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Showing posts from August, 2014

Two new walks in the Wild West

We've added two new walks in the far northwestern corner of Cornwall, past St Ives and beyond the reach of Victorian "civilisation". These were some of the last Cornish-speaking areas, and the Celtic culture is less diluted here than in many other parts of Cornwall. View Walk View Walk West of St Ives, the huge lump of what is termed "Lands End Granite" creates a moorland landscape that resembles Dartmoor if you look inland, but for around a mile from the coast is a flat "bench" dotted with farms. The bench was formed when sea levels were higher and West Penwith was an island, cut off from the mainland by a gulf located around Hayle and St Erth. The wave action cut a platform into the granite, and when the climate cooled and sea levels dropped, the bench and the Hayle Valley were unveiled. The land here has been farmed since the Bronze Age and the ancient Celtic field systems are still intact. Most fields are square rather than rectangular as

Two new walks in the Luxulyan Valley

The Luxulyan Valley has some of the most impressive Victorian industrial engineering remains in Cornwall, in particular, the absolutely massive granite viaduct spanning the valley, which was the first one built in Cornwall. A group known as the Friends of Luxulyan Valley have championed the restoration of the valley and the creation of a network of permissive paths. In fact, there are so many paths that you can't really visit it all on one walk, so we've created two - following different paths through the valley. The first walk is a reasonably short one and stays within the valley, visiting many of the historic remains. View Walk The second walk is longer and follows along the top of the viaduct out of the valley to join the Saint's Way and returns via the Par canal: View Walk The remains in the valley are largely from the enterprises of Joseph Treffry who owned the nearby Fowey Consols mine - an extremely productive copper mine that was worked using waterwheels driven

New bus walk from Crackington to Widemouth

This is a one-way coastal walk from Crackington Haven to Widemouth Bay using the bus to make the route circular. We advise doing the bus journey first so that you're under no time pressure on your walk. View Walk As you move East along the North Cornish coast, the rocks get slightly younger. Around Delabole, the slates were laid down in the Devonian period when Cornwall was at the bottom of a deep ocean between the two continents that existed at the time and particles of fine mud settled to form the dense slate that is so good for roofing. As you move towards Boscastle and Crackington, the two continents were moving together and the sea was getting shallower so trilobite fossils start to appear in the slates of Boscastle. Crackington, at the start of our walk, has beds of limestone and shale laid down during the Cretaceous period, such as the one below at Wanson Mouth. The layers of shale often contain fossils of creatures from the shallow seas such as shellfish. As the two

New walk at St Issey

A circular walk of 3.5 miles with a few gradients, but predominantly downhill (the uphill sections being mostly quite gradual slopes). View Walk The walk starts at St Issey church and descends into the river valley. The route then follows the river past Melingey Mill and joins the Saint's Way. The walk follows this to Little Petherick, where the church was restored twice, both by famous Gothic architects. From here, the route follows the edge of the creek which is rich in wildlife before rounding the slate tips from the quarries that were used to build Sea Mills. The path then passes the tidal enclosure which was used to drive the mill. A hinged flap allowed water to enter the enclosure with the rising tide but as the tide fell, the water pressure shut the flap, thus creating a head of water to drive the mill. The return route is along small lanes, passing Trevorrick Farm and the Pickwick Inn before returning to St Issey, passing the Ring O’ Bells on the way back to the c

New walk from Cubert

This is a circular walk near Perranporth around the valleys crossed by the Great Perran Lode. There are some reasonably steep climbs so we've graded it at moderate. Combined with the length it can be tiring but fortunately there is pub just before the end so you can have a bit of refreshment before the final climb. View Walk The walk starts at the church - dedicated to St Cubert, who was thought to be a Welsh Missionary and companion of St Carantoc (who gave his name to Crantock). The churchyard is thought to date from Saxon times and the present church dates from the 13th Century, with a rebuild in the 15th century and a restoration in the 19th century after lightning blasted the spire and tower. The walk then descends into the valley to reach Penhale Sands which are carpeted in cowslips in late Spring - probably the most I’ve ever seen in one place. The route then follows small lanes, tracks and footpaths across the fields towards Rose. During April and May, the paths ar