This is a relatively short circular walk at 4 miles but packs in a huge amount of mining heritage, some rugged coastline, a lighthouse, and a gorgeous sandy cove.
The route passes through the Geevor and Levant mines, both which are open to the public, but not on Saturdays. Levant has a restored beam engine and Geevor was one of the last mines to close. They are connected underground by a tunnel created in the 1960s after a leak was plugged in the seabed that flooded the Levant tunnels and 50 million gallons of water were pumped out. The network of tunnels stretches for over 60 miles and extends 1.5 miles out beneath the sea. Where the route meets the coast, the cliffs are stained turquoise with copper salts that have washed out of the mine dumps.
A good many ships have met their end on the rocks around Pendeen Watch and so the lighthouse was built at the end of the 19th century. It was a massive engineering project that involved levelling the end of the headland and took nearly a decade. Although the optic weighed 2.5 tonnes, it was floated on a bath of mercury so it could be set in motion by the slightest touch. Today's light is less toxic and is automated.
Despite the lighthouse, the cargo ship Alacrity ran aground in Portheras Cove in the 1960s and the rusting iron became hazardous to swimmers. This was compounded by an overenthusiastic military disposal attempt in the 1980s involving high explosives which resulted in the beach being strewn with razor-sharp shrapnel for over 20 years but this has now been cleaned up. During winter storms, remaining parts of the iron frame are sometimes exposed. Most of the time, the beach is just pristine white sand which, on a calm sunny day, rivals any tropical beach.