It’s always a sad day when you have to pack up your belongings from your holiday cottage, but when it’s been as nice as Brae Farm Cottage it’s especially sad. Say goodbye to our lovely hosts and drive the few miles to St. Just for a delicious breakfast at the Dog and Rabbit café.

Leaving our car parked in the large free car park we re-trace our steps, from last night, down to the coast path along the Boscean valley passed the disused Boscean mine. At the join with the coast path is a newly positioned granite sign saying “National Trust Danger Mine Shafts Keep to Footpaths”. Those hard-working National Trust guys did a fine job moving this sign to a more prominent position.

On the cliffs to our left is a golf course, I stand and wonder for a while at the golf trolley taking itself for a walk. “It’s obvious” – the trolley is remote control. What will they think of next? On the clifftop, in the direction we are heading, we can see a long row of people going along the path towards the headland – a ramblers group?

We make our way to the bottom of the hill on the recently cut path, all the while we can hear water streaming through the valley. Looking back up the lush green valley is the remains of the tin mine – a chimney which has actually been recently renovated and quite a few long forgotten, ruined stone buildings. Picking our way through the path up the other side of Kenidjack Valley we come across a couple of donkeys. They are keeping quiet and very cool under the shade of some trees away from today’s fierce sun.

A National Trust sign set in granite explains how this area was once a noisy, bustling place full of machinery. They used the stream to power the works, digging the ore from deep underground and burning off the arsenic contaminants. Those workers wouldn’t recognise this beautiful lush green valley with only the sound of bird song over the distance crash of waves on the rocks below.

We are soon afforded a magnificent view around the bay to Cape Cornwall along with the ramblers. These are not your normal ramblers though this is a group of disabled ramblers along with the carers! Wow, they all look very proud of themselves on their impressive scooters – far better than the wobbly one my Dad has! Looking them up now, what a wonderful organisation, I must investigate more.

The paths in this area are gravelly but wide and accessible, I guess why the rambler’s group of chosen this area. Not since Portland have we seen anywhere so littered in quarry / mine activity – there is literally old mine buildings and chimneys all around us. These paths, I suppose, are a relic from the days when the miners walked these hills.

We are booked to see the National Trust beam engine at Lavant Zawn, we get there early, taking a break to wait for our allotted tour. Martin the tour guide has his talk down to an impressive patter. Sadly, after taking an anti-histamine tablet for an insect bite and a swollen eye and having walked a long distance in the beating sun I am not the best at taking in the information. I however did grasp that this mine closed in 1930, not long after a mining disaster when 31 miners perished underground.

From here to Pendeen New Cliff is tough under foot at first on very rocky pathways, becoming easier and lusher as we near the lighthouse known as Pendeen Watch, which first guided ships away from “The Wra or Three Stone Oar” rocks on 3rd October,1900.

Along the clifftop, mostly single file we are pleased we can get down to the beach at Portheras Cove. The Atlantic waves are rolling over the sands with quite a wash, the sound accompanied by dogs barking.

We are tempted to stop but are driving over 300 miles back home this evening. It’s a delightful half hour walk from here to the cliffs above Morvah. It’s a glorious sunny day, we are both rosy from probably too much exposure to the sun, the gently rolling cliffs ahead towards Zennor look inviting but it’s time to catch a bus back to our car in St. Just and head home.