Unterkunft
West Cornwall Coast- St Just Mining District: St Ives to Penzance- a walking itinerary on the South West Coast Path in Cornwall 2012.
Walking on the South West Coast Path or wandern in Cornwall as the Germans would say gives the perfect opportunity to explore some of Cornwall’s world famous mining heritage; this part of Cornwall has some of the most spectacular costal scenery the county has to offer.
Day1 St Ives to Zennor (11km)
Arriving in St Ives by train, close to Portminster Beach, is the ideal starting point for our walk with cafes and toilet facilities alongside the glorious sandy beach.
First spend time in St Ives with its step and winding streets lined with miners and fisherman’s cottages, a captivating town with a picturesque harbour. Easy to understand why by the beginning of the 20th Century it had a vibrant artist colony.
Pick up the coast path at Porthmeor where it weaves its way above the sea, the terrain can be rough and rocky with dramatic scenery. Reaching Zennor provides the ideal place to break your journey with a pub and a seasonal café. Alternatively there is a regular summer bus service between St Ives and Zennor.
Zeenor-Pendeen Watch (11km)
Back on the path it continues to climb up and down passing some beautiful coves until it reaches the distinctive headland of Gurnard’s Head. It’s well worth taking time to visit the Iron Age Fort and Carn Galver mine engine houses, in use until 1878 and partly restored by the National Trust.
Pendeen Watch-Sennen (14.5km)
From Pendeen Watch the path follows the cliff top and brings you walk close to a series of evocative ruins of the lead and tin mines. In Pendeen village there are pubs, cafes, and shops with a bus stop and public toilets. From here regular buses run to Sennen Cove, St Just allowing you to do some circular walks.
Soon you arrive at Geevor Tin Mine, one of the largest preserved tin mines in the county, one of the most important parts of Cornwall’s mining heritage. Visit the underground tunnels and learn the history of mining then take a break in the café.
A short distance away and perched spectacularly on the cliffs is Lelant Mine and Beam Engine. Here you can see the only beam engine being powered by steam on its original site.
Rejoining the footpath and heading towards Botallack you’ll see the famous Crown Mine engines houses once used for copper and tin mining and Botallack Court House was where the day to day running of the mine took place.
Onwards at Cape Cornwall you’ll enjoy spectacular views on past the village of St Just arriving at Sennen Cove with its golden sands popular with families and surfers.
Sennen-Porthcurno (9.5km)
From Sennen there’s an exhilarating walking past the hamlets of Porthgwarra and St Leven ends at the spectacularly located open-air Minack Theatre perched on the edge of the cliffs overlooking Porthcurno Bay. From the theatre steep steps lead down to the beach and the village. Porthcurno Bay is one of the most beautiful coves in Cornwall – golden sands backed by rugged cliffs face a wonderful bay where the sea varies in colour from deep purple to jade green and mediterranean blue.
Porthcurno-Penzance (18.5km)
The walk continues past Lamorna village and its Cove on to Newlyn, which was the centre of a community of artists in the late 19th Century, to the old port of Penzance.
This walk is graded hard and is 64m in total with 6 days of walking.
Tags: Cornwall