A circular walk around Delabole past the slate quarry, along back lanes and tracks, and through fields and bluebell woods.

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The walk starts at the Delabole slate quarry and follows paths around the quarry then through fields, heading up through the hamlet of Medrose and onto a wide, grassy, cattle-droving track which skirts across the top of Delabole. The route then heads through Higher Pengelley, down into the woods at Helland Barton and along the River Allen, before climbing the slate tips back to the quarry.


Beautiful walk, you can see right across Cornwall from Bude to St Austell.

Vital statistics

  • OS Explorer: 109
  • Distance: 3.6 miles/5.8 km
  • Grade: Moderate
  • Start from: Delabole quarry car park
  • Parking: Quarry car park PL339AZ. In Delabole turn down Pengelly lane (opposite the "Bettle & Chisel" pub) and follow it to the end.
  • Recommended footwear: walking boots

OS maps for this walk



  • Delabole slate quarry - once the biggest man-made pit in the world
  • Pretty woodland at Helland Barton with bluebells in spring
  • Panoramic views of the surrounding countryside near the cemetary
  • The Bettle & Chisel Inn within distance from the route
  • Quaint, old slate cottages built for the quarrymen in Pengelly
  • Pleasant scenery and wildflowers along the old cattle-droving track across the top of Delabole


  1. Walk through the car park, to the left of the visitor's centre (ahead), and follow the track to the quarry viewing platform.


  2. Facing the quarry, turn right onto the path around the quarry; follow it to the junction with a track.

    The layers of slate in the quarry were eloquently described in 1758: "The strata in the following order: the green sod, one foot; a yellow brown clay, two feet; then the rock, dipping inwards into the hill towards the south-west, and preserving that inclination from top to bottom: at first the rock is in a lax shattery state, with short and frequent fissures, the lamina of unequal thickness, and not horizontal: thus the rock continues to the depth of ten or twelve fathom, all which is good for nothing, and entirely to be rid off; then comes in a firmer brown stone, which becomes still browner in the air; this is fit for slating houses, and the largest size for flat pavement never sweating as the cliff slate, which is exposed to the sea air. This is called the top-stone, and continues for ten fathom deep, the stone improving somewhat as you sink, but not at the best till you come to twenty-four fathom deep from the grass; then rises what they call the bottom-stone, of a grey blue colour, and such a close texture, that on the touch it will sound clear, like a piece of metal. The principal horizontal fissures, which divide the strata, run from ten to fifteen feet asunder; they are no more than chinks or joints, and contain no heterogeneous fossil. The stone of this quarry weighs to water as 2-(62/121) are to 1, is not subject to rot or decay, to imbibe water, or split with falling, as the bottom-stone of Tintagel, and other quarries; but for its lightness, and enduring weather, is generally preferred to any slate in Great-Britain."

  3. Cross over the track and bear left onto the waymarked path along the fence. Follow this to a kissing gate and stile leading into a field.

    The working of the quarry is described in 1758 as follows: "The whole quarry is about three hundred yards long and one hundred wide: the deepest part from the grass is judged to be forty fathoms. The masses are first raised rough from the rock by wedges driven by sledges of iron, and contain from five to ten, twelve or fourteen feet, superficial square of stone: as soon as this mass is freed by one man, another stone-cutter, with a strong wide chisel and mallet, is ready to cleave it to its proper thin-ness, which is usually about the eighth of an inch; the shivers irregular from two feet long, and one foot wide, downwards, to one foot square and sometimes (though seldom) dividing into such large flakes as to make tables and tomb-stones. In this quarry several parties of men work on separate stages or floors, some twelve fathom from the grass, some twenty, others forty fathom deep, according to the portion of ground belonging to each party; the small shattery stone, not fit for covering houses, serves to shore up the rubbish, to divide the different allotments, and shape the narrow paths up and down the quarry; all the slate is carried with no small danger from the plot where it rises, on men's backs, which are guarded from the weight by a kind of leathern apron, or rather cushion; the carrier disposes his charge of stones in rows side by side, till the area allotted to his partners is full, and then horses are ready to take them off, and carry them by tale to the person that buys them."

  4. Go through the gate and follow along the fence on the left to reach another stile and kissing gate.

    The group of wind turbines to the right is Delabole Wind Farm.

    The Delabole windfarm was the first commercial windfarm in the UK, built in 1991 partly due to local opposition to a proposed nuclear power station which would have been somewhat suboptimal for the tourism on which Cornwall depends. In the 20 years since the Delabole windfarm was first built, the technology improved significantly. In 2011, the 10 original turbines were replaced with just 4 new models which are significantly more powerful and efficient. The cabling for the turbines is all underground and there are no access roads which allows the land beneath the turbines to be farmed.

  5. Go through the gate and follow the wall on the left to join a stony path at a waymark. Follow this along the fence to reach a kissing gate on the corner of the fence.

