The sandy beaches at Carlyon Bay are not natural—they were created as a byproduct of the local mining industry. Over roughly 80 years, waste from the china clay mines was dumped into nearby rivers, many of which emptied into the bay through tunnels under the cliffs. Over time, this material formed a mile-long stretch of beach composed of coarse sand, gravelly quartz, and other minerals.
Local residents soon began using the beach for recreation, even though it was often covered in sticky clay water. One recalled, “On reaching the shore, one had to spend much time removing what is called ceramic from your body -the legacy of the clay works.” The beach was divided into three sections with distinct names: the west end, Crinnis; the east end, Polgaver; and the middle section, Shorthorn. Most later development took place at the Crinnis end, which eventually became the largest stretch of sandy shoreline between Plymouth and Penzance.
The Carlyon Bay Hotel
In 1929, Sir George Collins, formerly involved in the china clay industry, formed a public company to build an opulent 70-bedroom hotel on the cliffs at Carlyon Bay. The hotel opened in April 1930 and became Cornwall’s only 5-star resort. Originally named the St Austell Bay Hotel, it was soon renamed the Carlyon Bay Hotel. Remarkably, the entire building was constructed and furnished in just nine months.
In December 1931, the Carlyon Bay Hotel suffered a devastating fire that destroyed the middle and west wings of the building. Remarkably, all 150 guests and staff – including the High Commissioner of South Africa – escaped safely, many in their nightclothes. The hotel was rebuilt and reopened just four months later, an achievement hailed as “a record for hotel construction in England.” It was promoted as “the most magnificent, most modern, and most comfortable hotel in the country.”
Cornish Riviera Lido
Edward VIII, then the Prince of Wales, was a frequent visitor to the Carlyon Bay Hotel. During one of his stays, he suggested building a sports club on the beach for wealthy locals. The idea was embraced, and in 1932 the Riviera Club was established by a consortium led by Dr. Henry Wright, a solicitor from Huddersfield. Constructed using sand blocks – a mixture of beach sand and cement – the club initially featured an upscale lounge bar and two squash courts in the basement. A new access road was also built.
The following year, a large outdoor salt-water swimming pool was added, along with six tennis courts. Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson became regular visitors. The public were admitted to the beach, and a small café was built to the west, accompanied by a putting green, deck chair rentals, and a paddling pool.
In 1934, a second hotel, the Bayfordbury, was constructed as a more modest and affordable alternative to the Carlyon Bay Hotel. Meanwhile, Sir George Collins, facing severe financial difficulties, was forced to sell his shares in the hotels to Dr. Henry Wright. Collins’s troubles worsened, and he was eventually declared bankrupt, losing all his possessions, including his car, and having to rely on the bus for transport.
The Riviera Club continued to expand, adding facilities such as two indoor badminton courts, a billiards room, a table tennis room, a French restaurant with a sprung dance floor, and two bars. Promoted as “South Cornwall’s New Sporting Resort,” the club was unofficially dubbed a “millionaires’ playground.” Membership was required to access the club, but guests staying at the hotels were allowed to use the facilities.
In 1936, a massive 15,000-square-foot building was constructed to house two indoor tennis courts. At 50 feet high, it was the only covered tennis facility in the West and South of England. Spectator seating was installed around the edges, with designated areas for club members and the general public, who were admitted for tournament events. The venue was later used for the West of England tennis championships.
In 1937, plans were announced for another hotel on the beach, with its roof level with the top of the cliffs to allow easy access from the golf course. A jetty was also proposed so members could moor their yachts. However, by the following year the company ran into financial difficulties, and the Carlton Hotel and golf course were put up for sale by the mortgage company.
The hotels were sold to Thomas Hill, owner of the Hotel Victoria in Newquay, for £40,000. Construction on the new beach hotel, which had barely begun, was halted, and all building materials, tools, and equipment were sold at auction.
In June 1940, both hotels and the Riviera Club were requisitioned to accommodate around 600 “scholars, masters, and domestic staff” from King’s School and St Edmund’s School in Canterbury. School furniture and equipment were transported to Cornwall via a special train, transforming the hotels into makeshift educational facilities. Classrooms, laboratories, a chapel, and an assembly room were set up, while the grounds hosted rugby, football, and cricket matches. The schools remained on site for the duration of the war, vacating only at the end of 1945.
The two hotels reopened to the public in June 1946, with the Bayfordbury renamed the Cliff Head Hotel. The beach, closed since 1939, was described as being in a “deplorable state” when it was reopened.
The Riviera Club reopened at Easter 1947 offering full annual membership for 10 guineas. In 1950 a miniature railway was built along the beach
However, the wealthy visitors were now a thing of the past, and the Riviera Club struggled to stay afloat. It closed in February 1952, and an auction was held in July to sell off the contents of the building, along with the beach café and deck chair business.
