ケリーのおすすめMTBライド

満載のツーリングバイクでも、ここを通り抜けることができました。ただし、押して進むことが多かったですが。

道には非常に粗い花崗岩のブロックがあり、自転車を押すのが賢明です。橋は渡りやすいですが、湿っているときは少し滑りやすいです。

Stunning view of the church

Stunning views across the valley

Wheal Anna Maria – a copper and arsenic mine – covered 3.2 hectares and had over 6,850 cubic metres of arsenic flues! It was named after the Duchess of Bedford! Her main workings were on the ‘Main Lode‘ (the largest sulphide deposit in southwest England). When its rich copper waned, Devon Great Consols became the largest arsenic mine in the world because the margins of the copper-rich lode were dominated by arsenopyrite. In 1860 the copper lode at Anna Maria was up to 45 feet wide and yielding up to 80 tons per fathom, but by around 1880 the copper boom was over. Thankfully, arsenic production sustained the mine into the 1900s, until the company folded. Arsenic ore, unlike copper ore, was refined on site using the ‘calcination’ process – and at Wheal Anna Maria they yielded over 72,000 tons of refined arsenic! – Whoop!

Nice spot to take a break and enjoy the views

Map to show local trails

I deliberately returned to this route having missed it the day before on a more ambitious circular route (which would have made it a decent). The following day I attempted to climb it with the river on the left. Whilst the start is interesting enough, the track quickly degrades to a boulder field which I'd class as un-ridable by any standards. It gets worse with any semblance of a track being reduced to looking for horse droppings! I scouted the area on foot, which itself wasn't easy, in search of a way through but finally had to accept defeat. My warning therefore is to ONLY attempt this as a descent (as Simon did) since I suspect the route might be clearer in the opposite direction - and also allow plenty of time. As a footnote, if climbing, then it's easy to find yourself on a much steeper track to the right, which oddly enough is just about climbable and fun to descend (don't think it goes anywhere though)