Mike Croker, a retired police officer born and bred on Cornwall’s rugged Atlantic coast, had donned his Cornish tartan tie to greet the first tourists of the summer. “It’s good to see the visitors back in the town,” said Croker, 72. “They’ve been missed and they are very welcome. This place needs tourism to survive.” But he was also concerned. “Of course, we’re worried they may bring Covid. We’ve seen the crowds at Bournemouth beach, in Liverpool after their football team won the league, and at the Black Lives Matter demonstrations. “We’ve had hardly any coronavirus down here. People have, by and large, been sensible and observed the restrictions. We hope visitors will do the same.” Under the latest easing of lockdown restrictions in England, people can stay away from home for the first time this summer, effectively signalling the start of the season for resorts across the country. From dawn on Saturday, a stream of vehicles towing caravans, camper vans and cars loaded with surfboards, kayaks and bicycles headed south-west. Cornwall council and Visit Cornwall estimated that between 70,000 and 80,000 holidaymakers arrived in the county over the weekend. Rob Barber, the owner of Newquay Activity Centre on Towan beach, breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s great to be open again,” he said. “We’ve had guests from Birmingham and London here this weekend. It feels pretty much like a normal July.” The reopening has come just in time for many businesses in Newquay, but a lot of work lies ahead. “We’ve got eight weeks to do the business we normally do in three or four months,” said Barber. About 100 people filed into the town’s Blue Reef Aquarium on the first day of the season. This was about half the normal crowd for this time of year. Steve Matchett, general manager, said the reopening had been desperately needed. “We’ve lost four months of key revenue,” he said. “We didn’t qualify for the government assistance schemes. Reopening was vital for us.” On the face of it, life on the beach seemed normal. But there were countless tiny changes. The Beach Bakery asked customers to read a list of a dozen guidelines, , which covered queuing, ordering and hand sanitising, before buying a pasty. A notice on the deckchair hut assured users that its equipment had been disinfected. The amusement arcade spelled out that only members of the same household were allowed to play the cuddly toy grab game together. In recent years Newquay has become known as a party town, as well as one of the UK’s surf capitals. Before the lockdown easing, Devon and Cornwall police were given a £500,000 “fighting fund” to bolster its response in 20 locations including Newquay. Over the weekend it put into place the sort of operation usually only launched on New Year’s Eve. Pubs, bars and restaurants did their bit, arranging one-way systems and imposing reduced capacities. Customers were asked to order drinks via apps and contact details were taken for contact tracing. By mid-afternoon, the police had been called into action, having to firmly escort one person out of a pub. Later, as darkness fell, there were reports of disorder and drink-related antisocial behaviour across the force area, not only in Newquay but across the county border in Torquay, Barnstaple and Teignmouth. Roy Coombes, a 73-year-old local, went on a mini pub crawl of Newquay, including a golf club bar, the Red Lion, a rowing club bar and Wetherspoons, to have a few pints and see how things were working out. “By and large people seemed to be acting responsibly,” he said. “We can’t stop people coming now that the prime minister has opened the door and said you can come.” Cornwall council has to tread a delicate line between supporting the hospitality industry and flagging up concerns about a second Covid-19 spike. Councillor Tim Dwelly, the portfolio holder for culture, economy and planning, said businesses had worked hard to make their premises safe and he called for visitors to do their bit by planning trips carefully and trying to spread out as much as possible. “Explore the quieter parts and have a great holiday. It’s really important that visitors do everything they can to maximise distances from other people,” he said. What the tourism industry really fears is a second lockdown in the autumn. “That would be a disaster,” Dwelly added. As the crowds headed to Cornwall, an image did the rounds on Twitter purporting to show three people standing on a bridge over the A30 holding a sign that read “Turn around and fuck off”. In Newquay, most people accepted it wasn’t as simple as that. Steve Ingham, who does odd jobs on Towan beach, said he was worried there would be a spike of cases in Cornwall. “If the good weather comes, it will be chocka down here and we’ll be back in lockdown by the end of the summer. But what can you do? We’ve got to take the money where we can.”