The following year, the club was leased to the government. Barbed wire fences and ‘keep out’ signs were erected around the perimeter, leading many to speculate it was some top-secret government laboratory. In reality, the building was being used as an Air Raid Precaution center. Inside, “the once-luxurious décor of the club has been replaced with tier upon tier of wooden shelving, stretching from floor to ceiling, packed with 35,000 gas masks.” The beach remained open to the public, but the café owner complained about the barbed wire: “It’s a scandal. Visitors are constantly complaining.”
The New Cornish Riviera Lido
The government vacated the building in 1959, and it remained empty for a couple of years until being purchased by three businessmen from Maidenhead—William Tull, William Thomas, and Norman Brill. They announced plans to replace the indoor tennis courts with eight bowling lanes and to enclose and heat the swimming pool, though neither plan came to fruition.
Nevertheless, £15,000 was spent on renovations. The old members-only alcohol licence was replaced with an open licence, allowing the general public to enter. The outdoor pool received a new filtration system, and the site reopened as The New Cornish Riviera Lido. The beach remained as popular as ever, and the miniature railway continued to offer rides along the dunes.
The site retained its sporting heritage and continued to be a popular venue for five-a-side football matches and swimming events. The cavernous tennis court building was regarded as “the best in the West of England,” hosting numerous tournaments that often attracted hundreds of spectators. The badminton courts also remained popular, staging their own tournaments that drew many international players.
The building also served as a versatile venue for concerts, wrestling matches, dances, talent shows, and trade exhibitions. The first major music event featured Monty Sunshine’s Jazzband in July 1962. The smaller ballroom, overlooking the swimming pool, hosted cabaret shows six nights a week during the summer and continued running events for locals in the winter, including the popular Thursday night “Chicken in the Basket” supper dance.
Around 1965, the entire complex was purchased by the Lovett family. Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, several big-name bands performed at the site, including Herman’s Hermits, Acker Bilk, Monty Sunshine, The Kinks, and Procol Harum.
Like many other attractions, the 1970s brought a sharp downturn in business as changing tastes and competition from overseas holidays began to take their toll. Operations continued largely unchanged, with punk and New Wave bands, comedians, and other entertainers performing at the complex. However, the site was now losing money, and in 1976 it was sold to Exchange Travel, run by the McNally family. Later that year, the Radio One Roadshow made its first visit to the beach, beginning an annual tradition that would continue for the next 17 years.
The Cornwall Coliseum
Although the sporting facilities remained popular, they were not especially lucrative. In 1979, the old tennis court building was gutted and transformed into the largest entertainment venue west of Southampton. New tiered seating accommodated 2,306 people, with the option to remove seats to increase standing capacity to 3,376. A state-of-the-art lighting system, along with a new stage, dressing rooms, and bar, was also installed.
Renamed the Cornwall Coliseum, it opened in December 1980 with a concert by The Jam and quickly began attracting many of the era’s biggest names.
Music publisher and artist manager Deke Arlon remarked, “I have started off several world tours there, and it is always my first choice. The whole place has a wonderfully pressure-free environment. It is perfect for rehearsals and the first show, as that is a very stressful time. The staff are great, nothing is too much trouble. The clearance for a big rig is limited, and the stage is a bit small, but these are not major problems compared with all the pluses.”
Derek Block of International Artistes noted, “It is not purpose-built as a concert hall—the ceiling is too low, and wherever you put the PA it cuts out seats. It is expensive too. What it does have going for it is that it’s the only venue of its size within a 50-mile radius.”
As before, the venue was also used for trade shows, dances and exhibitions. In 1980 400 railway enthusiasts showed up for a film show by John Huntley about the Great Western Railway.
The old badminton courts were removed and converted into a disco, initially called Beezlebub, which later became Bentleys, then Quasars, and eventually Gossips. The squash courts in the basement were transformed into a beer cellar.
Around the same time, a new building was constructed next door, housing an amusement arcade, a Wimpy restaurant, and a roller-skating rink known as the Riviera Rollerdome.
Cornish Leisure World
In January 1981, the entire complex was renamed Cornish Leisure World. Later that year, Polgaver Beach was fenced off to become Britain’s first commercially run naturist resort, officially opened by comedian Freddie Starr. Admission was £1, with children free. The Radio One Roadshow continued to return each summer, drawing thousands of visitors.
Unfortunately, the new venue was not a financial success, losing £280,000 in 1981. The following year, the complex was put up for sale, with assurances that it was not closing and would remain open even if a buyer could not be found. No buyer was secured, 16 staff were made redundant, and operations continued largely as before.
In 1986, pop star Alison Moyet filmed a video at the complex for her hit single “Is This Love?” The video featured an old “shipwrecked” boat, originally brought to the beach in 1978 as a prop for a Dracula movie being filmed in the area. After the film crew departed, the boat remained as a plaything for children until it was destroyed by a storm in 1989.
