Sunrise over the Rumps in North Cornwall — the rumps

A landscape photographer’s guide to this stunning wild and rugged section of the Cornish coast, with dramatic cliffs, sea stacks and wildflowers.

What Is It

The Rumps peninsula is a landscape photography playground, offering a wide choice of subjects and elevated vantage points to capture the raw beauty of the North Cornish coast in all its forms.

It’s elongated double headland stretches out into the sea and is the main focal point and there’s several places where you can shoot looking towards the headland or back along this rugged coastline.

The entire Rumps is covered in a constant sea of green grass which sweeps over the rolling headlands. This lush carpet is punctured with lichen encrusted white granite boulders and different seasonal wildflowers from Spring to Summer – from poppies, thrift and heather — offering a variety of strong foreground interests. To top it off, there are several photogenic sea stacks visible from the cliff top’s; the compositions and photographic opportunities here are almost endless.

In this photography location guide, I will share all you need to know to get the most from this fantastic location.

What to Shoot

The Rumps is littered with photographic opportunities, I’d encourage everyone to explore the entire area.

Rumps Overlook

The area between The Rumps and Pentire Point has several rocky outcrops providing ideally situated elevated platforms to capture the full grandeur of this twin peninsula.

A wide angle lens is vital here to capture the headlands, their undulating hills and the swirling sea below in a single frame whilst fitting in any drama unfolding in the skies.

The final outcrop before the bay tucks in and the coastal path heads downhill provides a lovely composition with the sweep that gives a great natural lead in to The Rumps in the distance.

For the more brave you can scrabble down the cliffs away from the coastal path to find granite boulders galore to add another dimension to your foreground.

Come sunset from the cliff path, the headlands turn golden, setting their lush grassy carpet ablaze which adds depth and form to the Rumps and the surrounding landscape.

The South Coast path itself can be another obvious lead in opportunity worth exploring as it snakes its way along the cliff tops through the lush grass toward the Rumps.

Sunset over the Rumps in Cornwall — Viewpoint #1 A Summer sunset bathes the Rumps in a wonderful golden glow

The Mouls & Seven Souls

Whilst the Rumps overlook is undoubtedly a strong draw and the place most photographers will gravitate too, the area between the two Rumps is well worth a visit as it offers some fantastic photographic opportunities.

Here the landscape steeply falls away into the frothing sea with two beautiful sea stacks visible offshore; the angular canine tooth-like rock known as the Seven Souls and the island of Mouls further offshore.

Both provide fantastic mid and background elements to any composition and can be complemented by a number of angular and characterful lumps of granite rock that dot the hillside here.

Only one of the Rumps is visible from, resembling a huge dinosaurs paw, and it’s shape acts as a natural way to draw the eye deeper into the frame toward the islands and onto the coastline in the distance.

In late Summer, this area catches the last of the day’s sun, and the Mouls and Seven Souls can turn almost blood red being set on fire by the last of the day’s light.

This is my personal favourite area in the Rumps, being more sheltered from the elements, and typically far less crowded.

Viewpoint #2 Sunset strikes the Mouls and Seven Souls on The Rumps peninsula

Wildflower Carpet

The Rumps is not only a great to capture stunning landscapes, it also offers a chance to capture a wide range of Cornwall’s coastal wildflowers in a single location.

Throughout Spring into late Summer, the rolling grasses of the Rumps become a tapestry of colour as different wildflowers grace the cliffs surrounding the granite boulders in an ever-changing floral carpet.

Ever enchanting sea pinks typically reach their peak here between late April and late May.

Visiting during early June you' will witness the majestic cow parsley in full bloom, gracing the landscape with its lacy white flowers. But the floral spectacle doesn't end there.

From June to August, the vivid yellow hues of the corn marigolds begin to emerge and patches of Ling heather also make an appearance in late August although not as prominent as in other parts of the Cornish coast, so you have to work a little harder to find compositions.

Viewpoint #3 heather clutches the cliff edges at The Rumps

When To Shoot

Best Season

The Rumps is a year round location and is always worth consideration on a North Cornwall itinerary regardless of the season. That said, I favour Spring and Summer as they provide more varied opportunities given the presence of wildflowers and lush green sea of grass on the Rumps slopes.

Best Time of Day

Sunset is unequivocally the best time to shoot the Rumps given it’s West facing aspect.

Between late March and October the sun sets out to sea and will sidelight the Rumps. This is a great time to capture the Rumps from the coastal path overlooks as the hills and double headland will glow golden.

Between July and August, the sun is directly 90 degrees to the Rumps giving the strongest sidelight and it’s far enough North to hit the two offshore rocky promontories known as the Mouls and Seven Souls.

Summer does typically mean hazier clearer skies with less dramatic clouds, but chances of catching that lovely sidelight draping itself over the landscape, making the grass and granite glow is even higher.

Tide Times

Don’t play a factor, the sea here is deep so low or high tide doesn’t have a bearing on your shots and access is all via the land.

How To Get There

Head to the National Trust’s Lead Mines car park outside Pentireglaze using postcode PL27 6QY.

Follow the path on the left of the car park which heads across a flat field toward the road and a wooden gate. Once past the gate follow the stone path between the fields up to the farmers house.

At the farmers house, a gravel path goes slightly uphill between high stone walls until the path forks. The left hand will take you to the overlook between Pentire Point and the Rumps . Whereas the right path goes to the base of the Rumps themselves.

Please note, at time of writing, unless you are a National Trust Member, where parking at Lead Mines is free, the car park only accepts cash.

View location in Google Earth

Difficulty

Rated 2 / 5

From the National Trust car park, it is an easy 20 - 30 mins walk to the cliff path.

Once on the cliffs, the paths to and around the Rumps are quite rocky and almost all the shots in this guide were taken off the paths close to the cliff edges, which are steep and unfenced with nothing but the Celtic Sea below.

Crowd Factor

Medium.

Despite its proximity to Polzeath, The Rumps remain comparatively quiet to rest of Cornwall’s honeypot locations, even in the hustle and bustle of Summer. The area also has the advantage of being very sprawling, and with so much opportunity the tripods tend to thin out, so its easy to find a spot to yourself if you prefer some solitude.

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