I'd no particular intention of riding the Cornish Way but on the last day of my Devon Coast to Coast ride I happened to notice a copy of the map in a Tavistock bike shop, a checkpoint for the Sustrans stamping card scheme. I felt guilty about leaving the shop without buying anything so I bought the map and popped it in my bar bag.
I still had another week's holiday but I hadn't decided what to do with it – I had a business meeting in London on the Monday, which rather limited my options. By the Sunday evening I still hadn't decided what to do, when the map caught my eye and the answer was obvious – catch the overnight train to Penzance on the Monday night, then spend the rest of the week riding the Cornish Way. I'd start from Lands End, follow the southern option from Truro to St Austell and Bodmin, visiting the Eden Project on the way, and then loop back to Truro by the northern alternative through Padstow and Newquay. That left out the Bodmin to Bude stretch of the route, but I'd covered that several times before.
Note: the map of the Cornish Way is available from Sustrans – click on the map cover to order – or other outlets. At the time of writing the latest version of the map is that printed in 2000. Changes which have been made to the route since the map was printed can be found here. A route guide, The Cornish Way Guide, is also available from Sustrans.
I made my way out to Land's End along the A30 from Penzance and arrived before the place had opened up, so I had to wait to get my route card stamped. Another touring cyclist arrived a few minutes after me and we fell into conversation. He'd had some terrible weather the previous day, even having to seek cover in a bus shelter for a couple of hours. So it turned out that I hadn't missed much.
Land's End having opened for business, I set off on the route. Or rather, I would have set off on the route had I not missed the turn. The signs and the map are none too clear – you're supposed to turn left onto an off-road path immediately you leave the one way exit from Land's End. The path, made of firm sand and not too bad, winds around over the clifftop to Sennen Cove. At the far end it meets the steep road down to the cove and, of course, I couldn't resist it. I'd only had a light breakfast on the train, so I stopped at a café by the harbour to top up. I needed it to get back up the hill afterwards!
From Sennen Cove the route cuts across country (and through some lovely countryside) to St Buryan, and then again to Lamorna. This is an ancient landscape full of standing stones, Celtic crosses, burial chambers (that at Tregiffian is right beside the road), and the Merry Maidens stone circle. Near Lamorna there's a choice of making straight for Newlyn on the B3315 or taking the somewhat hilly coast road through Lamorna and Mousehole. I opted for the coast road.
The map should have warned me – "Take care along rough bridlepath" it said. Rough it was, far too rough to ride a bike or even to push a loaded bike. It wasn't quite as bad as Grenofen on the Devon Coast to Coast the previous week, but it came a very close second. Why Sustrans didn't continue the route along the B3315 and then use the lane down the Lamorna valley, I do not know. Using the bridleway saves less than half a mile of quite acceptable road but adds a load of aggravation.
Lamorna lies in a deep, verdant valley. I continued right down to the cove and had a coffee there and was amazed at the cottages on the far hillside and the great mounds of apparently loose rock piled above them! Then it was back up the very steep hill to rejoin the route at the Lamorna Wink Inn, and another big climb out of the valley.
Mousehole is a picturesque harbour, a maze of narrow streets, and not so picturesque jammed-up traffic. Beyond the village the route passes the Penlee lifeboat station from where, on the fateful night of 19 December 1981, the Solomon Browne was launched to go to the aid of the stricken coaster the Union Star, never to return. A memorial garden beside the now disused station commemorates its gallant crew. The replacement boat is based at Newlyn Harbour.
The route now passes through the busy fishing harbour at Newlyn, then runs along the sea front into the centre of Penzance. There's a tourist office by the harbour and I used it to book B&B for that night near Truro. From the harbour car park a new cycle path has been built between the railway line and the sea. It avoids some busy and less than pleasant roads but it's spoiled by a failure to finish it off properly. In places the surface is really quite rough.
