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| Pendeen Formerly a major tin producing centre, the village of Pendeen lies roughly half way between Lands End and St Ives. The mines have long closed, but reminders of their heyday abound. However the famous Geevor Mine, which in the 1990s was one of the last in the country to close, has been reopened as a Heritage Museum with tours of underground and surface workings. Another popular attraction is the dramatic Pendeen lighthouse, situated on the slate promontory of Pendeen Watch overlooking a part of the coast that is notorious for the number of ships wrecked on the rocky headlands. The lighthouse came into service in 1900 and is now open to the public and houses the largest set of foghorns in Britain. Pendeen itself is a friendly village with a rich heritage. Today you will discover a village store, a post office and two pubs, (one of which, The North Inn, was voted Cornwall ‘Pub of the Year 2003’ by CAMRA). Pendeen Church, built by local miners, has recently celebrated its 150th anniversary. From Pendeen, one can walk the Coastal Footpath to Lands End or St Ives, tramp the Penwith Moors that stretch for miles, or investigate the standing stones and stone circles, indeed, the entire moorland hills of the Land's End peninsula which boast a remarkable concentration of Bronze and Iron Age relics dating from 4000BC. St Just St Just is the most westerly town in Britain. Home to a community fiercely proud of its traditions, the town greets visitors with streets of sturdy granite cottages, an elegant granite church dating from 1336 and a local landscape scattered with the relics of its mining past. If this sounds a little dour, don’t be fooled. Here is a town, proudly self-sufficient, with everything you could want on the doorstep; a charming array of shops and pubs that lead off from the two town squares and a population not just proud of the town, but genuinely enthusiastic to share it with visitors. Two large festivals, Lafrowda Day and Feast Day attract huge numbers to join in the street processions and festivities. Despite its small size, St Just has a thriving arts community and in the middle of the town you will discover the Plen-an-Gwary, or ‘playing place’. Registered as an ancient monument, this large, circular green, surrounded by walls, has been used for centuries for public entertainment and today is the setting for productions of medieval plays. Another special local attraction is the promontory Cape Cornwall at St Just, Cornwall’s only cape and one of only two natural capes in the United Kingdom. Botallack The village of Botallack is proudly best known for its disused mines, specifically the famous Crown Mine, seemingly precariously perched on the cliff face and perhaps one of the most frequently photographed sites in all West Cornwall. This remarkable mine was built so that the incline shaft extended 2000 feet under the sea and miners could allegedly hear boulders rolling across the sea bed above their heads. In a large part due to the Crown Mine, Botallack is shortly to become a ‘World Heritage Site’, a rare honour and one it shares with the likes of the Taj Mahal and the ancient pyramids of Giza. |
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