Great South West Walk

Wednesday August 22

Section 35. PORTREATH TO HAYLE. Miles: 12.4. Grading: Moderate

Start time and location
Could you please report for registration at the Portreath Arms, The Square,
Portreath, Redruth, Cornwall at 8am.
The walk will commence at 8.30am.

Parking
Plenty of parking avaialble at start points.

Bus Services
At the time of writing, there is an all year service running from Redruth Railway Station to Portreath beach (First service 45A). There are regular buses from Hayle, Foundry Square (and a less frequent one from Hayle Towans) to St Ives and Penzance.
Confirmation of all buses can be obtained from Traveline on 0870 608 2608 www.traveline.org.uk

Trains
The nearest railway stations are Redruth and Hayle, both of which are on the Penzance to Paddington main line, so you can reach the rest of the country from here. You can catch a bus from outside Redruth station to the start of this section. For more information, please telephone National Rail Enquiries on 08457 484950.

Maps
Ordnance Survey Landranger series (scale 1:50 000) Number 203, Land’s End and the Lizard.
Ordnance Survey Explorer series (scale 1:25 000) Numbers 104, Redruth, St Agnes, Camborne and Perranporth, and 102, Land’s End, Penzance and St Ives.

General Information
PORTREATH: accommodation, pubs, café, car park, small shops, toilets and public telephone.
HELL’S MOUTH: car park and seasonal café.
GODREVY: car park and seasonal café.
GWITHIAN: pub, camp sites, car park and toilets.
HAYLE: railway station, accommodation, shops (including a chemist), refreshments, pubs, car park, toilets and public telephone. Also Paradise Park, the bird sanctuary, and well worth a visit.

The Route
Look out for Shetland ponies and an old explosives factory!

This section of the coast path provides the walker with wonderful cliff top views. It includes a lighthouse on an offshore island and a range of habitats supporting both commonplace and rare wildlife. Large sections of this route are in National Trust ownership to protect the coastal corridor from encroaching housing and industrial development.

PORTREATH

This town has a history connected with tin mining: its quay was a hive of activity in the 19th century, as it was one of the few ports on the north coast able to take the sailing ships. It was once called Basset’s Cove after the Basset family who sponsored the development of the harbour to meet the needs of mining. Copper ore was the principal export and coal was brought from Wales to fuel the steam-powered engines at the mines. The Bassets were also said to have derived their income from wreckage cast up on the shore as ships failed to weather the storms on this wild coast.

Now Portreath is a small holiday resort. As a result it supports a range of inns and shops where accommodation and refreshments can be obtained. If you visit Portreath when there is an onshore wind you will see how far the swell runs into the harbour and imagine the perils faced by seafarers negotiating the entrance.

PORTREATH TO HAYLE

From the head of the harbour walk along the road until it crosses a stream. From here you see the lane called Battery Hill going up to the right. Follow it as it climbs and then drops to a small group of bungalows and the western access to the beach. There is a sign leading you to your left as you leave the road.

In approximately 10 yards (10 m) there is a low National Trust sign marking Western Hill. Here there are two alternatives: you can either go up the valley bottom in front of you, which is a steady gradient and sometimes muddy. Or you can choose the more coastal route, the official coast path, which involves a steep climb, but is well worth it. For this option take a right turn up well-made steps and continue directly upwards to the top of Western Hill. You have more open views from here, with St Agnes Beacon and Kelsey Head visible to the east. Western Hill begins a colourful stretch of cliff top walking. The path goes close to the edge of the crumbling cliff above Western Cove, and in other places further on in this section; watch young children and animals carefully.

Flowers include primroses, lesser yellow rattle, blue sheep’s bit and the rare small community of hairy greenweed. Dog roses flourish in June and July.

You pass the strangely named inlet Ralph’s Cupboard, a cave whose roof has long since fallen in. One story tells that Ralph was a smuggler who used the bay for landing his contraband. An older legend tells of the giant Wrath of Portreath, who would lie in wait for passing ships and tow them back to his cave, to munch at his leisure. Both stories have their roots in local sailors’ awareness of the dangers of this rocky coast.

As you drop into Carvannel Valley follow the well-engineered zigzag route down to the bridge.

On your descent you will see a small waterfall making its way to the sea at Porthcadjack Cove. On some occasions the wind has other ideas! The heathers form a wave-like pattern as seaward leaves perish in the salt winds and new growth develops on the landward side.

After regaining the cliff top you negotiate another descent down to Basset’s Cove, another climb up and from then on it is level cliff top walking. Route finding is not difficult and the views are spectacular. You will pass several small car parks, well situated for those wanting a shorter walk, and for gaining access to Tehidy Woods to the south-east of the path.

Greenbank Cove shows contorted rock strata, some being almost vertical. The sedimentary rock is easily eroded and there are frequent landslides. Large blocks of cliff have slipped toward the sea and provide a series of terraces which were used by mules to bring loads up from the beach. Just offshore here are the Crane Islands. There are the remains of an Iron Age Hill Fort at Crane Castle, but this has almost entirely crumbled away. Hudder Cove is thought by some to be more spectacular than Hell’s Mouth and is certainly less frequently visited.

Hell’s Mouth is a well known and much visited viewpoint, the spectacle being the sheer drop to the sea below. Here the fulmars will put on a flying display second to none but be careful you don’t join them as you peer over the edge to get a better view!

