Carbis Bay Beach Live Cam

The Carbis Bay Hotel, St Ives, Cornwall. Live cam situated on the edge of the beach, has superb views across St Ives Bay and offers luxury accommodation, award-winning cuisine and traditional, high standards of service.

The Carbis Bay Hotel can provide as little, or as much, as you need to help ensure your perfect holiday, which is why many of our guests return to visit us year after year!

The Award winning Carbis Bay Hotel is situated on the golden sands of Carbis Bay Beach, reputedly one of the finest beaches in the Country. Part of the larger St Ives Bay, it is one of only two bays in the United Kingdom qualifying to be a member of the exclusive, internationally recognised 'Most Beautiful Bays in the World' organisation.

The pool and sun terrace nestle in our tropical gardens and are ideal for relaxing or whiling away long summer days - perhaps taking morning coffee after a gentle stroll, or enjoying one of our special Cornish cream teas.

Built in 1894 by the famous architect Sylvanus Trevail, the Carbis Bay Hotel quickly gained popularity as a result of the boom in seaside holidays which had been made possible by the expansion of the railways. Indeed, at the turn of the 19th century, Carbis Bay Station was a grand affair, boasting its own Station Master, station house and full-time staff.

The Godrevy Lounge - A quiet corner to relax in comfort and elegance with, perhaps, a glass of wine or a good book. On cooler evenings, an open fire burns, creating an inviting, gracious ambience. Our thirty-nine bedrooms vary in size and each has an individual style. All are furnished to a high standard, have hospitality trays, hairdryer, colour television, room service and daily in-house laundry as standard. Many rooms have sea views and our superior rooms (shown right) offer an additional touch of luxury.

The Terrace Lounge - From here you can look down on the expanse of beach or across to Godrevy Lighthouse, immortalised by Virginia Wolfe in her novel 'To the Lighthouse'. It is the ideal place to watch the sea's constantly changing moods which have given inspiration to generations of Cornish artists. The swimming pool and sun terrace have a truely mediterranian atmosphere and are ideal for relaxing or sun-bathing with stunning views across the beach and bay. Enjoy a warm dip before morning coffee or perhaps one of our special Cornish cream teas.

Cabaret artists provide a wide range of family entertainment through the high season, including specially themed shows for children of all ages. Early dinner is available for very young children or they can eat in the main restaurant during the first hour of service. A games room with full size snooker table, table tennis and other amusements is located in the basement area. West Cornwall Golf Club is approximately 1 mile away and is well respected by professional golfers. Watersports are available on the harbour front in St Ives and can be booked through reception.

You can enjoy the finest Cuisine in our Award Winning Restaurant which has superb views across St Ives Bay. A typical five-course Dinner menu might include; Cured West Country Salmon or, perhaps, Ogen Melon filled with tropical and fresh fruit, followed by Tournedos of Beef Fillet in Puff Pastry, Trio of Chicken in Burgundy and Tarragon Sauce or Pancakes with Cream Cheese and Garlic Spinach. And, if you still have room, a wonderful selection of freshly prepared desserts with Cornish cream, followed by Cheese, Coffee and Petit Fours.

Our Master Chef pays particular attention to the balance of chosen menu dishes and the quality of fresh Cornish ingredients used in their preparation. To complete your dining experience, on some evenings we have live cabaret dancing or a Pianist to set a sophisticated, perhaps romantic, mood as you watch the sun set across the bay and the waves turn to silver on the beach below.

Whatever the occasion, a dinner party for six or a wedding for one hundred, the Carbis Bay Hotel can be tailored to meet your precise needs. We offer an interesting range of wines to accompany the meal including our House red or white wine, As an approximate guide to the amount you will need, 1 bottle serves 3 - 4 people. For the toast we have a choice of sparkling wine or House champagne. Further wines are available from our list should you require them. If you wish to supply your own wine, a corkage charge of £5.00 per bottle will apply.

If you are planning an evening function also, we offer a buffet menu at a discounted rate per head and we are able to arrange various types of entertainment and cabaret. A complimentary room is provided for the bride and groom on the night of the wedding, and a full English breakfast the next morning. A deposit of £400 is required to confirm a booking. A room hire charge of £200 will apply for groups with a total number of less than 40 guests.

The legend goes on to tell how St. Ia, a Virgin Saint of noble birth, went down to the seashore to depart for Cornwall from her native Ireland with other saints. On her arrival at the sands, she found they had gone and left her behind, fearing that she was too young for such a hazardous journey. Finding that she was too late she was grief stricken and prayed. She touched it with the rod she was carrying to see if it would sink, and lo! It grew bigger and bigger as she looked at it. She saw that it was sent to her by God, and trusting to Him, she embarked upon the leaf, and was straightaway wafted across the Channel, reaching her destination before the others. The legend goes on to say she founded an oratory in a clearing of a wood on the site of the existing Parish Church which is dedicated to her.

Interestingly, during construction of the new lifeboat station, which has been built adjacent to the Parish Church, the contractors excavating for the foundations hit a peat bog which is surprising when one considers the excavations were in St. Ives Harbour.

