Poldark & West Cornwall Tour

Once you have been picked up from your hotel, we will head straight for the beautiful Mounts Bay.

St Michael’s Mount

An island and a civil parish which is linked to Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite, passable between mid-tide and low water. The population is 35. It is managed by the National Trust, and the castle and chapel have been the home of the St Aubyn family since 1650.

Newlyn

Next we’ll stop at the home of one of the largest fishing fleets in the UK. The industry is one of the most important in the county. All sorts of fishing vessels can be seen in the harbour – beam trawlers, long liners, crabbers and even small open boats used for hand-lining for mackerel in the Bay.

Mousehole

We’ll then head over to the tiny fishing village of Mousehole. Its picturesque harbour is surrounded by narrow streets and yellow lichened houses, which huddle together creating a stunning location.

Lamorna Cove

This gorgeous small pebble beach is beside the impressive harbour breakwater and quay with lots of large boulders where perhaps a beach should be!

Porthcurno

You will be bowled over by this Caribbean-esque location, but it is so much more than a stunning beach. Porthcurno was once the centre of world telecommunication and, until recently, there was a training school for that industry to which people came from all over the world. The Porthcurno Telegraph Museum remains as a testament to the past. It incorporates tunnels well below the surface that used to house top secret equipment during the Second World War.

Nearby is the spectacular The Minack Theatre, a world famous open-air theatre, carved into the granite cliff and set in glorious gardens overlooking the spectacular panorama of Porthcurno Bay.

Penberth Cove

This picturesque cove still supports a small fishing fleet – the boats now being hauled up the slip (or cauance as it is known locally) by an electric winch, rather than the spectacular capstan, which is still in situ.

Porthgwarra

This secluded little cove complete with a slipway, caves, tunnels and tiny stone hut, evokes bygone days of smugglers and pirates. At the foot of the slipway there is a tunnel leading upwards – it was dug by miners from St Just to allow access to the beach so that farmers could retrieve seaweed by horse and cart. The seaweed was then used as fertiliser.

The other tunnel leads to the sea and was used by fishermen who would store live shellfish in tidal ‘hulleys’ built into this tunnel for their weekly trip to market.

The scene where Demelza spies on Ross Poldark swimming was filmed here.

Land’s End

Otherwise known as Peal Point, Land’s End is a modest headland. It has a particular resonance because it is often used to suggest distance. Land’s End to John o’ Groats in Scotland is a distance of 838 miles (1,349 km) by road and this Land’s End to John o’ Groats distance is often used to define charitable events such as end-to-end walks and races in the UK.

Cape Cornwall

This is a smaller headland in West Cornwall. It is four miles north of Land’s End near the town of St Just. Until the first Ordnance Survey, 200 years ago, Cape Cornwall was believed to be the most westerly point in Cornwall.

Unlike Land’s End it isn’t commercialised and retains it’s rugged beauty and charm.

Botallack

Near St Just, this is one of the best preserved centres for mining structures. Located on the north coast of the far west of Cornwall a between St Just and Pendeen, this area is littered with the remains of the once great mining industry.

Perhaps the best known of the eleven engines of the Botallack mines are the Crowns engine houses, now protected as part of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.

The site has also found worldwide status as being “Wheal Leisure” in the BBC Drama “Poldark”.

The B3306 Road

A stunning route from St Just to St Ives , this road is in the “Top 5” scenic roads to drive on in Cornwall. Whatever the weather the sweeping bends, short straights and tight turns will keep you gasping and the views are spectacular as well.

St Ives

St Ives is well known for its vibrant colours, where golden sands meet turquoise sea. Also, the seafront situated Tate St Ives gallery has rotating modern art exhibitions, focusing on British artists. Nearby, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, in the modernist artist’s former studio, displays her bronzes and other works.

Lelant, a few miles away, is the birthplace of Rosemunde Pilcher.