Why this ride
A 169 km round trip from St Austell - roughly 3 h in the saddle. The stops in between: Devoran and Perran, Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway, The Port of Hayle and Camborne and Redruth Mining District.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Charlestown and Camborne and Redruth Mining District
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 169 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 23
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Charlestown
Charlestown is a harbour carved out of a beach. In the 1790s, a local landowner called Charles Rashleigh built a port here, cutting a dock into the rock to ship copper ore and, above all, china clay from the pits around St Austell, and the village took his name. Little has changed since: the stone harbour walls, the lock gates, the Georgian cottages and the old warehouses survive almost intact, which is why the harbour is part of the UNESCO Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape and why film and TV crews love it. Tall ships often moor in the dock, and you may have seen it as a backdrop in more than one period drama.
Read the complete Charlestown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Charlestown is where the day begins. Next is Devoran and Perran.
2. Devoran and Perran
Devoran is a quiet village at the head of Restronguet Creek, a tidal arm of the Fal estuary south of Truro, and it takes a little imagination to see it as the busy industrial port it once was. In the nineteenth century, the Redruth and Chasewater Railway brought copper ore down from the mines to quays here, where ships loaded it for smelters in South Wales and returned with coal. The remains of the quays, ore hoppers and old warehouses are still visible along the shore, and the village is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, listed by UNESCO in 2006.
Read the complete Devoran and Perran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Devoran and Perran comes up about 38 km into the recorded legs. Next is Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway.
3. Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway
Cornwall's first railways were built to carry copper ore down to the sea and coal back up, and the Portreath branch of the Hayle Railway was one of the busiest. It opened in 1837, joining the mines around Redruth to the small harbour at Portreath on the north coast, where ore was loaded onto ships bound for the smelters of south Wales, and coal came in to feed the pumping engines. A tramroad had already done the same job here since the early nineteenth century, and the railway replaced it with steam power and heavier loads.
Read the complete Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway. Next is The Port of Hayle.
4. The Port of Hayle
Hayle does not look like much at first: a long, low town strung along an estuary, a scatter of industrial buildings, quays slowly silting up and a lot of sand. But in the nineteenth century this was one of the engine rooms of the world. Two great foundries here, Harvey's and the Copperhouse company, built the steam engines that pumped water out of Cornish mines and later out of mines and waterworks on several continents. The harbour shipped copper ore out and coal in, and the whole place is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage site.
Read the complete The Port of Hayle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Port of Hayle, about halfway. Next is Camborne and Redruth Mining District.
5. Camborne and Redruth Mining District
Cornwall's mining history is told by its engine houses, and around Camborne and Redruth there are more of them than anywhere else. This was the richest square of country in the whole mining world in the nineteenth century, producing copper and then tin on a scale that made the district a global centre of mining technology. Engineers, pumps and steam engines were built here and exported to mines on every continent, and Cornish miners themselves, known as Cousin Jacks, emigrated to Australia, South Africa, Mexico and North America and took their skills with them.
Read the complete Camborne and Redruth Mining District write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Camborne and Redruth Mining District sits at 87 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Port of Hayle.
6. back through The Port of Hayle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Port of Hayle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Port of Hayle comes up about 98 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway.
7. back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 113 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway. Next is back through Devoran and Perran.
8. back through Devoran and Perran
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Devoran and Perran write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Devoran and Perran, late in the day. Next is Charlestown.
9. Charlestown
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Charlestown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 169 km.
Leg by leg
Charlestown to Devoran and Perran
Charlestown → Devoran and Perran is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Devoran and Perran to Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway
Devoran and Perran → Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway to The Port of Hayle
Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway → The Port of Hayle is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Port of Hayle to Camborne and Redruth Mining District
The Port of Hayle → Camborne and Redruth Mining District is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Camborne and Redruth Mining District to back through The Port of Hayle
Camborne and Redruth Mining District → back through The Port of Hayle is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Port of Hayle to back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway
back through The Port of Hayle → back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway to back through Devoran and Perran
back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway → back through Devoran and Perran is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Devoran and Perran to Charlestown
back through Devoran and Perran → Charlestown is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.