Flat, safe, off-road cycle trails, with some challenging extra loops. Stunning scenery with café and pub stops.
01209 891498
www.cornwallcycletrails.com
Perranporth Beach
ancient monument, is the last tin stream works in Cornwall. At the end of April is Trevithick Day, and in June Murdoch Day is celebrated.
Redruth’s most famous son is William Murdoch (1754- 1839), a Scottish inventor who came to the town in the late 1770’s. He made the first gas engine and invented gas lighting, using it to light his home at the back of Druid’s Hall in 1792. Camborne lays claim to Richard Trevithick who invented the steam engine, which transformed transport & manufacturing throughout the world.
Moving back to the coast, Portreath is un-commercialised, the local amenities provide for all holiday and touring needs with car parks, cafes, restaurants, a range of shops, public houses plus the usual hotels and guest-houses. The beach consists of fine sand and the resort is ideal for surfing and windsailing in safety, watched over by the local Surf and Life Saving Club. On the north side of the beach the harbour wall provides shelter and warmth for a fine tidal swimming pool. Set amidst rocks and rock pools here children can also spend happy hours exploring marine life. Portreath is also the meeting place for Cornwall’s coast- to-coast cycle trail. The only flat, scenic, off-road, cycling experience where it is possible to cross England in one day. This eleven mile section of Cornwall’s new Mineral Tramways trail network boasts stunning coastal, farmland, woodland and valley views, with picnic and pub stops at either end and en route.
A wicked Cornish giant was The Wrath of Portreath. He lived in a huge cavern known to sailors as his cupboard. He would wade out to sea, grab whole ships and take them back to his cupboard tied to his belt. And the stones that he hurled at ships trying to avoid him can still be seen at low tide forming a dangerous reef off Godrevy Head. Once back there he would devour the sailors for his supper. The cupboard lost its roof in recent times, but can still be seen near St Ives
Porthtowan derives its name from ‘towans’ or in English sand dunes. This resort has been popular since Victorian and Edwardian times when the local populous from
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Redruth and the surrounding areas flocked here, particularly on Bank Holidays. The conveniently placed shops and tourist amenities are second to none, the cliff walks are still splendid, and it is an excellent place for all of the family. It is possible to walk from the road into the dunes then onto the beaches with no hills to climb. The remains of Wheal Towan a celebrated 18th century copper mine overlooks the town.
Chapel Porth is approximately two miles from St Agnes. At high tide the beach is relatively small, but at low tide the miles of white sand stretch to the next beach at Porthtowan. Chapel Porth is renowned for great surf and, when the conditions are right, produces some of the finest waves in Europe. There is plenty of parking in the National Trust car park at the beach as well as more spaces in the car park at the top of the hill above the cove. Overlooking the beach is a superb Beach Cafe offering a mouth-watering range of refreshments. A Lifeguard service operates daily from May to September.
The Cornish giant Bolster, whose stride spanned six miles, fell in love with the beautiful St Agnes, only to be betrayed and fooled into killing himself. He was a bad tempered man, who terrorised the countryside. She asked him to prove his love for her by filling up a hole in the cliff at Chapel Porth with his own blood. She knew the hole was bottomless, he did not. He died of the loss of blood, and even today the sea at Chapel Porth is stained red with his blood
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