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A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE RIVER AT CRINNIS
By Terry Beer
I was born at Par and I have been observing this river for decades. Over the years the river has flowed in most directions. Usually, but not always, ending in the sea. At times the river formed a lake or lagoon. At other times, it simply percolated through the coarse gravel/sand until it reached the water table. Sometimes it flowed eastwards (as can be seen from this photograph), sometimes to the west. As the beach was used mostly for recreation purposes in earlier times, the course of the river was of little consequence. It was always possible to ford it and reach all parts of the beach.
Since the construction of an almost mile-long wall of steel piling, that has changed. In order to control the route and velocity of the river as it crosses the beach, tonnes of rock, some weighing in excess of 10 tonnes, have been placed along that length of the river. Additional sheets of steel piling and membrane have been added. Many of the rocks have sunk as the sand has been eroded by the tidal action. The membrane has been abraded by interaction with tide and the coarse sand and most of it has disappeared. The volume of water varies, of course, with the weather conditions, tides etc. Large quantities of sand have been carried down to the sea, where the clockwise tidal flow moves it along eastwards towards Par Harbour and as far as Polkerris.
(Work to confine the river March 2003)
In recent times, bulldozers and mechanical grabs have been used to move tonnes of sand back up the beach to replace this sand. In fact, so much of this replaced material, in very benign weather conditions, has been moved down by the river, that a new promontory has been formed and now reaches out into the sea and has formed a sand bank which runs parallel with the beach to Fishing Point at the eastern end. This seems to be a completely futile operation and will not be possible, if, when, heaven forbid any construction takes place on the beach.
During normal winter weather conditions this process is accelerated. Nowadays, waves often wash over the steel wall further undermining it. A bridge, recently the only safe crossing point of the river, has been closed and wading is the only option if you wish to travel along the beach.
For several years now, safe, easy access to the three beaches has been difficult for many and impossible for others and a local amenity has been denied to locals and visitors alike.
JT Beer
February 2009
As Terry Beer explains the footbridge built by Ampersand as a safe crossing point of the river (a river made dangerous by the placing of tonnes of massive boulders and steel shuttering to confine it) has now been closed because sea erosion has made it impossible to get to the bridge. The river has now broken free again and has been flowing westwards as this photograph, taken in early January 2009, shows.
Sometimes it flowed eastwards (as can be seen from this photograph), sometimes to the west. 
