One of the greatest views
Wheal Coates is situated a couple of miles from the tiny fishing village of St.Agnes. A place I visit often, a place I know well and yet each time I go the view is different. Come summer or winter it is pretty great.
Parking at the National trust car park at Chapel Porth, you walk up the hill and turn left, and you are on the coast path. Within minutes you are high above the raging sea. In summer its blue and inviting, and in the winter it is howling, and whipping. The waves crash and boom into the cliffs and echo through countless underground mine shafts.
Walk along the coast past Tubbys head, and along to St.Agnes head, look back and the view is stunning. You can see to St.Ives and even Lands End on a clear day. The walk is rocky underfoot, but this really doesn’t stop you. I have mountain biked along this stretch and it is brilliant. Really works on your balance and the shox on the bike.
Walk along the path, and you get to Tubbys head. This is a little out crop that you can VERY carefully walk down, I say that as a friend of mines father was killed on these rocks by a freak wave, so go steady. On this outcrop grows an abundance of samphire the very trendy seafood. So go foraging for some genuine organic cornish veg. Lots of mushrooms and fungus seem to grow on the coast, included are some pics of them. One had been snapped by the ferocity of the wind, are they edible? Does anyone know?
Walk a little further and you get to St.Agnes head. Here there is a coastguard look out station. A good place to open your flask and have a cuppa. Look and enjoy the scenery!
Look back, enjoy the view and return, there are various different paths to head back so you don’t need to go the exact same way. There is a little cafe in Chapel Porth’s car park, so a slice of cake and a hot chocolate is a great way to end the walk…. Next time walk the other way!
