Why this ride
177 km from St Just to St Just, about 3 h 10 of riding. The stops in between: The Port of Hayle, Kennall Vale, Charlestown and back through Kennall Vale. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
St Just Mining District and Charlestown
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 177 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 10
- 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. St Just Mining District
Out at the very end of Cornwall, where the land runs out in granite cliffs above the Atlantic, the coast between St Just and Pendeen is studded with the ruined engine houses of tin and copper mines. Some of them stand right on the cliff edge, their tall chimneys silhouetted against the sea, and the shafts below ran out under the ocean floor, so deep that miners claimed they could hear boulders rolling on the seabed above them during storms. This is the St Just Mining District, one of the most dramatic parts of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage site.
Read the complete St Just Mining District write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
St Just Mining District is where the day begins. Next is The Port of Hayle.
2. 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 comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kennall Vale.
3. Kennall Vale
Kennall Vale is a steep, wooded ravine in the middle of Cornwall's mining country, and for a hundred years its stream was used to make gunpowder. The mills, built in the early nineteenth century, produced the powder that miners used to blast tunnels and shafts in the tin and copper mines, and the valley was chosen because it had water, privacy and trees to absorb explosions. The gunpowder works closed in the early twentieth century, and the buildings fell into ruin. Now the old mill walls stand in a thick green wood of oak, beech and ash, with moss on every stone and a leat, the stone-lined channel that brought the water, still threading through. It is one of the most atmospheric places in west Cornwall, and a nature reserve.
Read the complete Kennall Vale write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Kennall Vale. Next is Charlestown.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Kennall Vale.
5. back through Kennall Vale
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Kennall Vale write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Kennall Vale sits at 125 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 154 km into the recorded legs. Next is St Just Mining District.
7. St Just Mining District
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete St Just Mining District write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
St Just Mining District closes the day.
Leg by leg
St Just Mining District to The Port of Hayle
St Just Mining District → The Port of Hayle is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Port of Hayle to Kennall Vale
The Port of Hayle → Kennall Vale is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kennall Vale to Charlestown
Kennall Vale → Charlestown is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Charlestown to back through Kennall Vale
Charlestown → back through Kennall Vale is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Kennall Vale to back through The Port of Hayle
back through Kennall Vale → back through The Port of Hayle is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Port of Hayle to St Just Mining District
back through The Port of Hayle → St Just Mining District is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.