St Agnes is a village of fewer than three thousand people on the north coast of Cornwall, and its coastline is one of the most photographed in the county. The reason is Wheal Coates, a pair of engine houses perched on a cliff above the sea at Chapel Porth, the sort of view that appears on tea towels. The engine houses once pumped water from tin and copper mines that ran under the cliff, and miners worked in tunnels that went out beneath the waves. Today they stand roofless, with ferns in the windows, against a sky that seems to change every few minutes.
The St Agnes mining district is among the places that make up the Cornish Mining Landscape, listed by UNESCO in 2006. From the high point of the district, St Agnes Beacon, about two hundred metres up, you can see the coast curve away on either side and the old workings spread inland. In the nineteenth century this was an industrial landscape, full of smoke and noise, and it is strange to imagine it now, when the only sounds are gulls, wind and the occasional walker.
The village has a solid granite centre of small shops, pubs and chapels, and a steep road down to Trevaunance Cove, a small beach with a long history of failed attempts to build a harbour. Storms smashed them time after time. The coast path from St Agnes to Chapel Porth is among the best short walks in Cornwall, with views over the sea and old mine ruins on every hill.
The roads in this area are small and winding. The B3285 and the coast road are narrow, with sharp bends and little room to pass, and in summer they get congested. The beach at Chapel Porth has limited parking, and you should expect delays. Early spring and autumn are quieter, with sharp light on the sea, and winter storms can be dramatic. Gravel, sand and mud on the road are common.
Fuel may be limited in the village, so fill up at Redruth, nine kilometres away, with forty thousand people and all the usual services. A pasty from a local baker and a drink at a pub with a fire make a good way to end the day.