The path follows the railway round the curve of Mount's Bay towards Marazion, with St Michael's Mount prominently visible in the distance. It joins the road just after Long Rock and soon after that the route turns inland. However, if you're taking part in the stamping card scheme you'll need to continue into Marazion, as you will if you want to visit St Michael's Mount. At low tide you can walk across the causeway, but a ferry service operates when it's covered.
From Marazion the route follows a pleasant country lane through St Erth. On the approach to Hayle I took a side turning by accident and ended up passing through the site of the famous Hayle Foundry; one of its products – a Crimean War mortar – is displayed on the road into the town. Restoration of parts of this important part of the area's industrial heritage is now underway.
The heavy industry has gone from Hayle and the once thriving wharves lie empty. The main road through the town – once the A30 – is still busy enough and the stretch beyond the roundabout is one place where a cyclepath is needed. I stopped my bike to take a photo, and it was almost impossible to get back into the stream of traffic afterwards. At the end of this stretch the route crosses an old railway swing bridge to reach the other side of the estuary where it follows a path through gardens of the King George V Memorial Walk – this was once part of the route of the Hayle Railway before the later main line was built. A rough, pot-holed track then leads back towards the road. Follow the signs carefully as the route weaves its way out of town, over the bypass, heading for Gwinear.
This is a lovely level stretch of countryside through Carnhell Green to the outskirts of Barripper. For some reason the route turns off just before the village but if you wanted you could continue through and turn left to rejoin the route at Penponds. If you follow the official route, look out for the clapper bridge just off the road to the left about half a mile out of Barripper, while in Penponds you can see Trevithick's Cottage, where the inventor of the high pressure steam engine (and thus one of the fathers of the industrial revolution) once lived.
The next few miles of the route runs through the heart of Cornwall's mineral belt, with a tradition of mining and engineering which spread all over the world. The route passes through the centre of Camborne, and then through the back streets and finally modern housing estates on its outskirts. I began to find this slow going, with frequent stops, starts, and turns and I was glad to get onto the mile of old tramway at Pool, nows part of the Great Flat Lode Trail, for a bit of straightforward riding. The path overlooks South Crofty mine, the last working tin mine in Europe until its closure in 1998. On the heights of Carn Brea south of the path are the monument to mining magnate, Lord Francis Bassett, and, further along, Carn Brea Castle.
I passed quickly through Redruth (the signs seemed to show a slightly different route to the map) and then on towards St Day, with its enormous, but now roofless church. Unfortunately, I missed a none-too-obvious sign there and ended up well off the route, which taught me the disadvantage of trying to navigate by signs instead of the map – when you get lost you've no idea where you are! Sustrans ought to consider the use of "Incorrect route" signs (crossed out route number signs) at junctions where the route turns off the through road. In the end I backtracked a mile or so to the last sign I remembered and then set off again, taking great care to hunt for the sign I'd missed.
However, I'm not the only one who's got confused here. The printed Sustrans map (dated 2000) shows the route as passing through St Day and Crofthandy, from where it links into the Mineral Tramways Coast to Coast route through the Poldice Valley. The online Sustrans map shows a variation on this theme, while the OS map shows the cycle route as bypassing St Day and Crofthandy altogether and following the road through Carharrack and over United Downs to Twelveheads, near the modern but now-closed Mount Wellington Mine. As far as I can tell, the signs direct you along the latter route, as I certainly remember crossing United Downs.
The various mapped routes all join up at Twelveheads, in the Carnon Valley, from where they follow old mining tracks and part of the route of the Redruth & Chasewater Railway, a mineral railway which closed nearly 90 years ago. The route passes through an abandoned industrial landscape which is gradually being reclaimed by nature and is now a nature reserve. But take care, the streams are part of the drainage system of the old mines and, while some are obviously polluted, those which appear clear may be laden with toxic heavy metals. The remains of the refinery works of the British Arsenic Company (arsenic is a by-product of the tin smelting process) act as a reminder that this is possibly not the best place to stop for a picnic!
There is also a confusing maze of tracks in the area, so keep a very careful watch out for the tiny route 3 signs. I found it rather frustrating and time-consuming, particularly as I later discovered there was a perfectly acceptable road route close by. The industrial heritage area is interesting, but if you want to explore them close up, there are local cycle routes which you can use.
