The Alverton, Truro: a central place to stay for wild Cornish coastal walks
- Martin Hesp
- Aug 19
- 8 min read
The Alverton remains one of those hotels I think makes particular sense if you want to explore Cornwall rather than simply stay in one place. And the great advantage of Truro is its position.
It isn't a seaside resort and you wouldn't choose the Alverton because you want to step out of the front door and straight onto a coastal path. But that is rather missing the point.
Truro sits remarkably centrally in Cornwall, making it a useful base for exploring the county in several directions. From here you can head north to the cliffs and beaches around St Agnes, Porthtowan and Perranporth, or south towards the Roseland Peninsula, the Helford and the Lizard. There are also the creeks and countryside around the Fal and plenty of inland walking.
That makes the Alverton particularly attractive to walkers who don't want to spend an entire holiday confined to one small corner of Cornwall.
You can walk a different stretch of coast each day, come back to Truro in the evening, find somewhere to eat or simply enjoy the comfort of the hotel.
The Alverton itself occupies an impressive hillside setting within Truro, in what was once a convent. The Grade II* listed building dates back to the 19th century and today it is a four-silver-star hotel with 53 bedrooms, gardens, a restaurant and plenty of character. It is also within walking distance of the centre of Truro.
That combination appealed to me when I stayed there and still does.
On my visit, the Alverton became the starting point for an entirely unplanned adventure.
I had gone to Cornwall expecting to spend the day talking to Rick Stein.
Instead, I found myself looking out of a sunny hotel window and thinking that it would be a terrible waste not to get outside. So I drove to Porthtowan.
And that is how this particular walk came about thanks, oddly, to Rick Stein.
After a lot of email to-ing and fro-ing we'd settled on a day when we could have a chat about his friend, TV producer David Pritchard, who had died earlier that year. Having met David some years before, and having been delighted by his wit and endless anecdotes, I wanted to write an article paying tribute to him for the magazine.
However, almost at the last minute Rick had a business meeting crop up, and that was that.
I had a hotel booked in Cornwall and had arranged another job locally for the day before. So I was down west whether I liked it or not. And I did like it. Because when I awoke, my room at the excellent Alverton Hotel in Truro was bathed in sunlight.
So instead of sitting with Mr Stein in some corporate office doing serious journalism, I went for a walk. And, as it turned out, I had rather a good day.
From Porthtowan towards Chapel Porth
The route I followed was inspired by JRA Hockin's Walking in Cornwall.
Writing in the 1930s, Hockin thought it right to remind readers planning their holidays that Cornwall was a county of grim realities as well as great beauty.
He advised walkers enjoying the splendours of nature not to ignore the lot of the miners who, in those days, still toiled in places along the north coast.
Of the local communities, now largely given over to holiday cottages, he wrote:
"In those close-packed streets with their dingy chapels and squalid pubs, and up in those barren, mine-riddled hills with their chimney crests and clusters of wizened cottages, there is a vivid and indispensable human Cornwall..."
Hockin was writing in a very different Cornwall.
The intervening decades have seen the miners disappear. Evidence of their labours still scars the country around St Agnes and Porthtowan, but the men and their families have gone.
Where, I wonder, would Mr Hockin find Cornish Cornwall today? Maybe it's out there among the surfers.
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As I looked across Porthtowan beach I could see them riding the wind-whipped waves. They, perhaps, are the new Cornwall. At least, they are out enjoying the best bit of this glorious county, 365 days a year.
But in the highlands between Porthtowan and St Agnes you can absorb more of the indescribable essence and spirit otherwise known as Cornishness.
The fundamental nature of this county is all about being on the edge.
And believe me, you really do know that as you walk the clifftops north of Porthtowan.
So, turned down by Mr Stein and his new and very delicious version of Cornwall, that's where I went to experience the full whack of an older landscape.
I parked at Porthtowan, admired the great blonde sweep of beach, and set forth towards the mighty eminence of St Agnes Beacon.
At once we find ourselves in a clifftop world of savage beauty.
Much of this landscape is protected by the National Trust, and that is a good thing. It would have been easy for developers to have covered these old industrial wastelands in unsightly villas, but places such as this have a severe form of beauty which is well worth saving.
Not to mention their historic significance.
A coast shaped by mining
The National Trust still manages a network of paths around Chapel Porth, Wheal Charlotte and the surrounding heathland, and the evidence of the old mining industry remains everywhere. Engine houses, shafts, spoil heaps and other remains sit among the heather and gorse.
The Trust has information on the Great Wheal Charlotte, Charlotte United and the famous Wheal Coates mines.
But you don't need to be a mining historian to appreciate this landscape.
The strange thing is that the industrial scars have become part of the beauty.
