Tuesday 28th April: Weather: 8°C to 10°C: Overcast with cool south wester into our face, some rain
Pendeen to Sennen: 16k walk: 6hrs 30 mins: 8.30am to 3.00pm Ascent 880 metres
Accommodation: Sennen Rise Air BnB
Pendeen to Sennen
Air BnB Pendeen with red door
Geevor Mine
Levant mining Co formed in 1820
Levant mine 1.6k under sea
Levant mine disaster kills 31in 1919
Levant chimney stacks
Landscape of tin mining relics
Pretty path short lived
Cape Cornwall, Longships lighthouse
Morning tea Cape Cornwall
More flowering gorse
Brisons rocks, Longships lighthouse
Surf rolling in Sennen Cove
Lunch Sennen Cove Lifeguard Hut
Our room at Sennen Rise
An interesting morning wandering through the old tin mines of Geevor and Levant near Pendeen. This area of Cornwall is a wasteland of decaying buildings, chimneys, engine houses and plaques commemorating different aspects of tin mining - a tragic reminder of the appalling conditions in which men women and children worked 100 years ago. And in particular the Levant mining disaster when 31 miners were killed in 1919 at the Levant mine. Highlights were getting to Cape Cornwall, which until an Ordinance Survey 200 years ago was considered to be teh most westerly point in England. Land’s End now has that claim to fame and we’ll be there tomorrow.
An early morning start with a continental breakfast of muesli, yoghurt, jam and toast, left for us by Jennifer the previous evening in the mini kitchen fridge. A quick tidy up before leaving our Air BnB and popping into the Cost Cutters to get fresh bread for the day. None! Yesterday they told us that fresh bread comes in the morning, and yes it does but not until after 9 sometime. We weren’t prepared to wait as the weather prediction is for rain later in the day and we needed to get moving. We’ll make do with whatever is in the food kitty.
Pendeen is about 1k inland from Pendeen Watch Lighthouse and we can visit Geevor mine on the way to rejoining the coast track. Geevor mine has become a tourist attraction with relics of chimney stacks and old buildings strewn around the fields. One k along the coast path is the Levant mine, scene of a tragic disaster in 1919 when 31 men died in the man engine - a human ladder lifting and lowering men deep down the mine. The commemorative plaques describe interesting tid bits about the mine and the accident.
Moving along the path, the landscape is still a stark scene of rugged cliffs, gorse bushes, and mining relics of chimney stacks and old mining buildings. There’s some pretty parts to the track as it descends into valleys before Cape Cornwall looms in the distance. The wind is relentless, howling into our faces from the north west, having changed direction during the night. We are wearing every stitch of clothing plus all our rain gear, though it’s not raining, just to stay warm. By the time we reach the open landscape of Cape Cornwall, it’s 10.30am, and time to crouch behind an old brick building in an open field at the base of the chimney stack atop Cape Cornwall, and have a hot chocolate and stale croissants with jam and clotted cream.
Morning tea finished, it’s time to tackle Cape Cornwall, previously thought to be the most westerly point in England before an Ordinance Survey 200 years ago, proved the honour belonged to Lands End. It’s so windy at the top, that it’s hard to stand upright. Less than one mile away are the Brisons, is a set of rocks with the Longships Lighthouse perched on one. Waves have been known to thrash over the top of this 35 metre structure.
Around the corner, the path runs through the Cot Valley, site of tin processing with it’s ready supply of running water. It’s along detour around off the coast and when we climb back to the cliff edge, the wind has picked up and we can see Sennen Cove in the distance with rain heading our way. Just as we cross the boulders to Whitesand Bay, the rain increases and we decide to cross the beach which is only passable at dead low tide - and it is. We reach Sennen Cove at 2.00pm and find a sheltered spot outside the Lifeguard Hut at the end of the beach to have tea and croissants - there’s no bread.
We’ve booked a BnB called Sennen Rise in the village of Sennen about 1.5k up the hill from Sennen Cove but it doesn’t open til 3pm. Walking up a public footpath from the beach to the main road running through Sennen, the rain is heavier and colder and we duck into the warm shop of Cost Cutters to fill in 30 minutes while waiting for the BnB to open. Ian buys three warm beers off the shelf and asks the lady could she kindly put them in the fridge until we return in a few hours time.
Sennen Rise is only 100 metres behind the Cost Cutters and we’re warmly welcomed by Big John who shows us to our twin room with a separate private bathroom. The place is cosy and no sooner are we settled, than I jump in the shower to get warm and then jump into bed to stay warm while blogging. Come 5pm, Ian returns to collect the cold beers to have with our cheese and bickies. Dinner is the pie and veggies I didn’t eat last night, with cherry tomatoes.
We had the option to go to Porthcurno, as per the suggestion in the South Wet Coast Path guide book by Paddy Dillon, and to see a show at the Minack theatre, but there was no accommodation within cooee, so we split the days to stay at Sennen then Lamorna, either side of Porthcurno. Good job we did. There’s no way I would be going to an open air theatre tonight at 7°C, in pouring rain with a howling wind. We’ll see it tomorrow when the weather fron is supposed to have moved through.