Wheel of misfortune – shifting sands expose stranded vehicle
AN unusual wreck has been exposed at a Cornish beach during lockdown, following winter storms and a week of exceptionally low tides.
Pictures taken exactly 31 years to the day after it got stuck at low tide on Hayle Beach show a Land Rover re-emerging from the sand, after being buried for decades.
Upside-down and buried at the low water line below Mexico Towans and Beachside Holiday Park, the 1968 Land Rover has been stuck there since its owner drove it on to the beach on January 13, 1990.
Now, shifting sands have once again exposed the abandoned 4x4, with the rear passenger side wheel, complete with a tyre that still appears to be full of air, as well as part of the chassis on show.
The revealing of the vehicle adds to an interesting list of objects that have recently been uncovered along the three miles of golden sand in St Ives Bay, including a Second World War bomb, a 135-year-old shipwreck, and a mysterious road to nowhere in the middle of the beach.
Over the years, parts of the submerged Land Rover have been temporarily exposed after storms and as the sand has shifted. In the summer of 2017, it was visible for a couple of weeks, before it sank beneath the sand and remained hidden until now.