Hayle and Lelant are both worth visiting. The former has a fine beach for bathing, and the latter is renowned for its golf course. Lelant is a very ancient town whose fine old church is the mother church of both Towednack and St. Ives.
Redruth and Camborne are important mining towns to which no one would go in search of the picturesque, and the bleak and barren surroundings may not inaptly be called the "Black Country" of Cornwall. Gwennap Pit, near Redruth, was the natural amphitheatre where John Wesley preached with marked success to thousands of Cornish miners. For the antiquary there are many interesting remains at Carn Brea, a rocky eminence overlooking the town, and capped with a monument, erected in 1836, to Francis, Baron de Dunstanville and Basset, of Tehidy.
The best mine to explore, should one's tastes run in that direction, is the Dolcoath Mine, near Camborne station. The mine yields both copper and tin, and has reached the depth of 2250 feet. Portreath is to a certain extent the port of Redruth. The cliffs are rather fine and the seas exceptionally so in rough weather, but as a good deal of refuse water from the mines is discharged here the result is that the sea for a considerable distance is frequently tinged with a thick reddish colour.
Between Portreath and St. Agnes the coast scenery is rendered very attractive by reason of the number of coves into which it is broken, such as Porth Towan, a very favourite spot with visitors.
The little town of St. Agnes is steadily growing in popularity, while St. Agnes Beacon is of great geological interest, and from the summit a fine view is obtained of the Cornish coast from Trevose Head to St. Ives.
Opie, the painter, was a native of St. Agnes, where he was born in 1761. The house is passed on the way to Perranporth, and is known as "Harmony Cottage". Opie's artistic talent is said to have been first recognized by "Peter Pindar", when that worthy resided at Truro. A large number of his early paintings may still be seen in many of the houses in the vicinity of his birthplace, although a considerable number have been carried off by discerning collectors.
A few years ago Perranporth was nothing but a small cluster of fishermen's cottages, but the fine stretches of golden sand and some imposing masses of arched rocks have brought many visitors, for whom increased accommodation has had to be found. One and a half miles from Perran Round, an ancient amphitheatre, are portions of an old church, long hidden in the sand, over which St. Piran, or St. Piranus officiated in the sixth century. The church of Perranporth is a chapel of ease to Perranzabuloe, i.e., Piran-in-sabulo.
Although Max Müller satisfied himself that St. Piran was a purely mythical figure, and that the word "Piran" meant merely a "digger", others assure us that there is enough evidence to satisfy a court of law that Piran was connected with the school founded by Patrick, and that in the fifth century he was a missionary in Cornwall. Excavations are being made constantly around this little church half-buried in the fine sand, and many important discoveries have resulted. There appears to be little doubt that the church shares with Gwithian oratory the distinction of being the earliest Christian edifice of which any considerable portions remain in England. At the same time it is as well to bear in mind that the part of the material structure revealed by the spade is some two centuries later in date than St. Piran, the patron saint of the Tinners.
