Here in Cornwall we often walk on the fabulous coast paths, but often miss out the incredible richness and history of Cornwall’s interior – which is full of both prehistoric and industrial heritage, along with stunning views and diverse wildlife.
Yesterday we headed up for a walk around Minions on Bodmin Moor. We met:
- the Cheesewring. It looks like one of those pebble stacks that people like to make on the beach, only much bigger, and sitting at the top of a quarry cliff (the quarry supplied the granite for cladding Tower Bridge in London), looks very impressive. Even more amazing and interesting then, when you learn that the Cheesewring is actually one big granite rock that has been eroded on horizontal strata to create that effect.
- An old dismantled railway. Minions was a tin mining village. All around you can see the remains of shafts, pumping houses and the railways which took the ore down to the coast at Looe.
- The Hurlers – a set of three Bronze Age stone circles. As the area has had a lot of disturbance through mining, only the second circle is largely complete, following the stones being reset after excavation in the 1930s.
With so much to look at, and expansive views across Cornwall, this is a pretty spectacular place to walk, and we’re planning on bringing the Scouts and Explorers up here later this year.
