Description:
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Guide to a walk around the most accessible stretch of the Cornwall coast. Visit Penzance, St Michael's Mount, Land's End, and Kynance Cove. B&B list, maps, and notes on pubs, history, geology, and wildlife. New Edition! #BF84808 108pp
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Guidebook Excerpt:
Pendeen to St. Just. The coast path itself branches off from the track before reaching Botallack. Shortly after leaving the road, look for a grassy path leading down to the scenic ruins of the Botallack engine houses -- situated on the very edge of the cliffs at Botallack Head. From here mine shafts extend half a mile out beneath the sea bed. When novelist Wilkie Collins visited Cornwall in the summer of 1850, he persuaded a local miner to give him a guided tour, and reported that he could hear the roaring surf above his head while in the shaft! "What's that?" asked Collins, noticing a small round wooden post protruding from the wall, slowly dripping water. That, his guide responded with a barely suppressed grin, was where one miner had stuck his wooden leg to plug a leak. Did Collins have any other questions?
Scenes from the Poldark TV series were filmed at Botallack Head. Looking down at the precariously poised engine houses, it is easy to imagine the equally pre-carious lives of smugglers in the nearby village. I know one couple who read the Poldark novels as they walked around the Cornwall coast, and enjoyed it immensely.
Once past Botallack Head, leave the lane to follow a path which leads over to the next headland and Kenidjack Cliff Castle. Little remains of this hillfort, but impressive barn ruins provide a setting for the active imagination. Pause a moment to look across at Cape Cornwall and the small rocky cove immediately below. At one time this was an active trading port, and Kenidjack Castle was well-situated for its defense. Traces of earthwork ditches and dykes are visible beyond the barn ruin, protecting the promontory tip against attack from inland.
From Kenidjack Cliff Castle, follow the road east from the barn ruin for a few yards, and then take the path which provides a short cut down into the Kenidjack valley. Cross the stream and climb up the zig-zag path to rejoin the cliff path. There follows a pleasant half-mile walk over to the rounded headland of Cape Cornwall. In earlier days, this was considered the most westerly point in Britain, and it is in fact England's only "cape" by name. The cheerful gingerbread tower on top was built in the 19th-century as a ventilation chimney for mine shafts 600 feet below. Unfortunately, it worked too well, blowing out the miners' candles, and had to be closed off. The Victorians were always tripping over their own good intentions, it seems. Yet often they had a sense of style to match their energy. In this case, they not only built a ventilation shaft, but also an attractive chimney which stands today as a friendly beacon for ships and walkers alike.
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