One of the biggest tourist sites in Newport is, of course, the Cliff Walk, along with the Forty Steps. At lower tides, many like to step off the Steps and down around the corner to view a small cave formation that carries water out to the Ocean. Some wish to call this Conrad's Cave, even alluding to it being the Conrad's Cave from the Victorian Age of Newport. Since it's a 'free country' I'm comfortable with calling it whatever one wishes. BUT it cannot be the cave written of in history. Now why is that?
Once again I will delve into the photographic archives of Newport history for the answer to this one. Existing is a photo postcard showing the location of the modern day cave but back around a hundred years ago. And there is NO cave present at that period in time. Using the 'then & now' process, we can identify the postcard as being the site at the bottom of the Forty Steps. We can also seen the water exuding from the rocks much like it still does in modern times. But the cave has yet to be 'formed'.
Although I do not yet have a personal modern photo of the site (high tide and rough seas prevented me on my last visit), one does exist through this link to Flickr.
And for further information on Conrad's, do visit: Conrad's Cave