    The working in 1882 had changed with the advent of the steam engine: "The scene is enlivened by a throng of men busily engaged in various noisy employments, while waggons and horses are everywhere in rapid motion, and steam-engines are lifting with a harsh sound their ponderous arms, and raising loaded trucks from the depths of the pit, or masses of slate of several tons' weight, which are seen slowly ascending guide-chains to stages which overhang the quarry. The quarry is about 260 ft. in depth. Upon the edge of the quarry is the Papete Head, a projecting platform, from which a number of guide-chains are stretched like the shrouds of a ship to the base of the pit. The slate is first loosened by small charges of gunpowder ; it is then torn up by wedges and crowbars, and placed in trucks, which, being attached to a wheel which traverses a guide-chain, are drawn up by the steam-engine some feet above the Papete Head, Movable stages, called hatches or tables, are then run out under the trucks, which, being lowered upon a framework on wheels, are drawn away by horses to the different workshops, where the slate is split into various sizes, according to the purpose it is intended to serve. The water is pumped from the quarry by water-wheels into an adit, and the slate is shipped at the little harbours of Port Gaverne, Port Isaac, and Boscastle, the former being the principal port in the summer, the latter in the winter, as affording the best shelter to the vessels. About 1000 men are employed in these works, who raise on an average 120 tons of slate per day." ("Papete" is thought to be a local abbreviation of "Parapet").

  6. Go through the gate and turn left. Keep following the path along the fence to reach a gate leading to the houses on the right.

    The track here is the old trackbed of the North Cornwall Railway.

    The North Cornwall Railway was a venture backed by the London and South Western Railway to compete with the Great Western Railway for services to Cornwall. The North Cornwall line ran from Halwill in Devon to Padstow via Launceston, Camelford and Wadebridge and was built for economy rather than speed, including climbs and curves to avoid costly construction work. The line was opened in sections at the end of the 19th century, reaching Padstow in 1899. There was an aspiration to connect Wadebridge to Truro, but this was never realised. Due to holidaymakers increasingly travelling by car in the 1960s, demand for passenger services dwindled and the line was closed as part of the cuts in 1966.

  7. Continue ahead along the fence to pass the gate and reach a flight of steps with a metal handrail on the right.

    The huge pieces of slate winched from the quarry by steam engines were known as "steamers". Occasionally, a chunk would fall off one, back into the quarry, or a chain would snap and whip into the edge of the quarry, causing a rockfall. Landslips also occurred occasionally, due to faults in the rock above the face being quarried, or material on the edges of the pit collapsing. There were a number of injuries and fatalities but also some miraculous escapes. One quarrymen was saved by his pasty, which a cheeky raven grabbed and he gave chase, narrowly avoiding a landslip where he had been standing. Another quarrymen, ascending a ladder, was hit in the backside by a flying piece of slate and found himself sat, unhurt, on the grass at the side of the quarry pit!

  8. Climb the steps and turn left onto the lane. Follow the main lane (ignoring junctions to the left) until it ends in a T-junction with the main road.

    Even in Victorian times, slate was blasted with black powder (aka gunpowder), rather than high explosives such as dynamite. This is because high explosives combust with a supersonic shockwave known as a detonation wave, travelling at a speed of more than a mile per second. This causes very high pressure and resulting high temperature in the explosive, setting off neighbouring parts. This would shatter the brittle slate into tiny pieces, rather than breaking off large chunks.

    As fuse technology improved, holes were drilled at regular intervals along a quarry face, filled with black powder. These pockets were all blasted simultaneously using a linked fuse (electrically triggered in the latter years of quarrying), to break off a very large chunk of slate. You can sometimes see the blasting holes in waste pieces of slate on the slate tips.

  9. Cross the main road and turn right onto the pavement. Follow this past some houses until you see a track on your left marked with a public footpath sign.


  10. Turn left onto the track marked with a footpath sign, and follow it to a stile at the end.
  11. Cross over the stile on your right and bear left across the field towards the opposite left corner to reach a stile about 30 metres to the right of the field corner.

    The number of cows in Cornwall has been estimated at around 75,000 so there's a good chance of encountering some in grassy fields. The Ramblers Association and National Farmers Union suggest some "dos and don'ts" for walkers which we've collated with some info from the local Countryside Access team:


    • Try to avoid getting between cows and their calves.
    • Report any dangerous incidents to the Cornwall Council Countryside Access Team - phone 0300 1234 202 for emergencies or for non-emergiences use the iWalk Cornwall app to report a footpath issue (via the menu next to the direction on the directions screen).


  12. Cross the stile into the next field and cross the field diagonally to the stile in the opposite corner between the two gateways.


  13. Cross the stile and turn left on the track, following it until you reach another stile.

    The slate tips you can see are from Trebarwith Road Rustic Quarry.

    Trebarwith Road Rustic Quarry is located on the road from Delabole to Trebarwith village. The quarry was originally known as "Jenkins Quarry" and reopened in the 1990s under the new name. As well as rustic slate, Blue Elvan is also quarried here.

