SANDY BEACHES OF THE NORTHERN COAST 97 This is not a guide book and there is no need to go into detail about the ancient church in the very midst of the workers, or the restored tiny chapel out on the " island " that really once was an island, which overlooks as in blessing the drying nets that blacken the green of the grass on the slopes below. The chunk or bite out of this island on the east is Porthgwidden Cove, and the Foresand runs from here to Penolva Point whence begin Porthminster Sands. On the hill behind the town rises the hideous Knill monument where the little girls dance around on July 25 every fifth year, in memory of the conventional alderman who left such directions in his will, and yet after all is not buried here. The impression carried away from St. Ives is of light and freshness and space, and of width of sand that would attract attention anywhere, but which here in Cornwall is phenomenal ; and of enough modern comfort and cleanliness to make cnmgs very pleasant though within reach lies the old kernel of the town in piquant contrast. The name Porthminster means " church of the sands " and it is curious that the church should thus be referred to in one of the principal place-names when the St. Ives' people had originally to go to 13