Just beyond Bissoe, where there is a cycle hire base, the route divides. The main route continues along the old tramway for a while before branching off to Carnon Downs, with a choice then of following route 3 to the King Harry Ferry or branching off into Truro. The alternative route is a more direct way into Truro. As I had to head into the city to reach my B&B, and as the Sustrans website warned of roadworks affecting the cycle path at Carnon Downs, I picked the alternative route. After another short diversion to take in a few more lengths of track, I was finally heading into Truro, but a great deal later than I'd planned.
My B&B was a couple of miles outside the city on cycle route 32. In the centre I began to look for the start of the route, not aided by the fact that the Sustrans map's street plan of Truro was a rather simplified version of the real thing. Fortunately, I happened to glance down a side street (Union Place) and my eye caught side of a small "32" sign affixed to a bollard. Fifteen minutes later I finally arrived in the tiny village of Idless.
The next morning I returned into Truro and picked up the route by the river bridge. There are two routes to leave Truro on route 3. The main route, which I decided to take, is via the King Harry Ferry and the coast road, the other by the much smaller Malpas Ferry, a small rowing boat taking two people and two bikes. The cycle route leaves the city centre along the riverside, passes through an industrial estate built on the site of the Newham railway goods depot, and then joins a path along the old railway track for half a mile. This is followed by a quiet run through the hilly lanes round the end of beautiful Cowlands Creek and along a short length of byway to reach the road to the King Harry Ferry near the National Trust's Trelissick Gardens.
Once across the river the road climbs steeply up the valley side before turning off through Philleigh and Treworthal. Beyond Treworthal the route has changed slightly from that shown on the map. As it came out higher up the A3078 I decided to head directly for Veryan,
rather than taking the longer road through Pendower – where the route goes across the beach and over a footbridge. Having missed this, I was delighted to find that my diversion took me past Melinsey Mill, a superbly-restored watermill and an excellent café.
From Veryan the route descends steeply (there's an inland alternative if you'd rather miss the hills) to the coast at the pretty, unspoilt fishing village of Portloe, the location for St Gweep in Dawn French's BBC TV comedy series Wild West.
There is a steep climb back up from Portloe. About four miles further on there is another inland alternative to avoid the steep coastal hills on the way to Mevagissey. I'd planned to take this inland route but when I got to the junction it was far from clear which was the right route to take, and in the absence of any signs I was forced to take the coast road. It descends to Porthluney beach, overlooked by the 17th century Caerhays Castle in its protected valley, the ideal place for one of the country's best collections of magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons.
Another good climb takes you past Boswinger, where there's a youth hostel. You may want to think about this for acommodation because B&B is quite expensive and hard to come by in this area during the summer – single rooms are almost impossible to find. Then it's on through Gorran Churchtown, and down into Portmellon. "Beware of waves" it says, and you can see why. The houses along the seafront have stout shutters on the windows, and you get the feeling they come in useful from time to time.
Yet another hill takes you out of the village and over the crest of Polkirt Hill to Mevagissey, an old fishing port clustered around its harbour, with narrow streets full of cars trying to manoeuvre past each other. Although I'd not come far that day, I decided to stop in the town for the night, which was easier said than done. A lot of visitors were taking advantage of the indian summer and almost everywhere was full.
The route leaves Mevagissey on the main St Austell road but soon turns off onto a track, rough in parts, which takes you past the Lost Gardens of Heligan and then on an estate road through the woods back to the main road. The directions when you emerge from the track are not particularly clear and, as I wanted to go into Pentewan to get my route card stamped, I went back down the main road. Having had my card stamped at the local bike hire base I set off up the very pleasant Pentewan Valley cycle trail through the woods and beside the St Austell River. The trail ended a short way outside St Austell. "Traffic-free route (beside the main road) will open late 2000", said the map. In fact, it had opened such a short while before my visit that they hadn't got round to removing the "Cycle route incomplete" signs. Sustrans are nothing if not optimists.