The old mine workings tell you that this apparently wild coast was once a place of hard labour. The sea, the cliffs and the heathland may look timeless, but generations of Cornish men and women lived and worked here.
And that is what Hockin was trying to tell his readers.
Chapel Porth
You can, depending on the tide, walk along the beach towards Chapel Porth, but I would take the coast path. From above, you can see just how easily a walker could get caught out by a rising tide. The views are better from the cliffs anyway.
The path brings you towards Mulgram Hill, from where there is a spectacular view down the deep, steep groove that runs north-west out of the hills to reach the sea at Chapel Porth.
Hockin described Chapel Porth as the deepest and most beautiful of the local beaches.
Happily, not everything has changed.
The beach remains one of those wonderfully enclosed Cornish places where the cliffs seem to close around the sea. Today there is a café rather than the rather forlorn little refreshment shed of Hockin's description, but the essential character of the place survives.
At Mulgram Hill there is a choice.
You can descend towards Chapel Porth and then climb again towards St Agnes Beacon, or head inland across the heath towards Great Wheal Charlotte.
I took the latter option.
Se our post on St Anthony Head, Roseland Peninsula – one of Cornwall's great coastal walks
Among the old mine workings
Along the way I encountered a yellowish area devoid of vegetation.
The lack of growth is due to the mineral-rich waste left behind by the old mining industry. Even today the ground can look strangely barren in places.
I remember being told that at the right time of year you stood a good chance of seeing lizards sunning themselves on the bare mounds.
The landscape here is a strange mixture of wilderness and industrial archaeology.
There are great sweeps of heath, but underneath and around them lie the remains of shafts and workings. The National Trust warns walkers to keep to the paths because the area is pitted with mine shafts, while some sections are narrow, rocky and steep.
That is worth remembering if you follow this route today.
My old description of the walk as "easy going" was perhaps a little too casual.
It is not a mountain expedition, but neither is it a stroll around a park.
Back towards Porthtowan
A stiff breeze was getting up so I hurried along the track to Towan Cross, where I turned right, walked along the road for a little way, then right again along the track which took me down past Towan Farm.
The route zig-zagged down past a bungalow estate and eventually connected with the right-of-way leading back towards the large car park at Porthtowan.
And there I sat, writing these words, watching the modern Cornish folk performing stunts on the wind-whipped waves.
I was still slightly sad to have been turned down by the celebrity chef. But I was very happy indeed to have enjoyed the hike.
And perhaps I had discovered something better. Instead of spending a couple of hours discussing the modern celebrity version of Cornwall with Rick Stein, I'd spent a day walking through the old one.
Stay at the Alverton and explore this part of Cornwall
This is one of the reasons I still think the Alverton makes such a good base for a Cornish break. You don't have to stay beside the sea to enjoy Cornwall's coast.
Truro puts you in a useful central position, with the city itself on the doorstep and places such as St Agnes, Porthtowan and Chapel Porth within reach by car.
And when you come back from a windy coastal walk, there is something rather nice about returning to a comfortable historic hotel rather than a windswept holiday cottage.
The Alverton has changed since my stay, of course, but its essential appeal remains: an atmospheric old building, gardens, comfortable rooms and a location from which you can explore rather than simply admire Cornwall from the hotel window. The hotel now has 53 bedrooms, with accommodation spread between the main house and courtyard, and its restaurant currently holds two AA rosettes.
So this is not simply a recommendation for somewhere to sleep.
It is a recommendation for a base.
Stay in Truro. Have breakfast at the Alverton. Go walking on the north coast. Explore St Agnes, Porthtowan, Chapel Porth and the old mining landscape. Then come back to the hotel, get cleaned up and have dinner.
That, to me, is a pretty good way of doing Cornwall.
For a walk closer to Truro see the Malpas to St Clement – Southern Cornwall
The Porthtowan walk: what you need to know
Starting point: Porthtowan
Route: Porthtowan – coast path towards Chapel Porth – inland across the mining landscape – Towan Cross – Towan Farm – Porthtowan.
Distance: My original route was approximately three miles, although anyone following the surrounding National Trust routes today should check the precise route before setting out.
Terrain: Coastal path, heathland tracks and some road walking. Expect uneven and rocky ground, climbs and descents.
Map: Ordnance Survey Explorer 104.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome on the National Trust paths around Chapel Porth but should be kept under close control.
Important: Keep to marked paths around the old mine workings. There are mine shafts and dangerous cliff edges in this landscape, and the National Trust specifically warns about unstable cliffs and rock falls.
Tides: If you are tempted to use the beach as part of the route, check the tide carefully. My advice remains the same as it was when I first wrote this: if in doubt, stay on the coast path.
