Families flock to estuary for annual Good Friday trigging: PICTURES

Crowds of people flocked to both Helford and St Anthony, where people are allowed to dig up shellfish for that one day of the year alone.

Trigging traditionally involves digging up cockles, although mussels, limpets and winkles are also collected from the muddy bed of the estuary at low tide.

Families rake over the top level of mud in order to expose the cockle beds underneath the sediment.

With such balmy weather, families took the opportunity to arrive early and enjoy a picnic at the top of the beach as they waited for the tide to fully disperse.

There were plenty of short sleeved T-shirts and rolled up trousers on display, as the sun beat down – although they were teamed with welly boots, as triggers paddled in the shallows.

For many families it has become an annual custom to all meet up and collect the cockles, before returning home to cook them together.

In the past members of the Helford Voluntary Marine Conservation Area Group carried out informal surveys at the Helford Estuary, mainly at Bar Beach, Treath and Gillan, which became almost as well established a custom as the trigging itself.

Members counted the triggers and tried to estimate the number of cockles being removed from the beds, to get an idea of how the environment is being affected, as there are fears that cockles are in decline.

People are encouraged to continue the informal count to add to the records.