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Across the ancient Celtic landscape of the Land's End Peninsula and all round its Atlantic coastline lie fascinating villages and hamlets, all within easy reach, yet all with the compelling aura of a past that is emphatically Cornish.
St. Just, the most westerly town in England, stands above the spectacular Cape Cornwall. The town was the 19th century 'capital' of tin and copper mining on the Land's End Peninsula. The mines are now closed, but the powerful and vivid character of the Cape Cornwall area is still evident in St. Just's granite buildings, its busy Market Square and its handsome parish church and Methodist chapel.
Between Pendeen and St. Just is the old mining hamlet of Botallack, famous for being featured in the popular Poldark television series. The preserved engine houses of the 19th century Crown Mine at Botallack stand halfway down a rugged cliff. The mine workings ran out beneath the sea bed. Today, the area is a treasure house of mining remains.
Zennor village, on the wild north coast of the Land's End Peninsula, stands within an ancient landscape of Iron Age fields between high moorland and the stupendous sea cliffs of Zennor Head. The village has a handsome 15th century church. Zennor is inescapably linked to the legend of a mermaid who is said to have become so enchanted by the sweet voice of a church chorister that she lured him into the sea through her own magical charm.
Pendeen is made up of a number of old mining hamlets strung out along the dramatic mining coast to the north of St. Just. Information about local mining history is provided at the National Trust's Levant Mine at nearby Trewellard and at Geevor Tin Mine and Heritage Centre. The Heritage Centre is in the old buildings of what was the last working tin mine in West Cornwall until its final closure in 1990.
Porthgwarra Cove lies at the southern tip of the Land's End Peninsula below coastal heathland famed for the glorious colours of its heather, gorse and wild flowers. To the west lie the spectacular golden cliffs of Chair Ladder at Gwennap Head, the most southerly point on the Land's End Peninsula.
The Porthcurno valley leads down to the glorious Porthcurno Bay and its golden beach. Porthcurno's main beach is a deep apron of golden sand lapped by a sea of blue and green. The Porthcurno valley was closely associated with world-wide submarine telegraphy from the 1860's and, today, a fascinating museum details the history of that association.
Sennen village, with its traditional granite church, stands alongside the main road not far from Land's End itself. Sennen Cove lies on the sea shore below Sennen village and is reached down a sharply descending road.
Sennen's main beach, and the adjoining Gwenver Beach, to the north, are two of the most famous body-boarding venues in Europe and are noted for their turquoise seas, golden sands and exhilarating surf. Both are excellent beaches for general bathing and there are lifeguards on duty throughout the summer.
The sunny south coast of the Land's End Peninsula, between Porthcurno and Penzance, is a mix of granite cliffs and deeply vegetated slopes, wooded valleys and rocky coves. The loveliest and most accessible of these valley coves are Penberth and Lamorna. Penberth lies to the east of Logan Rock and just below the village of Treen. Lamorna Cove lies at the mouth of a wooded, flower-filled valley.