The Clay Trails are a series of

bicycle trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Howe ...

s located in mid

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The trails pass through the

St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...

moorland which for over two centuries has been extensively quarried for

china clay Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedron, tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen ...

, hence the name. The trails are separated into several routes.

The Wheal Martyn trail - 8Km

Wheal Martyn China Clay Works - geograph

This trail connects the

Eden project The Eden Project () is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 107 – Fowey, Looe & Lostwithiel''. . The complex is dominated by two h ...

to the Wheal Martyn

China Clay Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedron, tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

. This also incorporates a short section of trail called the sky spur trail. The trail has views of several disused

pits with white walls and turquoise water. A feature of the trail is the ''white pyramid'', although it's now green, which is a disused china clay tip in which the waste sand has been tipped to form a conical hill. The trail then drops into the Trenance valley where it crosses its award-winning

William Cookworthy William Cookworthy (12 April 170517 October 1780) was an English Quaker minister, a successful pharmacist and an innovator in several fields of technology. He was the first person in Britain to discover how to make hard-paste porcelain, like t ...

bridge. Here it joins the Lansalson branch line and is joined by the St Austell trail. A further kilometre through this historic valley is the Wheal Martyn China clay museum.

The St Austell trail - 2.5Km

This connects the town of

to the Wheal Martyn trail, this section follows the route of the disused Lansalson branch line along the Trenance valley and on its route passes several historical sites. At the beginning of the trail, views of the curved viaduct carrying the

Cornish main line The Cornish Main Line is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash. It directly serves Truro, St Austell, Bodmin (by ...

railway can be seen. A kilometre from the entrance to the trail is the disused Carlyon Farm china clay dries which are the largest of their type in Europe.

The Bugle trail - 6Km

This connects the village of

Bugle The bugle is a simple signaling brass instrument with a wide conical bore. It normally has no valves or other pitch-altering devices, and is thus limited to its natural harmonic notes, and pitch is controlled entirely by varying the air a ...

to the Eden project.

The St Blazey trail - 5Km

The Clay Trail near St Blazey - geograph

This connects the Eden Project to

Par Par may refer to: Finance * Par value, stated value or face value in finance and accounting * Par yield or par rate, in finance Games * Par (score), the number of strokes a proficient golfer should require to complete a hole, round or tournament ...

beach via

St Blazey St Blazey () is a small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. St Blaise is the civil parishes in England, civil parish in which St Blazey is situated; the name St Blaise is also used by the town council. The village of Biscovey and the se ...

External links

Clay trails website

Sustrans website
{{Cornwall, state=collapsed Cycleways in Cornwall

The Wheal Martyn trail - 8Km

The St Austell trail - 2.5Km

The Bugle trail - 6Km

The St Blazey trail - 5Km

See also

External links