The Hain Shipping Company which had its headquarters in St. Ives was a large shipping company who later combined with the Norge company and others to become P&O. The tin industry also created its fair share of shipping business which no doubt led the harbour to be listed in 1830 as "a most Important Harbour". We who live here are truly lucky to live in such a beautiful place, beware if you visit us, you too may be smitten, and find that you have to return over and over.

Percy Lane Oliver was born on April 11th 1878 at the home of his grandparents, Paul and Marjorie Curnow, in Fish Street, St Ives. In 1921, when he was working in London and was Secretary of the Camberwell Division of the British Red Cross, he and a few Red Cross colleagues responded to an urgent request from the nearby King's College Hospital for a blood donor. One of the group became the hospital's first donor to give blood as a volunteer without financial reward. Oliver's experience on that occasion led him to the concept of voluntary blood donor panels and the system he devised, on which he worked tirelessly for the rest of his life and which was admired and copied in countries around the world, has been developed over the years and is now incorporated into our National Health Service through the National Blood Authority.

Oliver was awarded the OBE for his work in hospitals and among refugees in the First World War, but during his lifetime he received no public recognition of the pioneering work he did in the field of blood transfusion.

He died in 1944, and it was not until 1972 that any public reminder of his contribution to modern medicine was forthcoming. This was in the form of a plaque in the Haematology Department of King's College Hospital. In 1979 the Greater London Council attached one of their 'blue plaques' to the house in South London where Oliver and his family carried on the administration of the voluntary service, and in 1992, with the co-operation of the St Ives Town Council, an appropriate plaque was provided in the newly opened Stennack Surgery in St Ives.

King's College Hospital is now part of the King's Healthcare NHS Trust, and to mark the 75th anniversary of that first voluntary blood donation at King's College Hospital and the start of Oliver's work, the Trust felt that something more tangible than a plaque was needed. It was decided that one of the hospital's new wards should be named after him, and this was done on Thursday, December 12th when a plaque was unveiled in the Oliver Ward referring to Oliver's work.

Memorabilia associated with Oliver and the St Ives connection has been made available to the St Ives Museum for a permanent display in the museum. It is also hoped that patients who receive treatment in the Oliver Ward and who had not previously thought about the blood donor service may be encouraged to become volunteers, which would in itself be a tribute to the man and his life's work.

Knill's Steeple is a mausoleum for John Knill - a former mayor of St Ives - he died in 1811 but was never buried here. Under the terms of his Will every five years a ceremony takes place on St James's Day whereby ten local girls dance to a fiddler and the 100th psalm is read. There are extensive views of the area from the top of Worvas Hill where the Steeple stands.

In 1782 John Knill erected the mausoleum on Worvas Hill in which he intended to be buried as he "abhorred the practice of burial within the body of the Church" as was then prevalent in St. Ives at the time. The churchyard being already too small for the people. However, owing to difficulties of consecration this idea had to be abandoned and upon his death at Gray's Inn Square on March 29th 1811, he was subsequently buried at St. Andrew's Church, Holborn.

Designed in 1779 by the architect Mr John Wood, Knill Steeple is a triangular pyramid of hewn granite, 50 feet high, contained within the base a cavity large enough for a single interment. Rising in courses of cut blocks the pyramid is capped with metal and provided with a lightening conductor. An arch in the base gives access to the cavity but this has always been sealed up except during the memorial ceremony. A low guard wall of granite was constructed in 1829 to protect the foundations. On one face is carved the word "Resurgam", with the Coat of Arms and Motto – "Nil Desperandum" – of John Knill; the second face bears the inscription "I know that my Redeemer liveth", while the third side is inscribed "Johannes Knill 1782". High on the top of Worvas Hill the steeple is visible for miles and provides a convenient landmark for all those who use the sea.

A strange ritual is performed in the town of St. Ives every five years on St James's Day, July 25th. The first ceremony took place in 1801 during Knill's lifetime and he was in attendance to witness the participants, dressed in their white ribbons and uniforms of office dance around the mausoleum to the old Cornish "Furry Dance" tune before singing the Old Hundredth psalm.

Carried out even during the war years this quinquennial celebration will next take place on July 25th 2001, for the 41st time. Heading the Knill Trust will be The Worshipful Mayor of St. Ives, Vicar of St. Ives, and the Customs Officer together with the Master of Ceremonies and The Fiddler who will escort the two widows and ten maidens, of ten years old at most, dressed in white, in a procession to the Knill's Steeple to carry out John Knill's wish to be remembered by the people of St. Ives to whom he held a "real affection".

Artists and craft people continue to be drawn to the town and there are many studios and galleries to browse around where you can watch them at work. Many are open into the summer evenings as are a selection of the shops.

In recognition of the town's artistic inheritance the St Ives September Festival, celebrates the town's Musical and Artistic heritage every year. The festival runs through the middle two weeks in September and includes a variety of performances, including classical music, jazz and folk. There are 'open days' when local artists open their galleries to the public. Numerous other events, including poetry readings and exhibitions are also held.

In addition to these larger galleries, there is a whole host of studios and galleries representing the contemporary arts scene. Mainly concentrated in St Ives and Penzance, though with a few more isolated examples, these are all open to the public and allow you the chance to browse and soak up the atmosphere or even to purchase something you like.