Newquay & Wheal Cotes

We had a toasty night thanks to our little electric heater and woke to a lovely sunny morning. After breakfast (and a long hot shower for Emma) we emptied and filled our tanks before hitting the road.

First stop today was Newquay where we parked high up on Pentire headland overlooking the Gannel river estuary and Crantock beach. After coffee we set out for a stroll. We followed the coast path down to and across Fistral beach and then up onto Towan headland. Here we got chatting to a group of Seawatch volunteers who were conducting their monthly lookout for creatures of the sea.

We carried on along the coast path until we came to the 14th Century Huers hut. This building was named after the Huer, who’s job was to look out for pilchards. When they were spotted he cried out “Heva, heva”. Boats were launched and then the Huer would direct them towards the shoals of fish.

We continued on to the small harbour and then completed the circle back to Kiki by the inland route.

After lunch we drove to St Agnes head to see the remains of some tin mines. Ignoring the ambiguous “unsuitable for long vehicles” sign as we had no idea what they meant by a “long vehicle” we drove through the village of St Agnes. Squeezing through some more narrow lanes we eventually made it to the National Trust carpark.

We walked down to the Wheal Cotes mine which, perched on the side of the cliff, has one of the most dramatic locations. Following the coast path we dropped down into Chapel Cove where we tried to find the chapel. Despite the National Trust map showing it close to the coast path, we were unable to find it. A local who passed us said he had no idea where it was either!

We returned to Kiki and drove a few miles further until we came to a large lay-by where we’re parked up for the night.