Why this ride
A 129 km round trip from Penryn - roughly 2 h 50 in the saddle. The stops in between: Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway, The Port of Hayle, Camborne and Redruth Mining District and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Devoran and Perran and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 129 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 50
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway.
2. 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
Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Port of Hayle.
3. 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
about 31 km into the recorded legs you reach The Port of Hayle. Next is Camborne and Redruth Mining District.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
5. Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
West Cornwall is the sort of place where a ruined engine house stands every few hundred metres, tall, square and roofless, with a chimney beside it. These are the remains of the tin and copper mines that made Cornwall one of the great industrial regions of the world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The beam engines in these houses pumped water out of mines that went down hundreds of metres, in some cases under the sea. Miners from Cornwall, known as Cousin Jacks, took their skills around the globe, to Mexico, Australia, South Africa and the American Midwest, and the pasty went with them.
Read the complete Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District.
6. back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through The Port of Hayle.
7. 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
about 95 km into the recorded legs you reach back through The Port of Hayle. Next is back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway.
8. 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
back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway, late in the day. Next is Devoran and Perran.
9. 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
The route ends here after 129 km.
Leg by leg
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 Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Camborne and Redruth Mining District → Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape to back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape → back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District to back through The Port of Hayle
back through 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 Devoran and Perran
back through Portreath Branch of the Hayle Railway → Devoran and Perran is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.