Why this ride
242 km from Tavistock to Tavistock, about 4 h 34 of riding. On the way it passes The Luxulyan Valley, Devoran and Perran, Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts and back through Devoran and Perran. It follows river valleys.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tamar Valley Mining District and Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 242 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 34
- 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. Tamar Valley Mining District
For a few decades in the nineteenth century the Tamar valley was among the richest copper fields in Europe, and then, almost overnight, it became a major source of arsenic. The river divides Devon from Cornwall, and the hills on both sides are pocked with old mine workings, engine houses, spoil heaps and the cuttings of former railways. Devon Great Consols, near Gunnislake, was in the nineteenth century one of the richest copper mines in the world, and when copper prices fell the owners turned to arsenic, which was used in pesticides and paint, and for a time it made the valley a strategic industry. The whole area is part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, listed by UNESCO in 2006.
Read the complete Tamar Valley Mining District write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tamar Valley Mining District is where the day begins. Next is The Luxulyan Valley.
2. The Luxulyan Valley
Granite boulders furred with moss, beech and oak closing overhead, and somewhere below you the sound of water running in a stone channel built by people who wanted it to work, not to look pretty. The Luxulyan Valley, tucked between Par, Lostwithiel and St Austell in mid Cornwall, is one of those places where industrial history and woodland have grown into each other so completely that it is hard to tell where one ends.
Read the complete The Luxulyan Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Luxulyan Valley comes up about 48 km into the recorded legs. Next is Devoran and Perran.
3. 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
about 91 km into the recorded legs you reach Devoran and Perran. Next is Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts.
4. Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts
Tregonning Hill is a low, rounded granite dome above Germoe, and on its slopes in the middle of the eighteenth century a Plymouth chemist named William Cookworthy found white clay of a quality that Europe had never produced. He recognised it as kaolin, the secret of Chinese porcelain, and the find began an industry that eventually shifted to the larger deposits around St Austell. The ground around Tregonning and Gwinear is a landscape of old tin and copper workings, engine houses, abandoned stacks and small fields enclosed by stone hedges. The whole Cornish mining landscape was listed by UNESCO in 2006 and these districts are part of it.
Read the complete Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts, about halfway. Next is back through Devoran and Perran.
5. 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 sits at 168 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Luxulyan Valley.
6. back through The Luxulyan Valley
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Luxulyan Valley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Luxulyan Valley comes up about 193 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tamar Valley Mining District.
7. Tamar Valley Mining District
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tamar Valley Mining District write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tamar Valley Mining District closes the day.
Leg by leg
Tamar Valley Mining District to The Luxulyan Valley
Tamar Valley Mining District → The Luxulyan Valley is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Luxulyan Valley to Devoran and Perran
The Luxulyan Valley → Devoran and Perran is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Devoran and Perran to Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts
Devoran and Perran → Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts to back through Devoran and Perran
Tregonning and Gwinear Mining Districts → back through Devoran and Perran is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Devoran and Perran to back through The Luxulyan Valley
back through Devoran and Perran → back through The Luxulyan Valley is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Luxulyan Valley to Tamar Valley Mining District
back through The Luxulyan Valley → Tamar Valley Mining District is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.