‘Please be kind, watch us quietly and let us sleep,’ hikers are cautioned as they creep up to a craggy Cornish coastline where they can spot the largest colony of grey seals in the county. The polite notice conjures images of large groups of tourists cramming shoulder-to-shoulder to get a glimpse of the marine mammals during the peak summer months when visitors descend on Cornwall en-masse. But there are only around six people ahead of our party as we head up the trail in Godrevy National Trust.
After the group ahead of us depart, my family is left in solitude to watch the seals lounge on the beach at Mutton Cove, flanked by high cliffs and only accessible at low tide. From the viewing point, we count more than two dozen seals in the bay below, the majority trying to catch 40 winks as the incoming tide laps at their tails. At times there can be up to 200, I’m later told.
Our private viewing of the seals highlights why autumn is one of the best times of year to visit Cornwall. Of course, the weather can be temperamental but even at the height of summer most tourists need to be armed with a brolly and a bottle of sun cream. We’d started our three-mile walk from our holiday home at Three Mile Beach – a collection of upmarket holiday homes – in lashing rain, barely able to see a few metres ahead as we stumbled along a soggy coastal path.
But by the time we reached the headland at Godrevy, the sky was azure blue and the sun beamed down on the back of our necks. Tearing.