The route through the town was straightforward enough (if fractionally different to the map), but the run out involved a straight urban road to the A391 bypass. Plans for a rather more pleasant route along a disused railway west of the town appear to have been dropped but a cut-off avoiding Tregrehan Mills is a possibility. There's a substantial climb up through the lanes to a rear entrance into the Eden Project (the warning on the map is incorrect – the route through the Eden Project is closed from dusk till dawn, not the other way round). Those who arrive by bike or on foot not only benefit from £3 off the admission charges but are also fast-tracked through at busy times.
A covered shelter for bikes and lockers for your luggage are provided – follow the signs for the shaded dog parking! You'll need a £1 coin (refunded when you empty the locker) for each locker, and one locker will take a medium pannier plus other bits and pieces.
I arrived at the Eden Project late in the morning and didn't leave until late afternoon, but even then there were many parts of the site that I didn't get to see. The achievement in converting this disused clay pit is hard to believe. The scale of the task is best appreciated from the photos shown on an unofficial website.
I left the Eden Project in glorious sunshine and followed the route up the beautiful Luxulyan Valley, passing under Treffry's Viaduct. Built in 1842, it was the first all stone viaduct built in Cornwall. Not only did it carry the rails of a tramway from Bugle to near St Blazey, but there was also an aqueduct beneath the tramway deck, part of a system of leats used to power machinery further down the valley. You can walk across the viaduct – to reach it turn right up the hill at the junction just north of the viaduct.
As I got to Luxulyan village I felt the first spots of rain falling. Within a few minutes a steady, soaking drizzle was falling as I followed the narrow lanes northwards towards Bodmin. From the outskirts of Bodmin a new, mostly off-road route has been provided, but given the weather and a desire to find somewhere to stay as soon as possible, I headed straight down the quicker main road. The Tourist Information office had closed for the night, but a list outside offered a number of possibilities. Fortunately the first one I tried had a vacancy – the owners had that moment got back from a trip to France – and I was soon in the warm and dry.
I've been to Bodmin many times but this was the first time that I took the opportunity for a look around. Then it was time to set off past the Gaol – scene of over 50 public hangings in its 150 years of use – onto the Camel Trail for the trip through Wadebridge to Padstow.
(From here The Cornish Way continues north over Bodmin Moor on its way to Bude, a section of route which it shares with the West Country Way. To view the description of this part of the route from my West Country Way journey in 1999, click here and afterwards press your browser's back button to return here.
Instead of repeating this section of the route, I decided instead to follow the alternative route between Bodmin and Truro via Newquay. As far as Padstow this route follows the Camel Trail, which is also part of the West Country Way. For that description, click here and afterwards press your browser's back button to return here.
The route joins the Camel Trail at the edge of Bodmin and heads towards Dunmere. Just before the road bridge the Trail splits. Route 3 to Wenford Bridge, Bude and Bristol diverges to the right while Route 32 to the left heads for Wadebridge and Padstow. Just beyond the bridge is the platform of Dunmere Halt, and shortly after that is the site of Dunmere Junction where the one-time railway to Wenford Bridge branches off to the right through a locked gate. The gate hangs from original railway gate posts, for one of the curious quirks of this little branch line was that it was always separated from the 'main line' by a locked gate! It is locked today to prevent cyclists and walkers attempting to cross the busy A389 at the old level crossing. Just a short way beyond Dunmere is Boscarne Junction where the terminus of the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway is situated.
It was a little early in the day for holidaymakers when I set off, so the Trail was mainly being used by local cyclists and dog walkers, plus a good few horse riders. The Trail has just been opened up to horses throughout its length, and it remains to be seen how they will co-exist with the other users. Damage to the surface and piles of dung – not very pleasant to ride through – are two potential problems.
The surface of the Camel Trail is unsealed and consists of stone dust over a stone base. In many places the stone base protrudes through, making for an uncomfortable ride, and frequent maintenance is clearly needed to keep the surface in reasonable condition. How long it will be before Cornwall follows Devon's lead and opts for a harder wearing surface?
