Ponsanooth

Ponsanooth is a village about 5 miles south-west of Truro in the valley of the Kennall River. The village grew with the 19th-century mining industry and is close to the Kennall Vale gunpowder works, which operated from the early 19th century until 1910 and supplied explosives to Cornwall’s mines. The abandoned works, with their stone buildings, waterwheels pits, and engineered leats, are now managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve open to walkers. The ancient woodland along the Kennall River valley is rich in mosses and liverworts on the old granite walls and wheel pits.

Perran-ar-Worthal, an adjacent village on the A393, is a mile east. Falmouth is about 5 miles south and Truro about 5 miles north-east. The Carnon River and the Devoran estuary, part of the Fal system, are about 3 miles south. The Mineral Tramways trail network, which crosses mid-Cornwall along former mining routes, is accessible within a few miles.

The village has a pub and some local facilities. Penryn, an old town with a medieval street plan, is about 4 miles south on the road to Falmouth. Holiday accommodation near Ponsanooth is in period cottages and farm conversions, popular with visitors who want easy access to Falmouth without paying Falmouth prices.