Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Bus 10A
(at least one an hour Monday to Saturday) Runs from Penzance to St Just via
Heamoor, Madron, Pendeen and Botallack.
Bus 300
(three to five daily April to October) An open-top double-decker that runs from
Penzance to St Ives, then continues via Zennor, Pendeen, Geevor, Botallack and St Just to
Land's End, and then circles back to Penzance via Sennen, Drift and Newlyn.
Bus 504
(two daily Monday to Saturday) Stops at Penzance to Lamorna, the Merry
Maidens, Porthcurno, Land's End, Sennen and St Just.
Bus 508
(six daily Monday to Saturday) Stops at Towednack, Zennor, Gurnard's Head
and New Mill (for Chysauster).
Zennor & Pendeen
The wild B3306 coast road between St Ives and
St Just-in-Penwith
is a jewel, winding
through a panorama of granite-strewn moorland and patchwork fields, some of which date
back to medieval times. This is a wild corner of Cornwall, and feels a long way from the
prettified harbour towns and manicured beaches. Craggy tors and auburn heaths dominate
the horizon, and broken cliffs tumble down into booming surf. It's scarcely populated
now, but during Neolithic times this empty landscape was home to a string of ancient set-
tlements, the remains of which can still be seen scattered amongst the granite rocks.
Five miles west of St Ives is the miniscule village of
Zennor
, set around the medieval
Church of St Senara
. DH Lawrence sojourned here between 1915 and 1917 before being
drummed out of the village as a suspected communist spy (an episode recounted in his
novel
Kangaroo
), but the village is best known for its associations with the local legend of
the Mermaid of Zennor, who is said to have fallen in love with the singing voice of local
lad Matthew Trewhella. A carved bench-end inside the church depicts the mermaid hold-
ing a mirror and comb. Her favourite haunt of
Pendour Cove
can be reached along the stun-
ning coast path, as well as the ultra-hidden beach of
Veor Cove
, a great place for wild, se-
cluded swimming.
Downhill from the church, the
Wayside Folk Museum
(admission £3; 10.30am-5pm Sun-Fri May-
Sep, 11am-5pm Sun-Fri Apr & Oct)
houses curios gathered by Colonel 'Freddie' Hirst in the
1930s, from blacksmiths' hammers and reclaimed watermills to an 18th-century Cornish
kitchen.
Sleeping & Eating