The number of holidaymakers increased as I approached Wadebridge, encouraged by the growing warmth of the day, and even more so on the way to Padstow. I always seem to ride along this stretch at low tide, when the mudbanks are crowded with wading birds of all types and it's easy to while away time watching them.
It was good to see the splendid restoration work that's been carried out on the Iron Bridge over Petherick Creek since I last came this way. The rusted iron work has given way to a gleaming coat of paint, and the narrow wooden deck has been replaced by a broad one of concrete. As to Padstow itself, I'm not so sure about the changes it is undergoing. It will need to be very careful if it is not to destroy the very thing that attracted people to it in the first place.
I lost the route on its way out of the town, not helped by the street plan not quite tying up with the actual street names (again!), nor by the lack of signs – or perhaps they were hidden by the throng of people. Despite this, I ended up on the right road. For a mile or so the route runs along the B3276. More remarkable still, the alternative, shorter route runs along the A389! Knowing Sustrans' aversion to A-roads let alone one's as busy with tourist traffic as this, it comes as quite a surprise. The trouble is, there's no other way out of Padstow by road.
North Cornwall has a reputation for being very hilly, but I didn't find this route too bad. There's a few climbs, but they're gradual and not the switchbacks of the south Cornwall valleys. Turning off the B3276 the route passes through Harlyn, with its beautiful sandy beach, and then through Constantine Bay before heading inland. The wind farm on Bear's Down – Cornwall's largest – is a landmark from a good way off, and as I climbed towards it it became increasingly obvious why it had been sited there.
The next town on the route is St Columb Major, where I popped into the Co-op to get my route card stamped. I can't say that I find the town particularly attractive. It's very much a workaday place, but there are one or two gems, including the tea shop by the church. Still, it could be worse. The narrow main street used to be the main Wadebridge to Truro road until 25 years ago!
The route now heads back towards the coast at Newquay, passing through a couple of tiny villages on the way. From St Columb Minor a footpath past some school grounds takes you into the outskirts of Newquay. The route actually bypasses the centre of Newquay, but I must have missed a sign and I ended up at Porth beach. It was quite a pleasant diversion apart from the steep and busy hill I had to climb to get back on the route. The map on the Sustrans website showed a completely different route through Newquay, but there was no sign of this on the ground.
The card stamping point at Newquay was at a holiday park. The map indicated that it was right beside the route but a sign for the holiday park indicated a diversion up the busy A392. I assumed that there must be a back entrance but there wasn't, so the A392 it was. It was bad enough in mid-September. I don't think I'd want to ride on it at the height of the holiday season. All in all, the route through Newquay is a muddle.
The next few miles though are along deserted lanes through some pleasant countryside, with an unmapped paved ford at Legonna (you can cheat and walk over the footbridge if you insist), and the National Trust's Elizabethan manor house at Trerice. The next port of call was at St Newlyn East, where the local shop had mislaid their rubber stamp for the route card. A notice outside advertised a Friday evening fish and chip van, which made me wonder about eating before I got to my B&B (I was heading back to Idless) and then, as I turned the corner, there was the van. My mind was made up. "Sorry" they said, "we're out of fish, and there's no chicken either."
So, it was on through Zelah (by a slightly dog-legged route to avoid the A30 – the Sustrans website shows an alternative and slightly more direct route through St Allen), then only one more hill, followed by a run down into the well-wooded valley of the River Allen, and I was at my B&B at Idless. It had been a most enjoyable day. The next morning I had only a gentle two mile ride back into Truro to complete my circuit of The Cornish Way.
I have slightly mixed feelings about The Cornish Way. Most of it is a delight, an excellent way to see some of the most beautiful parts of Cornwall, but one or two parts are disappointing to say the least.
