Lanlivery and Luxulyan

Today's walk included the two 'clay' parishes of Lanlivey and Luxulyan - although Lanlivery aligns more to Lostwithiel and the clay towns of St Blazey and St Austell.

We parked in the Luxulyan Valley, close to the Treffrey Viaduct and walked for about an hour to Lanlivery - mostly uphill. However, it was perfect walking weather: sunny with a slight breeze and enough haze to take the burning quality out of the sun - although this did mean the longer views were not as good as they might have been.

Spurning the opportunity for a drink at the pub (which Christine knew from a recent visit for lunch with a friend) we continued to Luxulyan where, after a look inside the church, we sat on one of the benches outside for lunch. (The pub turned out to be a little distance from the church - odd in many ways but it is alonside the small station on the Newquay branch line)

In fact, by the time we had had our lunch and then walked down to the pub Christine no longer fancied a drink of cider preferring instead to aim for tea at the Eden project.

After a short distance along a side road we saw a sign for the new(ish) Clay Trail - suitable for horses, cycles and walkers. Signpost suggested about 1.75 miles - although this turned out to be to the entrance to the long drive to the Visitor Centre. The trail took us through an area once a clay pit but which finished extracting china clay in 1971 and has now been landscaped for community use.

Once we arrived at the entrance to the Eden Project, the path for walkers and cyclists (not pushbikes as Christine told me off for saying!) the first sign said that it was another mile to the Visitor Centre!

Eventually we arrived and settled down to a welcome cup of tea (or in my case two cups) plus a small slice of cake. Refreshed we set off back up the hill to continue along the route of the Cornish Way No3 (cycle route) and then down to Tywardreath Highway, where to Newquay Branch Line sets off up the Luxulyan Valley.

Therw had been an indication on the Cornwall County Council rights of way map that there was a footpath (with no right of way) alongside the railway line and indeed we were able to locate it and walk up to Ponts Mill without having to take the longer route along the A road. The railway line followed the route of both a canal and a tramway that Treffrey built (at different stages) as part of his amazing complex network of leats, tramways and other haulage routes, maily to access granite from neat Luxulyan.

After climbing most of the steeply sloping former tram route (still marked with the granite sleepers) we struck off along a lower path, pleasantly level which eventually broght us back to the car park, shortly after passing under the huge Treffrey Viaduct (which was built both as an aqueduct (which still is) and a tranway.