Tuesday morning we set off towards Truro and the Caravan and Motorhome clubsite at Carnon Downs. Carnon Downs is a huge site with spacious pitches in seperated areas with nice hedging and mature trees providing a tranquil setting. Mutiple sanitary blocks are dotted around the site which has a cafe bar and takeaway food options on most days.

We switched from a grass pitch to Pitch 50, a hardstanding with Electric hookup but we didn’t need to use the onsite electricity – the solar panels working effectively.

Our pitch at Carnon Downs.

We chose Carnon Downs because it’s close the many predominantly off-road cycle trails including the Coast-to-Coast trail. This morning we set off on our bikes, destination the coastal village Portreath on the north Cornish coastline.

This is the Devoran to Portreath Coast-to-Coast trail.

Our route took us South East to Penpol, Point and Devoran before we joined the Coast-to-coast trail. We weren’t really sure what to expect but the route was tough. Short sections are tarmacked and progress is good but most of the trail at best can be described as gravel roads and in places not much wider than a footpath. The origin of the trail isn’t entirely clear but much of it is on an old disused tramway.

Morning coffee was after we had passed under the Carnon viaduct which carries the Truro to Falmouth railway line (the Maritime line). The present nine-arch masonry viaduct replaced an earlier 19th-century structure designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Cornwall Railway. The original viaduct was opened to traffic when the line was extended from Truro to Falmouth in 1863 and had a timber deck supported by timber trestles springing from eleven masonry piers.

After coffee at the Saint Piran cafe / bar / bike hire location, the trail heads into one of Cornwall’s most significant mining heritage regions. At the “Bon Appetit” cafe we turned left and followed the Mining trail through Wheal Maid valley and alongside two abandoned lagoons. This route by-passes the Poldice Valley which is another significant mining location and one we would pass through in our return journey.

Our goal was to cycle coast-to-coast but the abandoned mining works were a fascinating add-on and will make for several interesting bike excursions in the future!

After meandering through the mining trails we finally arrived some 4.5 hours later at the north Cornish coastal village of Portreath. Here we grabbed a late lunch at a cafe before repeating the trail in reverse!

Passing through the Poldice Valley, our return journey was much quicker taking some 2.5 hours which included another coffee stop!

A tough day on the saddle (over 7 hours!) and a total of 28 miles across a rugged landscape. Not a trip we want to do again anytime in a hurry!!