 March
1945, she was torpedoed and sunk in Whitsand Bay by U-1195 whilst on
a voyage from Barry, in Wales bound for Ghent in Belgium. Thankfully
there were no casualties and the wreck has become of the most popular
diving sites in the country.
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