Cape Cornwall walk – St Just to Pendeen

/ 29/06/2023

We woke refreshed and the place we stayed in had supplied a good selection of breakfast items, plus plenty of milk to make a flask or two of coffee to take with us. We knew that we only had a 7 mile walk to complete, with a bus at around 2.15pm at Pendeen, it meant we could take our time walking and leave at a leisurely 9.45am. We started by retracing our steps back to Bosorne and then headed out to the coastal cliffs above Porth Nanven, before long we were striding down towards Cape Cornwall. Heading onwards we met a slightly overgrown route, missing the path split which would take us down to a mine near Boscean and then up to Kenidjack Castle. Instead we headed a little further inland than we wanted, to Boscean itself before returning along the other side of the valley on a path that climbed steadily. We weren’t the only coastal path walkers to make this error, as we met a coupel going the opposite way who’d done the same thing. What came next was the section of the coastal path through the main Cornish mining area, dozens of chimneys, engine and wheel houses dotted the landscape. Some have been in the recent Poldark TV programme and other now house a museum showcasing the industry, the landscape underfoot changes, from grassy paths to dirt tracks and surroundings, the scars of man are everywhere. As you near Pendeen Lighthouse, the path changes back to the more familiar narrow path winding around the cliffs, as we hit the road that leads to the lighthouse we turned right and headed for Pendeen village. Knowing that we would need to get a bus (probably from St Ives) to Pendeen to then start the next section of the path heading for St Ives. For now we were happy, knowing that we’d seen some of the most stunning coastline over the last 2 days, and we were heading for Penzance, we arrived there about 3.30pm and walking along the seafront there, to our accommodation for the second night, will be done on a separate post

Start – St Just

Route – Bosorne – South West Coastal Path – Ballowall Barrow – Cape Cornwall – Boscean – Kenidjack Castle – Botallack Mine – Levant Mine – Geevor Mine – Trewellard Bottoms – Pendeen Old Cliff – Pendeen – Bus to Penzance

Distance – 7 miles    Start time – 9.45am   Time taken – 4hrs Highest Point – Pendeen 130 metres

Weather – Sunny and hot

© Crown copyright 2023 Ordnance Survey FL 2023 SF
Bosorne ahead as we cross the fields having left St Just. Cot Valley is ahead of us and we will climb to the right up onto the cliffs there.
Cot Valley mine workings
The Brisons as we climb out of Cot Valley, it was already getting warm at this point, which was to be expected at the end of June, but we’d had a week were the weather had changed, from the blistering heat of early June, to a more sedate 18 degrees.
Ballowall Barrow, a chambered cairn right on the tip of Cornwall, and more mining history behind
As it says the Barrow is from the bronze age (2500BC to 800BC)
As we reach this large upright tor and the golf course is on our right here, we catch our first look down to Cape Cornwall
Linda heading for Cape Cornwall
Stunning scenery at Cape Cornwall
That’s Kenidjack Castle on the next headland, our next objective
Cape Cornwall with The Brisons behind, Porth Ledden is the bay to the right here
Now we are heading along a path on the right here which should angle down towards the buildings near the chimney. we missed that split off and ended up top right in the village of Boscean before looping around left and back along a slanted path up to the top left
Boscean and more mining history
Looping around the far end of the valley, Cape Cornwall is at the end with the Atlantic Ocean beyond. Kenidjack is top right
I’m not sure how long we sat here, but it was a while. Probably the best place I’ve ever stopped for coffee, Porth Ledden, Cape Cornwall and The Brisons, white waves of the Atlantic crashing below, sunshine and perfect company to share it with
And one without me spoiling the view, just glorious
Even with the slight wonky horizon, I like this photo, Longships and its lighthouse off Land’s End in the foreground. Backed by Wolf Rock lighthouse and a tanker sailing by it.
After passing Kenidjack we headed for Botallack, more tors, cliffs and mining. This is the main mining area of this part of the walk and it runs for around 1.5 miles along this part of the coastal path and inland from it.
The path winds its way through the engine houses of Botallack mine
The one down there is the one used in some of the filming of Poldark and many other photos of Cornish mining heritage. Infact I typed Cornish mining into a search engine, clicked images and it came up.
Just one part of the huge Botallack mine. All I could think about here was the shafts heading under the sea for half a mile and working down there, knowing the sea could come in at any point. You could head down in calm conditions and return to the surface in the midst of a storm, amazing workers from the 1500s up to 1895 headed down to these places. There were over 100 engine houses in this area at one point.
Straight after Botallack mine is this, Levant mine. Here they still have the oldest working Steam Beam engine in the museum, run by the National Trust. The mine opened in 1748 and the Beam engine was built in 1840 and restored around 60 years ago. The mine had closed in 1930 as the price of tin crashed, like Botallack which closed in 1895 due to the price of copper crashing.
Not sure I was expecting it to be honest never mind waiting for it
Linda walking to the Geevor mine
Engine house graveyard
We weren’t keen on this short section, this is Geevor Mine, lots of excavations seem to be taking place, which has scraped the surface to this red dusty soil. The green section ahead though looks lovely heading to Pendeen Watch lighthouse
Geevor Mine, this was part of Trewellard Bottoms, but almost resembles a Cornish Acropolis
More stunning coastline as we head around to Pendeen Watch
Pendeen Watch ahead, the lighthouse colour matches the waves crashing on the rocks
We would save Pendeen lighthouse for our next visit to this area, so we are heading inland to Pendeen and the bus to Penzance
Linda waiting for the bus and a chance to eat some sandwiches as we’d skipped lunch to makes sure we didn’t miss the connection. A stunning walk and our coffee stop will live long on the memory, all that was left was a rapid bus journey across to Penzance and the walk along the seafront there to our pub room for the night (on the next post).

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17 thoughts on “Cape Cornwall walk – St Just to Pendeen”

    • I’m about half way in completing the SWCP, mainly day walks so far, but I’m needing to stay over now as its a bit far to do a days walk, with the nearest spot more than an hour away. As for walking all over Britain like Raynor, I can’t see that, still plenty of places to visit for me like Snowdonia and the Peak District, as well as returns to The Lakes and the Dales

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      • I was really referring to the first book so the SWCP.
        In my youth to walk the Pennine way was always an ambition. Alas, I doubt I’ll ever do it in one go but I have done several stretches so a piecemeal approach would be possible – but not in geographic order.

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      • I think the long distance paths are for people a bit more organised than myself, and less diabetic. I’m more than happy to do them in shorter bits, with no more than 3 or 4 days walking at once

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      • I found the evenings the most difficult parts, where blood sugars keep dropping even after finishing the walk, and sometimes even after tea. It helped having a proper roof overhead rather than a tent

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      • Yes, the same here. Sugars go haywire after a big day and not easy to get the right balance of insulin and carbs. I sometimes find it takes a few days to get back to a more normal pattern after a few days walking.

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  6. I’m another Raynor Wynn fan, but she doesn’t have photos! Stunning scenery and fascinating industrial history too – can’t be bad.

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