Penhale is an empty army camp encountered on the South West Coast Path between Kelsey Head and Perranporth Beach. Its abandoned Nissen huts become more than a landmark: seeing them, the narrator imagines a possible home and a source of shelter for people in need, set against the expected conversion of the site for leisure.

Setting and Route

The walkers pass Penhale after leaving the seabirds at Kelsey Head and before descending to Perranporth Beach. The camp is empty, and its abandoned Nissen huts stand out along a route otherwise described through coastal terrain and wildlife. The brief encounter places a disused military site within the walkers’ passage along the coast, rather than presenting it as an occupied or restored settlement.

The Huts as Possible Shelter

The narrator considers whether she could live in one of the corrugated iron huts. She then imagines the whole site providing housing for people in Newquay who urgently need somewhere to live. This is a possibility she envisions, not a housing plan shown to have been implemented; she expects instead that the camp will be converted for leisure use.

Narrative Significance

Penhale brings the question of shelter into view through a concrete contrast: empty huts appear capable of housing people, yet the narrator anticipates their use for leisure. The site’s significance lies in this tension between available buildings and unmet need. For the walkers, the huts briefly invite thoughts of a place to live, while the journey continues onward to Perranporth Beach.