This walk is about five miles long, but two very steep valleys make it seem rather longer if you are not fit! It is worth taking refreshments and not being in too much of a hurry.
As an aside, the names of both villages (as with many villages in West Cornwall) are derived from the old Cornish language. ‘Porth’ is a harbour or place of safety; Treath means sandy; Towan means sand dunes. So the walk is from a sandy harbour to a harbour with dunes.
Portreath used to be the main harbour for the export of tin and copper ore from the mines belonging to the Bassets, and for the import of coal and timber for the mines. The remains of a steam-winched railway can still be seen running up the slope to the south-west of the harbour, although the bottom of the slope was destroyed when the harbour court flats & maisonettes were built.
We are fortunate in having two cars available, so we take one car to one end of the walk, leave it there and drive to the other end to start the walk. The process is reversed at the end. There is, however, a bus service which runs from Portreath to the top of the valley at Porthtowan. Alternatively there is an inland path which will convert the walk into a circuit.
Drive to Portreath (map reference SX654503) [as an aside, I have just found that the national grid is the property of the Ordnance Survey, and strictly speaking, any reference to it should have copyright agreement. I hope that the OS is lenient with me about these pages! 8-) ] where there is parking along Beach Road (free if you can get in), or in the beach car park (paying). Alternatively, drive up the road going up to the cliff to the east of the village (Lighthouse Hill, by the Portreath Arms Hotel), and there is a free car park after about half a mile.
There is a white daymark just above where this road turns sharp right, about half way up the hill. This is the ‘pepperpot’, and if you walk along to it, the mountings for wartime armaments can still be seen at its base.
Wherever you park, you need to walk eastwards from Portreath, so get onto the coastal path and walk!
The path shortly becomes sandwiched between the boundary fence of Portreath Airfield (RAF) and the cliff edge. Portreath Airfield used to be called Nancekuke (I think it’s ‘valley of the stream’, but I’ve misplaced my Cornish dictionary at present!) but was renamed because of a poor reputation relating it to chemical warfare work during the war. The duplicate control centre for this airfield was on the west side of Portreath Valley, and is now a public house called ‘The Ops Room’
The first of the two steep valleys has a number of ruined buildings in the bottom. I have been told that these are remains of ore processing plant from when the whole cliff was active with mines. I have not been able to confirm this suggestion, but it is highly likely.
There are several shelters along the walk which are the remains of defence works for the old airfield. Finally you may notice the top of a mine working where the traditional pyramid capping is replaced by what looks like a small shed. This has been built to make the shaft safe, but still give access to bats which have made the old mineshaft their home.
The path is fairly easy to follow, although it occasionally divides with one branch running more closely to the sea. In one or two cases this seaward branch leads nowhere, as the cliff appears to have fallen away leaving a dead end.
The path finally descends down into Porthtowan, turning right past a hotel and into the buildings forming the west cliff side of the village. Follow the now metalled road to reach the valley floor forty metres from the beach. There are refreshments to be had at the shops and pubs within the village.
Once you are refreshed, if you have not got a car parked at this end of the walk, you need to walk up to the bus stop for a bus to Portreath, or walk up the valley to pick up the inland path which return to Portreath.
When you get to the top of the valley, you join the main(?) road from St Agnes to Portreath. Turn right and follow this, keeping your eyes open for signs ‘Portreath Tramway’. This turns off the road after about two miles, and leads along an elevated level track which was used for hauling the old trams of coal and ore to and from Portreath. The tramway becomes a metalled road as you enter the top of Portreath, and leads you to the square in the village, just by the old harbour.
Portreath itself has three welcoming pubs where refreshment can again be taken! Personally I prefer the Portreath Arms, in the Square at the top of the harbour. I hope you enjoyed you walk.