The good bits first: as long as you're not on a speed turn (and if you forget the daft and unnecessary bit of bridleway near Lamorna), the route from Land's End to Penzance beats either of the main road alternatives into a cocked hat, as does the stretch from Marazion to Hayle. Truro to St Austell is hilly but spectacular. My only thought is that the route should have taken in Portholland too, a spot that few people visit by car. The stretch through St Austell is uninspiring – couldn't a route have been devised south of the town past the heritage harbour at Charleston – but from there to Bodmin is superb.
For those heading north to Bude the ride up the Camel Trail, over Bodmin Moor, and along the North Cornwall coast is unbelievable, and worth all the effort it involves. Or, you can do as I did and return to Truro through Padstow and Newquay. The Camel Trail through Wadebridge and Padstow never fails to captivate me, even though I've ridden it now many times, and the ride over the downs past Newquay and back to Truro shouldn't be underrated either. Keeping closer to the coast between Padstow and Newquay would have involved using a considerable length of the B3276 but it might have been worth it.
Now for the not so good bits. The cycle path beside the railway at Penzance is disappointing, and all for the sake of a goodsurface – surely a decent top wouldn't have broken the bank. The path out of Mevagissey towards Heligan is pretty poor too. The route past Newquay (and the location of the card stamping point there) is a muddle, and needs sorting out, but the biggest disappointment of all is the stretch between Camborne and Truro. Hayle to Truro is about 23 miles so I estimated a reasonable 2½ hours for the trip, but it took me more like four.
Getting lost, the result of poor signing, accounted for some of that, but a lot of it was down to following the tortuous route through Camborne, Pool, and Redruth. Even stopping at incessant road junctions wasted a lot of time. The route also goes out of its way to use the new tramway paths – indeed, I suspect that it was decided to use the tramway paths and the rest of the route was fitted in to suit. (Others may think differently, but I didn't think it was worth it.) Why? Well, the Cornish Way falls far below the Sustrans target of having one-third of its routes traffic-free (it's less than half that) and without the tramway section the figure would've been even lower.
Once again, I have to ask why Sustrans is so averse to using B-roads. Most of the people riding these long distance routes (as opposed to short tourist or urban sections of them) will be experienced cyclists and I cannot see why they have to be treated like children. Using a few well-chosen lengths of B-road could have produced a much better route from Marazion to Truro.
Cornwall County Council needs to learn a lesson from Devon in how to surface off-road paths. Even the flagship Camel Trail is wearing badly in places and that's despite a lot of maintenance. The short railway path out of Truro is in middling condition, but other off-road paths on the route are in much worse condition.
The signing of the route is excellent in places but poor in others. When the route is complicated (as between Camborne and the far side of Redruth), the signing needs to be of the highest quality and frequency, and obvious. The same applies in town centres, where cyclists should be watching out for traffic and pedestrians, not having to hunt high and low for a tiny sign. In many places it's obvious that Sustrans' own signing standards are not being met, and on a couple of occasions the printed map, the online map, the Ordnance Survey map, and the signing all offered different directions! Alternative routes also need to be properly signed, otherwise why bother having them.
The route is good as far as serving town centres is concerned, although the main route does bypass Truro, Cornwall's county town. Marazion is missed, when a minor diversion could have taken it in. Newquay centre is bypassed, though many people would view that as a bonus!
Cornwall's premier railway path, the Camel Trail, goes from strength to strength as far as users are concerned. A lot of local people make good use of it, especially on the inland stretches, but they are vastly outnumbered by holidaymakers. I can remember when the leading bike hire company in Wadebridge occupied one shed on an industrial estate. Now it seems to have three or four and a good few other hire companies have sprung up all along the Trail, with most of the hirers arriving by car, adding to the traffic on local roads. Far from discouraging car use, this cycling facility may be increasing it, while the most attractive section of the Trail, Wadebridge to Padstow, can become overcrowded at times. Looking at it economically, it's also difficult to know whether the Camel Trail is attracting extra visitors to Cornwall or simply providing another attraction for people who are already there.
I stayed at:
You can either follow through the pages in sequence or go back to pick another route from the list of the NCN routes I’ve used.
Updated: 28 September 2003, minor changes 1 November 2004