The Coastal Track: St Agnes to Portreath
We set off from our little Airbnb cabin in the middle of St Agnes, heading to the cliffy coast which in itself is a beautiful short walk. The lanes between the fields are canopied with little trees and lined with hedges. The fields at this time of the year are covered in pretty wildflowers like pink and purple vetch.
When we met the Coastal Track, we turned left and headed South towards our destination of Portreath (8 miles from St Agnes). Jim was very excited to do this section as he had been on about seeing the Wheal Coates for a long time now. Before we got there though, we pulled out our squashed pasties (atypical forward planning by us!) from our backpack and perched on the rocks at St Agnes Head. It was a clear day and the gulls were swirling around the rocks just under where our feet were dangling!
Wheal Coates is just before you reach Chapel Porth beach. (Got to love all these Cornish names). It provides great photographic opportunities as the old tin mine brickwork contrasts against the turquoise sea. The chimney shaft stands out and the proximity to the cliff gives it a dramatic edge.
Moving on, Chapel Porth looks like a great beach. We arrived as the tide was coming in and as we climbed out of the cove along the new section of track, you could see beachgoers becoming trapped as the water rose around the edges of the small section of sand and gradually filled in. The South West Coast Path website says that you can walk on the beach around to Porthtowan when the tide is out. This was our next stop.
Porthtowan beach brought back memories of a couple of years prior when I forced Dad and Jim to join me on a Marine Conservation Society beach clean. Although they mucked about, I think all of us volunteers were quite shocked with the amount of rubbish that had accumulated on this appealing sandy beach.
Blue, which is a cafe/bar on the beach, provided some bevvies and a little rest. The sun had caught us a bit and we found we were the only ones happy to sit inside on such a hot afternoon.
The section from Porthtowan to Portreath is a bit featureless. There are a couple of coves and an RAF airfield, but the nicest part is heading down into the Portreath valley where we had stayed last summer with Mum and Dad. Dismissing the harbour, the Portreath beach is another testament to the north side of Cornwall's sandy seashores.
It was approaching 6 by this point and we had no idea how to get back to St Agnes. No surprise there really, knowing us. The bus said that it only goes to Truro whereby you can hop on another bus to St Ag's. This could have taken up to 3 HOURS!!! The alternatives? To walk 3 hours back the way we came (we could probably shave some time off that but not loads), or catch a taxi. (We still aren't sure about hitch-hiking in these parts and there weren't many people about). The taxi was quoted at £30. FOR 8 MILES ARE YOU JOKING ME?! Anyway, we had no choice by this stage (after a beer at the tavern) and we hopped in. It actually turned out to be closer to £23 but I think we learnt our lesson about Cornwall taxi rates!
We asked to be dropped at The Cornish Pizza Company on Vicarage Rd and I felt pretty good once we were back at the cabin with pizza, wine and some tired legs.
Have you done this section? Leave your tips below!
