Pendeen to Sennen Cove

Aug 22
5 min read

August 22, 2025 from the itinerary: Difficulty rating: Moderate-Moderate

The Coast Path takes you from the remote, gleaming lighthouse at Pendeen Watch along the rugged paths of the Granite Coast to the beautiful sweep of golden sand at Sennen Cove. Taking in part of Cornwall’s oldest mining district and leading around Cape Cornwall where the Atlantic currents split, the path is a mixture of easy open walking along the high cliff tops and short, rough ascents and descents.

There are many attractive spots for a picnic with spectacular views, especially as you approach Whitesand Bay. You may spot seals, as well as a variety of seabirds, as you walk beside the banks of seasonal pink thrift and carpets of purple heather and look out to the Atlantic crashing on the rocks below.

Distance: 8.67 Weather: low 70s and sunny

Highlights:

National Trust - Levant Mine and Beam Engine: built in 1840 by Harvey and Co. of Hayle, the mine is one of Cornwall's oldest and is now part of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site. After extensive restoration, it is now steaming again and is open to the public.

I did see this, but didn't go into the mining museum which was a highlight in the SW coast guidebook. In general this whole area and the start of the hike was quite ugly and stark. There were a lot of ruined buildings, mine trailings, and mine shafts.

The ruined engine houses of Botallack, once used for extracting copper and tin, perch on the cliffs and the tunnels even extend under the sea.

According to Chris, real Cornwall tin is still "a thing". I suppose the surprising thing is that the local economy was able to swing away from mining and move to tourism and farming. The villages looked nice and didn't look run down. That said, this area did look a bit post-apocalyptic.

Kenidjack Castle and Arsenic Works: this historic headland is the site of an Iron Age fortification and a Bronze Age cairn circle, as well as being another important mining site.

Lots of ruins on this walk. There was certainly a nice view from here.

Cape Cornwall and the tiny Priest’s Cove: the cape is owned by the National Trust and was once thought to be the most westerly point in England. It is the only cape in England and is the point at which the Atlantic currents split and flow south up the English Channel or north into the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea.

I actually didn't go all around the cape, but the views were magnificent.

Views out to The Brisons: two small rocky islets about a mile off Cape Cornwall.

No seals today

Ballowall Barrow or Carn Gluze: a Bronze Age burial chamber with two concentric inner walls. It faces west towards the setting sun.

This was probably the highlight of my day. Because the top was off, you could see the inner walls and barrows. I wanted to have my break here, but there was no place to sit in the shade. Also pictured are 2 cairns (hard to see). I believe the last photo is the stone circle.

Porth Nanven: a rocky beach of geological and scientific interest due to the wave-cut platforms in the cliff and extraordinary large, round stones. It is sometimes called the ‘dinosaur egg’ beach and is now legally protected by the National Trust.

I have to say that I wasn't expecting more rocky walking and I got quite tired. It was a beautiful area and reminded me of my second favorite place on the SW Coast path called "the rocks". Here there were no goats.

Aire Point: a great place for a picnic overlooking Whitesand Bay.

By accident I had my break here today and it was a lovely place to have a quiet 30 minutes

Gwenver Beach: a wide, windswept sandy beach popular with surfers. Gwenver's name is apparently derived from Gwynevere of Arthurian legend. On a clear day, you have fantastic views from the beach out to the Longships lighthouse, the Scilly Isles and the nearby Brisons Rocks off the coast of Cape Cornwall.

More sand walking and the surf was coming in. I saw a couple of the surfers got up. I did see the lighthouse and Brisons, but not sure I saw the Scilly Isles. At least I didn't have to go up this hill to get to the holiday homes - I'd take the beach over that climb!

Spotting the many birds who inhabit these cliffs and offshore rocks, such as peregrine falcons, shags, herring gulls and rock pipits.

I heard birds of prey, but didn't see them

Enjoying refreshments in the pubs and cafes of Sennen Cove. The Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station is open daily to visitors.

Coming into Sennen Cove it looked like a quintessential English seaside village. I did walk along Sennen Cove after checking in and sat with an iced coffee looking at the sea. It was a bit disheartening that I could almost fit my entire day walking in one photo frame.... I finally got my feet in the water and the cold water really felt good!

Here's a photo of the rusted grab bar. Despite the state of the place, the bed was clean and I slept pretty well.

Breakfast had probably the best eggs I've had on the trip and the sausages weren't bad either.

I had a bad day with dogs - at breakfast and dinner. Dogs love me and I don't particularly love them. This one lived on premises and wanted to play with me. Then ran into the kitchen to play with them. I don't think dogs should be in commercial kitchns. At dinner, while waiting for a table, someone's dog decided to jump on me which I really didn't care for.

The weather felt hotter than I expected and no breeze. I think this is the first day when I actually saw all the highlights.

There was also the Geevor Mine which is where the mine museum was. Am surprised this wasn't mentioned in Highlights because it was before the Lavant Mine area.

I could still see glimpses of yesterday's lighthouse amongst the mining areas

There was some sort of manner house connected to a golf course which was very impressive

There were many mineshafts along the way, some very close to the trail. Some were marked, others not. Some marked better than others, like the below that actually had stone walls around them.

The first views of Sennen Cover were about 3 miles out

Before getting to the sandy areas, I walked through a cattle pasture with cattle I hadn't seen before - I couldn't find anything about it online....

I was glad to get off the sand and boulders and check in to the Old Success Inn. It is a historic 17th-century inn which was originally a thatched alehouse where local fishermen shared profits from their catches. Becoming an alehouse in 1671, it was built on the site of a pair of granite cottages and named to commemorate successful fishing. In this photo you can see an old WW2 emplacement on the hillside.

This room was by far and away the most expensive of the trip. It was on the top floor (see the arrow) with beautiful views of the ocean and the sunset. Thankfully, someone brought my luggage up. The beers in the fridge were complimentary, unfortunately, lager isn't my drink of choice.