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Places to stay in Portreath
Portreath is a small resort located about 5 miles north of Redruth. It was once a busy port, importing coal and exporting copper but today only the occasional fishing boat shelters in its very narrow harbour. Copper ore was at one time transported from mines in the Chacewater area. Horse-drawn wagons were originally used for this task and the ore was then shipped by the ton to Swansea for smelting. On the return journey the ships would be laden with Welsh coal. The narrow harbour entrance was difficult and tremendous skill must have been needed to navigate sailing ships into and out of the port. Some of the ships would be carrying well over a hundred tons of ore. At Portreath there is a lovely sandy beach with a stream running down to the sea on the left hand side. The beach is very popular with families and like many beaches on the north Cornish coast Portreath is also very popular with surfers. Bodyboarders arrive at high tide on big swells to surf the harbour wall, or Vortex, as it is known. At low tide there are rock pools to explore and a fairly large natural swimming pool in the rocks. Gull Rock sits majestically in the sea and has been the subject of many photographs over the years and a variety of sea birds have made the rock their home Portreath has a small assortment of shops and cafés but it is the holiday trade which is now the bread and butter of the area.. The village is very welcoming and caters for most of the needs of tourist but it is not over commercialised. Parts of the old tram- road that was once used for transporting ore from the mines has now been made into cycle paths and today it possible to cycle from Portreath on the north coast to Devoran on the south coast. During the season the beach is cleaned daily and dogs are banned on the beach from Easter Day to 1st October each year.