There is a seasonal café across the road and it is possible to park in a layby here and there is also a small car park a little further to the west. As you climb away from Hell’s Mouth you can just see the tip of St Michael’s Mount to the south-west, the other side of the peninsula.

The path strikes up to the north-west and becomes narrow. There is a number of tracks to viewing points on the right. Your route passes through two stone gate posts and joins a farm track which soon bears left towards a house and other buildings, signed No Public Access, so here you take the stone stile into the field on your right. There should be, but isn’t, an acorn sign to guide you. Keep to the right of the seaward field boundary and at the far side cross another stone stile. Almost immediately cross a wooden stile placed to keep in the Shetland ponies used to maintain the habitat of the Knavocks.

Continue climbing to pass just beside the Triangulation Point at Navax Point, some 230 feet (76 m) above the sea.

The cliffs here are full of caves which are used by seals when pupping. You can often see seals below on the walk out to Godrevy Lighthouse. If you have time for some seal spotting you can drop down to the rocks at Navax Point by leaving the main route when it heads towards the lighthouse.

Stay seaward of the farmland on Navax Point and walk out round the headland, turning back in a southerly direction to the National Trust car park.

GODREVY LIGHTHOUSE

Godrevy Lighthouse, built in 1859, marks a dangerous reef, the outer end being marked by a wave-driven moaning buoy. The lighthouse is also keeping up with the times as it is solar powered! It had been threatened with closure but a local outcry, led by fishermen from St Ives, has resulted in its continued service guarding The Stones. Virginia Woolf spent holidays in St Ives, and Godrevy is the lighthouse in ‘To The Lighthouse’. Look across the bay to St Ives; it looks so close but is a further 11 miles’ (18 km) walk away because of the intervening Hayle River.

From the grass car park walk south, then south-east keeping seaward of the road to miss most of the traffic. Aim for the car park by the café at Godrevy, just after the lifeguard hut.

Godrevy Café has a longer season than most and is usually open 7 days a week, except during January and February. You are very close to the small village of Gwithian which has two pleasant campsites. The Red River here is named after the colour of the silt (iron ore) it carried from former mining activity. There is still some evidence of this in the banks on either side of the river. Moreover a combination of rough weather and high tides is known to stir up the silt on the sea bed and stain the bay red once again. The waters in the river now run clear as the last mine has closed.

There are two options for the next section from the Red River at Gwithian to Hayle. At low tide you can walk all the way to Black Cliff along the beach; the alternative is to take the waymarked route through the dunes (Towans in Cornish). First check the state of the tide which can come in behind you and cut you off near Black Cliff, some 3 miles (4.5 km) away. Note that dogs are not permitted on the beach between Easter and October. Another drawback is that as you walk along the sands, St Ives and Carbis Bay ahead steadfastly refuse to get any nearer! The variety of the walk through the dunes is perhaps preferable.

For this option start along the top of the shingle bank. From here you will see a lifeguard hut slightly to your right. You then begin a stretch through the dunes which is mostly well waymarked with posts that can be followed accurately. Sometimes you have to scout around for the next post, perhaps climbing a nearby sandhill; active children would be good companions to enlist as ‘treasure’ seekers. When you reach the first chalet park keep on the asphalt track to the adjoining St Ives Bay Park leisure area – leave this by a sandy track straight ahead. Leave the next chalet park by staying on the seaward track. At Mexico Towans you are directed to drop down to the beach to follow the steep path up again, avoiding a sensitive area of dunes.

You pass through five Towans: Gwithian, Upton (sometimes known as Dynamite Towans), Phillack, Mexico and Riviere (pronounced as in the south of France). The dunes in this area were probably formed some 5000 years ago. Human use has had the greatest influence on their changing form. There was an explosives factory at Upton Towans from 1888 to 1919, and the area was used to store explosives until the 1960s – ruins of these buildings can still be seen. Today the site is managed as a nature reserve on a long lease from Cornwall County Council.

If you are not familiar with coastal wild flowers you may wish to bring an identification book with you as you pass many unusual plants, including orchids. Rabbits are much in evidence so watch your ankles in the numerous holes! Upton Towans is a Site of Special Scientific Interest; it is partly for this reason that the route appears to meander as the walker is being led away from the most sensitive habitats.

As you leave Mexico Towans for Riviere Towans you will find toilets, refreshments and accommodation.

If you have come along the beach leave it at the lifeguard hut near the foot of Black Cliff to rejoin the dunes path. If you come through the dunes avoid turning left (up a very narrow passage between houses) at the confusing waymark just above the lifeguard hut, but carry on (in front of the convenient pub garden) to turn left up some steep steps just before two holiday chalets.

Turn right and walk towards a house called Silver Spray. Leave this house to your right and walk along a line of chalets on your left. Keep straight on. Part of the path is slightly overgrown here but it soon opens out to become a track and heads towards a car park.

You are now walking by the edge of the Hayle River estuary and can see Lelant on the far side. Sadly the ferry no longer runs and it is time to follow the estuary inland.

HAYLE

The town of Hayle began its existence in the early 18th century and grew to become an important port and industrial centre in the west country. With the export of tin, copper smelting, high pressure steam engines and manufacture of iron and boat building, it was once a very prosperous place. There is now only a small fishing fleet and plans to redevelop the harbour.

Follow the road until you cross an old swing bridge. Turn right on the main road and follow it to the railway viaduct at Foundry Square, with the railway station up a short hill to your left.

If you have any question on any of the above please do not hesitate to contact one the event organisers found on the Contact us page click here

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