Gunnislake Station to Clitters Mine Circular Walk

Strenuous

4.5 miles (7.2 km)

2½ hours

Dive into the fascinating industrial history of the Tamar Valley on this lovely circular route. Explore several old mining sites on the steep wooded slopes around Gunnislake as you go.

SUMMARY

There are loads of fascinating reminders of the Tamar Valley’s industrial heritage crammed into this 4½-mile circular route. Its a good idea to give yourself plenty of time to do this route justice! It’ll give you a good workout starting high on the west side of the valley in Gunnislake before following old paths and tracks to the river. There’s another equally steep climb up to Chilsorthy. With lots of surprises along the way such as Drakewalls Mine, Gunnislake Clitters Mine, the East Cornwall Mineral Railway, Skinner’s Shaft… and even a Victorian brickworks to uncover, it’s a great couple of hours of adventure.

KEY FACTS

Start/Finish

Gunnislake Station SX 427709, PL18 9DT

Distance

4.5 miles (7.2 km)

Time

2½ hours

Terrain

Steep descent in and ascent out of Tamar Valley. Woodland tracks and quiet lanes with some rough paths

Difficulty Rating

Strenuous

Toilets

None on route

Parking

Laneside in Well Park Road

Public Transport

Rail service Tamar Valley Line to/from Plymouth. Bus services to/from Callington and Tavistock

Dogs

Under control at all times

Directions

1 SX 427709

From Gunnislake station entrance turn right, then right again onto Well Park Road. Walk 200 yards then turn right under the railway bridge. Where the track bears left, bear right onto a narrow tarmac path that winds uphill to meet Cemetery Road. Turn left and proceed until you reach the remnants of Drakewalls Mine, once the richest tin mine in Cornwall. By the early 19th century the mine was producing so much tin that it had its own smelter. The first recorded mention of a settlement of Drakewalls is 1815. Next to the ruins you’ll see the The Tamar Valley Centre, home to the Tamar Valley AONB offices and a zero-carbon building which generates its own electricity. Just before reaching the gate giving access to the mine site, turn right up a narrow lane that ascends to the A390. Cross with care; head up the ‘No Entry’ lane opposite, then continue on Delaware Road.

2 SX 423710

Walk on for about 300 yards then turn right along a paved footpath passing old cottages. Cross a stile and continue downhill beside a stream and between the stone piers that once supported a bridge on the East Cornwall Mineral Railway. Opened in 1872 the line ran to Calstock on the River Tamar. then, emerge onto a concrete way and continue downhill, bearing right past Coombe Farm House (17th century) to meet Station Road.

3 SX 429719

Where the lane bears sharp right and downhill – go straight on keeping right at a fork (lower path). Where the track ends by an open shed, keep ahead and proceed along a narrow shady path, between stone-faced banks. Stay on the main path down into the valley, keeping right at a fork, then left a few paces later. New Bridge over the Tamar and dating from around 1520 is concealed by trees below you. At the bottom steps descend to a track.

4 SX 432723

Turn left and you’ll find yourself on the Tamar Valley Discovery Trail (now part of the Tamara Coast to Coast Way). When you reach a junction (the tracks ahead left and right are private) follow the middle path noted by blue arrows, passing a wooden building. The narrow path drops gently widening as it goes before entering Clitters Wood (private). Below the path are the embanked walls of a tramway along which horse-drawn wagons would have transported ore to the quays below New Bridge. At one time this was the highest navigable point on the river. Continue along the path, below wooded slopes studded with ruined walls, shafts, trial pits and trenches, eventually running close to the river.

5 SX 422723

The river rounds a slight right-hand bend as the path starts to climb a little. Look out for some rough wooden steps, and turn right towards the river. Follow the narrow path to reach a flight of steps on the left at the bottom of Gunnislake Clitters Mine. This mine produced tin and copper periodically from the 1820s for about 100 years. Walk on a few paces to see the towering remains of the waterwheel pit and Riverside engine house. Here you’ll see a discoloured stream trickling into the river. Head up the steps by the retaining wall and make your way up through the mine site, to reach the track at the top. It’s hard to imagine that the mine was once linked to the East Cornwall Mineral Railway by a tramway, and that these wooded slopes were once treeless, home to sheds, settling ponds, arsenic labyrinths and all manner of industrial structures. Turn right, uphill, under soaring beech trees, to reach a lane.

6 SX 418723

Turn right and head downhill past the site of 19th-century South Devon Mine (Wheal Bramble, private). The road bears sharp left and heads uphill, ending at the gates to two houses. Take the rocky track ahead – probably a medieval holloway – and climb very steeply to reach the road in the scattered village of Chilsworthy. Turn left (the TVDT turns right) to pass the Wesleyan chapel dated 1907, and the White Hart Inn, first mentioned in 1841.

7 SX 416720

Opposite the pub car park bear right on a narrow ascending lane. Where it bends right keep straight ahead on a path that eventually levels alongside the overgrown disused trackbed of the East Cornwall Mineral Railway. Pass the site of Chilsworthy Halt, closed under the Beeching cuts in 1966, and meet the lane by the old railway bridge.

8 SX 419719

Turn left, downhill. After 250 yards look out for the engine house and dressing floors at Skinner’s Shaft, accessible via a gate on the left. Spend some time exploring this tucked-away site on the tramway to Gunnislake Clitters. A path wends through the ruins and out onto the dazzling Redsands spoil heaps with amazing views over to Devon Great Consols – at one time the largest copper supplier in Europe – on the Devon side of the valley. Continue downhill through North Dimson, passing the site of Plymouth Fire Clay Works, which produced bricks from large clay deposits here until the late 1880s. Brickmaking was big business in Victorian Gunnislake; by the 1870s there were as many as seven brickmaking companies in the area.

9 SX 427717

Reach a T-junction in Middle Dimson, turn right and retrace your steps uphill, passing Coombe Farm House and the outward path. Cross the old railway bridge; where the road starts to bear very slightly right, bear left on a narrow path that emerges onto Chawleigh Close; at the T-junction turn right on Sand Hill Park (site of the old Gunnislake station: the current one dates from 1994) to reach the A390 opposite the station.