Hayle to St. Ives

August 18, 2025 from the itinerary: Rating: Moderate - Moderate (marked as easy in the guidebook). The route from Britain’s oldest swing bridge leads you along roads following the Hayle Estuary. You are able to take small detours in places in order to reach the muddy flats which are home to many different species of birdlife. Hayle was once the most important industrial port in Cornwall and a centre of copper mining and smelting.

The Path also follows part of the ancient pilgrim route called St Michael’s Way which led pilgrims across Cornwall from Lelant to Marazion, near Penzance, where they would then travel on to the Cathedral of St James in Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. Follow the railway line to St Ives, passing Carbis Bay and through the wooded outskirts of the town before arriving at the large, sheltered expanse of golden sand that is Porthminster Beach.

Distance: 7.27 miles Weather: mid-70s, breezy, partly sunny. Rain was in the forecast, but never materialized.

Highlights:

• The birds of Hayle Estuary including curlews and oystercatchers. Winter is the season to see the most birds, in fact as many as 18,000 birds have been recorded here in the cold season.

It's not the cold season, but I did see some birds. Most looked like either a form of seagull or goose. The tide was out, so not very picturesque

• Hayle’s mining and rail heritage. Little remains of the Carnsew foundry of Harvey & Co near the railway viaduct in the town centre, yet at one time it was a thriving business exporting Cornish beam engines and other mining equipment all over the world. You can find out more information from the town library and Tourist Information Centre in Commercial Road.

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• The RSPB hide at Ryan’s Field, open to visitors and containing information and identification charts.

I probably walked right by this and missed it....

• St Uny’s Church, Lelant, with its ancient Cornish crosses. It is believed that the churchyard is built on the site of a Roman fort. This is the starting point of St Michael’s Way.

Given I just finished the Camino, this was a very cool stop for me. I really enjoyed seeing the unkept graveyard and looking in the old church (slideshow below)

• The views of the dunes and out to Godrevy from above Porth Kidney Sands. This beach is often deserted due to lack of parking facilities.

I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANOTHER DUNE AGAIN!! Thankfully I didn't have to climb any of them. (slideshow below)

• The large, sheltered sandy beaches of Carbis Bay, which are perfect for picnics.

Not sure I saw the sheltered area, but it was a very nice walk - golf course on one side and ocean on the other

• Exploring all that St Ives has to offer, including a wealth of art and crafts, fantastic cafes and restaurants and of course the beautiful beaches.

Tomorrow is my day off, so will do some exploring - more on this in the next post.

For once I had a really good night's sleep. It was nice not to have a long walk today. If there were to be a bridge over the entrance to the estuary, this would be a 3 mile walk.

I can't check in until 3, so went for a leisurely breakfast at 8:30 and finally started the crack of 9:30. Breakfast was included and was at that awful place where I ate last night. That said, they did have my favorite brand of yogurt. I had yogurt and 2 sausages.

From there a lovely walk to and along the estuary.

I got a bit lost because I took a short cut across a firm beach. Then I tried to double back on the trail and a tree was down, so had to go back across the beach.

Had a nice break at The Birdies cafe - lovely cinnamon roll and iced coffee. I noticed they have weddings there, but I think the view isn't very nice during low tide. The cafe is right on the River Hayle.

In addition to the railroad bridge mentioned above, there is a short spur of the GWR line that goes from St Erths to St. Ives which runs by the Path and is probably very scenic. Looking in the train station window, I saw someone had a pet parrot. The station was just across from my wood.

I passed The Baulking Hut, similar to the other one in Newquay, was used to direct/position the fishing boats to get the best pilchard catch. The path coming close to my destination was undulating and had good shade.

The Primrose is an older house turned B and B. My room was at the absolute top and I asked the girl to bring my suitcase... The room is spacious - no AC, but there is a fan which does a pretty good job. The view isn't much to write home about.

I went to their sister property for dinner - The Harbour View. I decided on that because I got a 15% discount. To get there I had to climb a pretty steep hill and at the top I thought a plane was going to fly into the town - turns out there's an airfield not too far away. The view was nice from the top

Mixed reviews here - The Maitre-D/waiter was dressed in shorts, T-shirt, boater shoes and a baseball hat on backwards. I thought that was a bit casual for dinner in an expensive restaurant. The chef was preparing something with meringue in the next room. Then he proceeded to bring through the trash and dirty dishes.

I had a burrata salad/local tomatoes which was good. No bread was included so had to order/pay for focaccia which was rather greasy. Main was crab pasta - too rich for me and it tasted as it looked. I did have the lemon meringue sorbet which came out with honeycomb - that was very nice.

After dinner I went for a quick walk through the town and found a way back without the big hill.