  14. Cross a stile and follow the grassy track to a gate and stile.



  15. Cross the stile onto a track by a farm and continue along the track to the end, where it meets a lane.
  16. When the track emerges on a lane, turn left and follow it to a junction with the main road.

    At this point, turning right and following the road for about 200 metres would take you on a mid-walk diversion to the Poldark Inn.

    During the Second World War, a building near the Poldark Inn was used for counting holes in drogue (fabric) targets. These were towed behind aircraft known as a "target tug" for naval firing practice and dropped over Treligga Downs by the towing aircraft. They were then retrieved and laid out on long tables where the holes were counted. A reward of 5 shillings was offered to any member of the public who found one. Piloting a target tug aircraft was not without risk! The planes were often painted bright colours to help distinguish them from the targets they towed.

  17. At the junction, cross directly over the main road onto a track, which passes to the right of Pentire Workshops. Continue to follow the track downhill past the cemetery, until you reach the slate sign for Helland Barton House.

    Another mid-walk diversion to a local pub can be taken here by turning left and following the road for about 200 metres to the Bettle & Chisel.

    The Bettle & Chisel is a public house on the main road in Delabole nearly opposite the lane to Pengelly. The pub takes its name from two of the tools historically used by slate quarrymen - bettle is a local dialect word for a lump (club) hammer. "The Bettle", as it's known locally, was, and still is, a favourite hangout of the quarry workers. The bar attests to just how much of a pub can be made from slate!

  18. Where the track forks in several directions, keep right and follow the track signposted to Helland Barton to a second slate sign for Helland Barton.


  19. At the slate sign, go through the waymarked kissing gate between the 2 tracks which joins onto the left track; follow the track until you reach a gate.
  20. Go through the kissing gate next to the gate (or the gate if open) and follow the track past a first waymark, to a second waymark at an intersection of paths and tracks.
  21. At the junction of tracks, turn sharply left to take the small path and follow it downhill until it joins another path at a waymark.
  22. At the junction of paths, go left, passing a small quarry on your left and follow the path until a footbridge comes into view.

    There is a spectacular show of bluebells in the woods during the early spring.

    When photographing bluebells, the flowers that look blue to your eye can end up looking purple in photos.

    The first thing to check is that your camera isn't on auto white balance as the large amount of blue will cause the camera to shift the white balance towards reds to try to compensate.

    Another thing to watch out for is that the camera's light metering will often over-expose the blue slightly to get a reasonable amount of red and green light and the "lost blue" can change the balance of the colours. You can get around this by deliberately under-exposing the photo (and checking there is no clipping if your camera has a histogram display) and then brightening it afterwards with editing software.

  23. Keep left past the footbridge, following the path alongside the stream. Follow the path up the valley to return to the stream and continue upstream until you reach a stone wall from which the stream emerges with the path leading over a bank to the left.

    The stream is the start of the River Allen which is fed by the marshes around the edges of the slate tips.

    The Rivel Allen is a major tributary of the River Camel, joining it just above the estuary near Wadebridge. It was known as the Dowr Alen in Cornish, which is documented as meaning "shining river". There is also a River Allen in Truro, although that one is Dowr Lain in Cornish, so as long as you speak Cornish, you won't get them confused!.

  24. Follow the path to the left over the bank to reach a junction. Turn left at the junction and follow the path to another junction of paths.
  25. Turn right at the junction and follow the path to top of the hill to reach a junction of paths with fence ahead of you.

    After copper was discovered on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula in 1859, large numbers of Cornish miners settled there. By 1875, the Moonta mine on the Yorke Peninsula had surpassed Cornwall as the largest copper producer in the British Empire and became the first mine to pay out dividends of one million pounds. As as result, 10% of the South Australian population is of Cornish descent and there is even a Delabole Quarry in Willunga, near Adelaide.

  26. At junction of path at the top of the hill, turn left and follow the path to a kissing gate. Go through this and follow the right-hand path to return to the car park.

    Swanky beer was traditionally brewed six weeks before Christmas in Cornwall so it would be ready for the festivities. The beer is still brewed there on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. One of the Cornish-descended South Australians - Jan Gluyas - kindly posted this recipe:

    Boil five gallons of water and add 8 oz hops, 4lb brown sugar, 8oz ground ginger, 4 oz raisins and an ounce of salt. Boil for 45 minutes, then empty into a vessel and let stand until nearly cold. Then add two tablespoons of fresh yeast and allow to stand for 15-18 hours. Strain off the liguor and allow it to stand for at least 24 hours before bottling, making sure the bottles are clean and dry. Into each bottle put one fresh raisin (to prime the swanky) - then fill and cork, making sure that each cork is securely tied down. Swanky is a great "worker" so leave enough room for its head to form. It is ready for drinking when the head is about to force the cork out of the bottle.

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