Whilst we waited for Adeline to arrive by train (and whilst the weather was holding up!), I decided to take Nina on a quick tour of my local South West coast path and show her the beautiful Gwithian beach.
Gwithian is situated in the beautiful St. Ives bay, between Godrevy beach & lighthouse and Hayle. It’s known for it’s expansive sandy beach, and due to its situation in the bay, it’s the perfect spot for surfing and windsurfing. We also often come here because it’s a great, safe place to let the dog run free, and the dunes are fun to get lost in too!
We stopped off at Portreath and Porthtowan for a coffee too before picking Adeline up from Redruth. These are my two closest beaches, so it was nice to include them in our afternoon trip so I could show off my local area!
Once we had Adeline (and French TV crew!) in tow, we headed over to Wheal Coates to watch the sunset; a must-do activity if you’re in the Porthtowan/St. Agnes area!
As we walked towards the cliff edge, the weather turned rather moody, but this only added to the epic atmosphere! However THE WIND was insane, and made it very difficult to hold a camera… it’s lucky we didn’t get blow away!
Wheal Coates, along with many parts of the Cornish mining landscape, is a UNESCO World Heritage site, maintained by the National Trust. It’s one of my favourite sections of the South West coast path because of the rugged cliffs and engine house remains – Towanroath Engine House being most spectacular.
Naturally I had to show Nina and Adeline the Cornish tin mining history, as it’s a truly iconic part of Cornwall’s culture. Towanroath itself was built in 1872 and was used to pump water from the 600ft shaft beneath it (below sea level!), employing nearly 140 people.
If we’d had more time before the darkness set in, I would have loved to have taken everyone down to Chapel Porth beach as well, where I spent so many Summers as a child eating the classic ‘Hedgehog’ ice-cream (Cornish ice cream topped with Cornish clotted cream and rolled in hazelnuts!).
As the light started to fade, we drove over to Mount Hawke for a dinner at the Old School Bar and Kitchen. This place was renovated a few years ago and now serves the best Cornish gastro-pub food!
Obviously one of the best things about being in Cornwall is having fresh seafood, so we all opted for the mussels dish (my fave!). It earned foodie, Nina’s, approval for sure – who was excited at how much better the food was than she had expected (score one for Cornwall!).
I realise we all look rather wind-swept in this photo! After a long day of travelling for Nina and Adeline, we had an early night – ready for the next two days of adventures. Stay tuned for blog posts about day two and three of the trip!
Have you ever visited the South West Coast Path? Which is your favourite area?