Page:The Cornwall coast.djvu/291

CRANTOCK, NEWQUAY, MAWGAN 285 atmosphere ; and there was one such superstition that long lingered around the Gannel gorge. Perhaps it is not yet quite dead, but is told by some mothers to their children at nightfall. Penpoll Creek is reached by a delightful wild- flower lane leading from Crantock ; it is the quickest way into Newquay. What may be called the main road goes inland, by Trevemper Bridge, a good four miles — sometimes to be chosen instead of taking the ford. The Gannel is only a small stream in itself, but here, at its sandy mouth, it broadens to a considerable width, and flows with rapid current. At Penpoll the road runs to meet the river on either side, and there is a narrow plank-bridge by which travellers can pass dryshod when the tide is low. But the banks of sand are very shallow, and are quickly flooded by the incoming water ; this little bridge of planks is soon washed by the waves, and during some hours each day the Gannel cannot be forded. In broad daylight, when visitors from Newquay are passing and repassing, the spot may be cheerful enough ; but at nightfall a dusky solemnity pos- sesses it. There is the rumour of immemorial tradi- tion in the air ; it comes with the lap of the water and the low sob that breathes from the sands ; it speaks in the cry of the birds as they wing their way restlessly from bank to bank. The country-folk whisper that these birds are the souls of those who have been drowned at the ford — those who have dared to pass unwarily when the tide was pouring in with the force of the ocean behind it. The moment of safety had gone, but rather than drive many miles round to the bridge at Trevemper, they risked the passage, their horses became confused by the whirl of