Why this ride
From Hayle it runs 231 km to Hayle; allow about 4 h 00 of riding. It goes by way of St Just Mining District, Devoran and Perran, Charlestown and back through Devoran and Perran. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Port of Hayle and Charlestown
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 231 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 00
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is St Just Mining District.
2. 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 comes up about 24 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 78 km into the recorded legs you reach Devoran and Perran. 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 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 158 km, about halfway. Next is back through St Just Mining District.
6. back through 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
back through St Just Mining District comes up about 207 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Port of Hayle.
7. 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
The Port of Hayle closes the day.
Leg by leg
The Port of Hayle to St Just Mining District
The Port of Hayle → St Just Mining District is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
St Just Mining District to Devoran and Perran
St Just Mining District → Devoran and Perran is 54 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Devoran and Perran to Charlestown
Devoran and Perran → Charlestown is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Charlestown to back through Devoran and Perran
Charlestown → back through Devoran and Perran is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Devoran and Perran to back through St Just Mining District
back through Devoran and Perran → back through St Just Mining District is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through St Just Mining District to The Port of Hayle
back through St Just Mining District → The Port of Hayle is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.