Portreath Railway
The Portreath Branch Line was a 3.6 mile railway that was used to transport copper ore and coal. It operated from 1837 to 1936 and was originally a part of the Hayle Railway, later becoming part of the West Cornwall and Great Western Railway. The line primarily served the mines in Camborne and Redruth, bringing in coal and timber and exporting ore through Portreath. The increased traffic to the port resulted in a second basin being built in the harbour. Following the depression in the 1920s, the railway fell into disuse and the port also declined. The railway officially closed in 1936 but during World War II, the line was used as an obscure location for storing wagons in case the main storage yards were bombed.
On walks
- Portreath and Tehidy Woods (5.2 mile walk)
Get the iWalkCornwall app
Download the app and use it to explore the walks and to purchase a guided route.
The app will direct you to the start of the walk via satnav.
The app guides you around the walk using GPS, removing any worries about getting lost.
The walk route is described with detailed, regularly-updated, hand-written directions.
Each time there is a new direction to follow, the app will beep to remind you, and will warn you if you go off-route.
A map shows the route, where you are at all times and even which way you are facing.
Each walk is packed with information about the history and nature along the route, from over a decade of research than spans more than 3,000 topics.
Once a walk is downloaded, the app doesn't need a phone or wifi signal during the walk.
The app counts down distance to the next direction and estimates time remaining based on your personal walking speed.
We keep the directions continually updated for changes to the paths/landmarks - the price for a walk includes ongoing free updates.
