 A View of South Caradon Mine |
A walk with a view |
TeamManley
| From Minions Village to Crows Nest | A walk through Industrial History |
| This is a walk on Bodmin Moor packed with Industrial Heritage. The footpath for most of its length follows the track bed of the Liskeard and Caradon Railway as it runs parallel with the Seaton River. It passes through a landscape full of memories of mining on route to some excellent view points of South Caradon Mine. To the east rises the great bulk of Caradon Hill with its modern television mast now dominating the scene. | Recommended map
OS Explorer no 109 Bodmin moor 1:25,000 |
| Minions
Village
This makes a good starting point with car parking and a visitors centre. The Hurlers Halt cafe is situated across the road from the footpath start, and it is a useful refreshment and snack stop. In addition to food the shop stocks a range of books on the local area and displays paintings with a mining theme from a local artist. Grassmere Lane Grassmere Lane begins beside the Minions hotel and it passes along a walled lane with remains of the railway clearly visible. The path is usually fairly dry but the odd wet patch does exist. After passing Pontons piece and a small sewage works the path opens out onto the area at the top of the incline plane. This part of the walk is littered with farming debris and rubble but it does give some views of Gonamena and West Caradon mines (Note:Summer 2002: some of the debris has been cleared) 
Incline plane The footpath follows the railway down its cable worked incline. Gonamena Mine Some remains are visible from the right of way both at the top and bottom of the incline. Gonamena openworks At the bottom of the plane the path starts its passage through one of the richest areas of Industrial heritage in Cornwall. Gonamena openworks is a large tin stream work that can be seen from the path. This was the earliest recorded metal working in the area. The valley bottom beneath the confluence also has evidence of stream working and the burrows can be seen from the footpath. West Caradon Mine This was a large successful working, but little remains apart from spoil heaps, through which the footpath passes. South Caradon Mine Once this was on of the of the biggest copper mines in the world. Its main floors are laid out across the valley from the footpath. South Caradon Railway terminus and Junction This lies on the valley floor beneath the footpath. The line to Tokenbury can be seen clearly on its embankment. |
 The footpath finishes at Crows Nest Village after climbing up to Downhill Farm.
To enjoy a longer walk the South Caradon
tramway can be followed to Kitto's shaft and then the track taken to
East Caradon Mine. The Looe and Caradon
railway then makes an easy to follow walk around Caradon Hill back to Minions. If you enjoy walking in the area try the Plymouth Ramblers web site for suggestions for more routes. |
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