Newquay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newquay is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, future spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall.

The town is bounded to the south by the River Gannel and its associated salt marsh, and to the north-east by the Porth Valley. The western edge of the town meets the Atlantic at Fistral Bay. The town has been expanding inland (south) since the former fishing village of New Quay began to grow in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Tourist Industry Newquay has been a major tourist destination for more than a century, principally on account of its coastline and nine long and accessible sandy beaches, including Fistral.

The population can increase to 100,000 or more in the summer because Newquay has a large stock of holiday accommodation.

Established in sections throughout the 20th century, Trenance Leisure Gardens are in a wooded, formerly marshy valley on the quieter edge of Newquay, stretching down to the Gannel Estuary. From the Edwardian era it provided recreation for tourists with walks, tennis courts and a bowling green. The gardens are spanned by a stone railway viaduct which was rebuilt just before the Second World War. The boating lake was dug during the depression of the 1930s as a work creation scheme. In the late 1960s, further enterprises were established by the council, including mini-golf, a swimming pool, the Little Western Railway miniature railway which opened in 1968 and Newquay Zoo, which opened in 1969.

Newquay was also known for the "Run to the Sun" event, which took place for many years during the public holiday on the last weekend in May at Trevelgue Holiday Park. People visited the town in Volkswagen camper vans, Beetles and other custom cars. The last RTTS took place in 2014.

Other events in recent times have included the large Boardmasters music festival, which attracts another 50,000 visitors over one weekend in early August and is held on sites at Watergate Bay (outside the urban area) and Fistral Beach. Cornwall Pride moved to Newquay from Truro in 2017, and this took place in 2018 on the last Saturday in August.

The 630 mi (1,014 km) South West Coast Path runs through the town.

Town trail Newquay Discovery Trail is made up of 14 Cornish slate discs, each 1 metre (39 inches) in diameter, sunk into the ground at strategic points around the town. Each of the discs features a series of 'conundrum' words carved by sculptor Peter Martin. The trail starts in the centre of town at the Killacourt.

Education Newquay currently has one higher education campus, Cornwall College Newquay, which is a member of the Combined Universities in Cornwall Partnership. It offers foundation degree courses in Zoological Conservation, Marine Aquaculture, Animal Science and Wildlife Education and Media. Appropriately, the campus is close to Newquay Zoo in the Trenance Valley. There are also two secondary schools: Newquay Tretherras is a state-funded academy with specialist Technology College status, and Treviglas Academy is a specialist Business and Enterprise College.

A new centre of higher education for Newquay had been due to open alongside the Airport and Spaceport (see Transport for details) in 2020, to be known as the International Aviation Academy and attached to RAF St Mawgan. It will cater for students who wish to gain air- or space-related qualifications. The project has been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spaceport Newquay is obtaining a licence to operate as a Spaceport. A decision had been expected about the sites of UK spaceports in the summer of 2017, but the additional general election in June 2017 delayed necessary legislation for a time. Cornwall's bid was supported by Cornwall Council and Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership. The proposal also included the related Cornish space tracking station at Goonhilly, which is near Helston in south Cornwall. On 16 July 2018 a new partnership was announced with Virgin Orbit to create the spaceport, with the intention of launching satellites from Newquay within three years. On the same day, the government confirmed that a grant worth £2 million would be available to developing spaceports. The first satellite from Newquay, Kernow Sat 1, will measure ocean pollution and deforestation and is due to be launched in summer 2022. On 24 February 2022 Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, formally launched the construction of a £5.6m Centre for Space Technologies alongside the Spaceport, and the new Centre is expected to create 150 jobs.