Why this ride
106 km from Hayle to Hayle, about 1 h 48 of riding. On the way it passes Camborne and Redruth Mining District, St Just Mining District and back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The Port of Hayle and St Just Mining District
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 106 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 48
- 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 Camborne and Redruth Mining District.
2. 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 comes up about 15 km into the recorded legs. Next is St Just Mining District.
3. 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
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach St Just Mining District. Next is back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District.
4. 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, late in the day. Next is The Port of Hayle.
5. 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 at The Port of Hayle. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
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 St Just Mining District
Camborne and Redruth Mining District → St Just Mining District is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
St Just Mining District to back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District
St Just Mining District → back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District to The Port of Hayle
back through Camborne and Redruth Mining District → The Port of Hayle is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.