| Oliver's Cornwall |
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and St. Austell area |
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ON THIS PAGE
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REVIEWS INDEX and SITE CONTENTS
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The Clay Trails - Cyclists, Horse Riders and Walkers
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We were delighted
when in June 2005 the new Cornwall Clay Trails opened, in conjunction with
improvements at the Wheal Martyn Museum
of China Clay. It took a lot of co-operation and clearly a vast amount
of money to complete the project. The bodies involved included Cornwall
County Council, the Eden Project, the National Cycle Network people Sustrans,
the Lottery Fund and Imerys, the company that operates the vast clay fields.
The Clay Trails are essentially Cycle Trails. Paths are wide, firm
and well drained, the few gradients are relatively gentle and their clear
local purpose is to encourage people to arrive at the Eden Project (they
all go there - once) by bike or on foot.
There are effectively four Clay Trails. Wheal Martyn to Eden, with a detour towards Carthew, definitely the scenic trail and the best for walkers. Bugle (where you can rent bikes) to Eden, not very scenic, except for a detour on foot round Treskilling Pit. Par Beach (near the former Imerys clay exporting harbour) to St. Blazey, with a footpath extension to Eden. And Wheal Martyn to St. Austell, continuing south to link with the Pentewan Valley Trail. Waymarking is good and explanatory displays are being installed at some points of interest. Occasional shelters have domed grassy roofs. Were the Clay Trails worth all the expense? |
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Trails website. Leaflets from Wheal Martyn. |
| Update June 2008. I learn from surveyor and map maker Ernie Biddle that there are now aditional off-road links to the clay trails. A link seems to be planned from the Goss Moor Nature Reserve trail to the trail from Bugle to Eden. And, if you are on the Pentewan Valley trail to the south of St. Austell, you will find continuations to Heligan Garden and Mevagissey. |
Were the Clay Trails worth all the expense?
| When the first of the Clay Trails opened in 2005 I was full of enthusiasm. Indeed Jane and I walked the very first, from Wheal Martyn towards Eden, before it opened. Later I did the same for Wheal Martyn to St. Austell. I enjoyed my walks but with qualifications: except for the Sky Extension on Wheal Martyn to Eden, and the views of St. Austell Bay approaching Trethurgy, there is not much scenery along the way. Perhaps cyclists don't notice scenery. In August 2007, while waiting for the weather to improve for some photos at Wheal Martyn, I walked from there to Eden and back and started to wonder whether we taxpayers have got value for our money. I think not! Because I had the trail almost to myself, I counted how many people were on it. In 10 miles there and back I saw 5 local dog walkers, 2 couples having short walks - and just one walker and 2 cyclists doing the trail. And this in the height of the holiday season. Where were the streams of cyclists (for whom the trail was created at great expense) heading for Eden? The answer was nowhere. What a waste of money! And now more fortunes are being spent on planting new woodland (being overwhelmed by the dreaded rhodo ponticum) and recreating the old heathland habitat (which is recreating itself naturally anyway). Wouldn't it have been nice if, instead of clay trails, the money had been spent on clearing, maintaining and signing the many miles of lost footpaths for which the County Council have responsibility? |
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| Wheal Martyn Museum - now known as China Clay Country Park |
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