Year 5 Cover the Coast to Coast

After being postponed due to inclement weather, our final Year 5 class completed their Coast to Coast cycle ride. Forming an important part of their Belerion award, this unmissable cycle ride stretches between the historic ports of Portreath and Devoran. The trail follows a former mineral tramway for historic copper mines, passing through Bissoe and the Bissoe Valley Nature Reserve.

At the start of the ride, the children followed the old Portreath tramroad, which was used to transport copper and tin from Cornish mines during the 18th and 19th centuries. Further on, they cycled through Unity woods to reach Poldice valley, near St Day, which was the centre of the historic mining boom in Cornwall. It was said that it was the ‘richest square mile on Earth.’

By the early 1700s, Poldice was the most prosperous and deepest mine in the area. Many locals made their fortunes there in copper and tin production. The only problem was its location far from the coast, which meant that miners had to innovate. Their solution was the Great County Adit, a 40-mile-long subterranean drainage network that allowed Cornwall’s mining industry to thrive.

Our Year 5 cyclists were curious about the rich mining heritage of this area. They could see for themselves capped mineshafts and blocked adits in Unity Woods, the stark moonscape of ‘Mars’ (as the locals call this area) and the gleaming copper colours of the water, as it heads downhill towards the sea at Devoran.

After stopping for packed lunches at St. Piran Café, Bissoe, the children pedalled through a beautiful nature reserve, spotting lily pads, frogs and dragonflies,  reassuring signs of conservation, and evidence that the landscape can slowly regenerate from the scars of its mining past.

Reaching the quay at Devoran was a significant achievement, as most of this group had never previously completed a longer distance cycle. The children absolutely loved visiting the quay, reading the information boards about the barges that used to load up their tin and copper there, and with plenty of space to dream up what it might have felt like to have been loading or unloading barges into barrows in the distant past, the children completed this fantastic endeavour.

A huge thanks to Mrs Luxton, who leads the Belerion Award, and all of the Prep staff who make these memorable experiences possible.