Unfortunately, the financial situation did not improve, and in 1987 planning permission was sought to build a holiday village on the beach. The owners warned that the site would likely close if the plans were rejected, stating, “It is not a question of blackmail. This is reality. The situation is that we do not have a long-term future in our present state.” The plans were approved, but the project depended on finding a partner to fund it – and none was forthcoming.
In 1988, the site actually turned a profit of £92,000, but the following year it was sold for £4.3 million to Kenegie Manor Ltd, an upmarket holiday park operator. One of the company’s directors remarked, “We understand it has been losing money and have no intention of continuing those losses.” They announced plans to demolish the existing complex and build their own holiday resort.
A “farewell concert” featuring Billy Connolly was held in August 1989. However, just a month later, the owners reconsidered due to the ongoing recession, granting the venue an 18-month reprieve. The Coliseum reopened in November with a concert by Transvision Vamp.
In 1991, the £9 million Pavilions complex opened in Plymouth city center. As expected, this modern, state-of-the-art venue began to draw a significant portion of the Coliseum’s business, with reports suggesting that half of its customers came from Plymouth. Despite this, the Coliseum achieved a remarkable coup that year when Paul McCartney performed a last-minute gig to a crowd of 3,300 fans.
By the mid-1990s, the entire site was looking very rundown. Declining holidaymaker numbers in Cornwall meant fewer visitors to the beach. The miniature railway, which had run for over 40 years, closed, and the last Radio One Roadshow was held in 1993. The old 1930s Coliseum building suffered from a leaky roof and struggled to secure big-name bookings—a stark contrast to the bustling 1980s.
In 1997, the building underwent a quick revamp and was relaunched as the New Coliseum. The former promoter from the Plymouth Pavilions was recruited to run the venue. Unfortunately, the relaunch failed to attract audiences, and the last concert was held in 2000, performed by the Cornwall Youth Brass Band. The complex closed entirely, with only the nightclub remaining open, which itself shut in 2003. The following year, new owners purchased the site and removed the old Coliseum roof due to dangerous structural issues.
In July 2011, Cornwall Council approved a planning application for 500 luxury apartments and associated facilities on the beach. The developers, initially Ampersand and later Commercial Estates Group (CEG), planned to begin work on sea defenses in late 2011 and start construction of the apartments in spring 2012. However, progress was delayed due to various factors, including legal battles and public inquiries.
After sitting abandoned for 12 years, the roofless remains of the building – by then overgrown with trees and bushes growing inside – were demolished in 2015. The swimming pool was filled in, and the site was entirely cleared, leaving nothing standing.
As of 2025, little has happened, and the beach remains largely empty.
Some of the more well known artists who appeared at the Cornish Riviera Lido/Cornwall Coliseum from the 1960s to the 1990s. This is not a complete list
10cc, Acker Bilk, Adam and the Ants, Alexander O’Neal, Andy Williams, Bernard Manning, Billy Connolly, Billy Jo Spears, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Bon Jovi, Chuck Berry, Cliff Richard, Culture Club, Dame Vera Lynn, David Essex, Don McLean, Duran Duran, Echo and the Bunnymen, Elaine Paige, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Eric Clapton, Gary Barlow, Genesis, Herman’s Hermits, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull, Jim Davidson, John Denver, Madness, Marillion, Meatloaf, Mike Oldfield, Monty Sunshine, Motorhead, Paul McCartney, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Shakin’ Stevens, Shirley Bassey, Simple Minds, Squeeze, Status Quo, Tammy Wynette, Tears for Fears, The Alarm, The Cure, The Everly Brothers, The Jam, The Kinks, The Moody Blues, The Nolans, The Police, The Ramones, The Shadows, The Smiths, The Stranglers, The Who, Thin Lizzy, Tina Turner, Tom Jones, Toyah Wilcox, Transvision Vamp, Vanilla Ice, Wham.
Radio One Roadshows at Carlyon Bay
- 1976: Dave Lee Travis
- 1977: Paul Burnett
- 1978: Dave Lee Travis
- 1980: Tony Blackburn
- 1981: Peter Powell
- 1982: Paul Burnett
- 1983: Mike Read
- 1984: Gary Davies, Simon Bates, & Steve Wright
- 1985: Mike Read
- 1986: Peter Powell
- 1987: Steve Wright
- 1988: Peter Powell
- 1989: Steve Wright
- 1990: Gary Davies
- 1991: Philip Schofield
- 1992: Nicky Campbell
- 1993: Simon Mayo
What happened to everything else?
The Cliff Head Hotel was demolished in 2017 and the site is now occupied by an upmarket retirement home called Ocean House. The Carlyon Bay Hotel is still open, as is the golf course.
We’d love to hear your memories or thoughts about Carlyon Bay. Please feel free to leave a comment below
