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Published: June 21st 2016
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We were awoken by a ray of sunlight coming through the windows on 26 May. We planned going to Wheal Martyn via the clay footpath. We bought our lunch at Co-op, and walked uphill to the centre of St Austell and North Street, back of the Market Place.
The clay footpath was started at northwest corner of St Austell town. The footpath was flanked by greens and mostly even and moderate route. Mining has been playing an important role in the Cornish economy for a long time. There were several remaining disused industrial buildings along the footpath. When walking past these buildings, one of the local people with two dogs explained to us that there were stairs leading closer to these buildings.
After following the level footpath, we were directed to go across the footbridge and the concrete path and the junction. We found a big stone signpost telling the distance to Wheal Martyn, ¾ mile; Eden Project, 5 miles.
We followed the direction for Wheal Martyn. The footpath led us to the 26 acres of Woodland Park surrounded by trees and rivers, and while approaching the destination, cyan coloured water came
into our sight – that was Lanalson Lake: the water came from the last-working pit, Lanalson Pit – which is now a flooded reservoir.
We walked approximately an hour from our hotel to the destination – Wheal Martyn: the only china clay mining museum in the UK. The museum was established in the vicinity of the china clay mining area. Mark paid for admission fees and the guidebook containing the map and the history of the china clay mining, its recent development and nature trail. I told the receptionist that we had walked all the way from St Austell. She said, ‘You are not the only one. I have seen several people who had walked on the clay trail today.’
The exhibition centre was adjacent to the reception & shop’s building. We looked at a series of documents related to the china clay history, William Cookworthy who had first experimented to produce hard-paste porcelain, Richard Champion who took over and developed Cookworthy’s business, the Martyn family who owned the Cashtew estate and items of porcelain. We also watched the video of process of the extraction of the clay, the waste
quartz and mica are removed, the clay dried etc.
We then came out of the exhibition centre, and decided to have a picnic lunch by the 35’ Water Wheel. We heard that this water wheel was made at Charlestown Foundry in the early 1880s and stopped work in 1940, but was restored to working order in 1976. This big water mill was fully operated on 26 May 2016.
After the lunch, we followed the Historic Trail. We saw the 18’ Water Wheel, the Settling Pits, the Slurry Pump, the Pan Kiln, Clay Store for drying, and popped in the Clay Worker’s kitchen and the Fal Valley Engine House. We were shown original workshops with tools, machines and waxworks of working mining men, domestic facilities and amenities, vehicles – locomotives, lorries, and wagons, which carried the clay to Charlestown.
Next, we headed for the Pit View via the woodland. We found the river flowing to the pipes and pools near Blueing House.
The grey-hued water, the slurry, containing very fine china clay particles, fine sand and mica, was flowing slowly and its colour reflected on the greens. After crossing
over the river, we went through the flat rod tunnel, through which the power was transmitted from the 35ft water wheel.
After walking on the uphill route for 15 minutes from the Historic Trail, we reached the pit viewing area. We could hear and see a number of lorries and tractors moving and carrying tons of the gravel and sand on the vast two vast claying pits – Greensplat Pit and Wheel Martyn Pit.
Afterwards, we walked down, and followed the Nature Trail. Some areas of the Nature Trail were designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the rock it contains. We saw examples of rocks found in the granite of the local area – it was very interesting to see rocks with varied features. The Nature Trail led us to the woodland, Gamm Engine, viewpoint ad grassland, and late spring walk offered us the opportunity to see colourful rhododendrons, gorses, bellflowers, heathers, etc in the lush and dense woodland park. We saw some butterflies and bees flying around these scented flowers. Mark cleverly navigated the route to let us see all the historic monuments and places of interest.
We went back to the entrance building and told the receptionist that we had very much enjoyed walking around the claying mining museum and woodland and views from the Pit View. We bought a couple of souvenirs in the gift shop.
After that, we walked back to St Austell via the clay footpath. The network of the clay trails extent to Sky Spur, Eden Project, Par Nature Reserve, and the Pentewan Valley route between Mevagissey and Heligan, and these routes are used by walkers, dogs, cyclists and horse riders. The Baskell Riding Centre is near Wheat Martyn; I understood that horse riders use the clay trail. We saw several people walking with dogs and signs for owners to clear up the mess. We also noted lumps of dropping by horses; looking at the messes, I questioned as follows – Are horses and their owners allowed to leave the droppings on the trail? Are horses more respected animals than dogs? The distance between the northwest edge of St Austell town and Wheal Martyn is 2 miles. We walked the hilly routes in St Austell Town and rambled the Historic Trail and Nature Trail
and walked uphill to the Clay viewing pit. Altogether we walked between 6-7 miles on 26 May.
We went to the Weatherspoons for dinner on 26 May. The menu had the fine details and calories for each dish. After walking more than 6 miles, we didn’t seem to take much notice of the calories of each dish; we both chose a high-calorie dish – Beef Ale Pie with chips and gravy. I also found big pictures of Charlestown, which we planned to visit the next day and the menu of ‘cream tea for two’, which I suggested eating for the next day’s lunch.
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