Sam
30 Jun 2026
A day out at Botallack with National Trust west Cornwall rangers
On the 30th of June I went for a wander with a fab group of rangers from the National Trust in west Cornwall. We had a lovely, but rather damp morning wander around Botallack on the Tin Coast!
This was organised as part of my ongoing work with the National Trust in west Cornwall, with our common goal of conserving and promoting the natural landscape and history of the area. The Tin Coast is famed for its mining history, and the legacy that industry has had on the landscape. All of this has its roots in the geology that lies beneath.
The geology of Botallack is unique, influenced by the granites that make up the west Penwith peninsula. The geological processes that enriched metals in mineral veins along this stretch of coast are what the miners searched for and exploited, in places up to a mile out under the sea! It was these engineering challenges that led to the incredible industrial archaeology we see here.
The rangers have a love for the landscape as much as I do, and I really enjoyed imparting my knowledge of the geology whilst listening to their knowledge of this site.
A big thank you to the National Trust for opening these avenues to collaborate, and for granting permission to run geology guided walks across their properties in the area. I look forward to running something similar again soon.