Melissa Carne

Kennall Vale Nature Reserve, Cornwall

kennall vale nature reserve owned by the cornwall wildlife trust

Kennall Vale: nature reserve managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. Todays post is all about Kennall Vale which is a woodland where you can walk around the nature reserve managed by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

History

The woodland has always been a source of timber, bark and charcoal. The river Kennall had once been used to power a corn mill, paper mill and blowing house (tin smelting.)
 
In 1812 a gunpowder works was established in Kennall Vale. Again the river was great for supplying power and the sheltered valley and trees made it more of a safe environment. By the mid 19th century it was Cornwall’s most important producers of gunpowder.

In 1919 a quarry also opened up in the reserve. The granite, which Cornwall is renowned for, was particularly fine and was used to prepare memorials for the First World War.

What to see

Because Kennall Vale has had such a rich industrious history you can find many of the relics still here today. This makes for an interesting walk in the woodland. You can also find a money tree! See below.

kennall vale nature reserve owned by the cornwall wildlife trust entrance
kennall river in cornwall
money inserted into tree at cornwall nature reserve
kennall-vale-mills
derelict gunpowder works in cornwall

How to get to Kennall Vale

Kennall Vale is located in Ponsanooth which is a village situated on the A393. There is no car park for Kennall Vale so you will need to park in one of the housing estates near by. Just make sure not to park on the narrow roads as the residents don’t like it!

Kennall Vale is a little bit hard to find as the entrance looks like it is someone’s driveway. However, make sure to look out for the Cornwall Wildlife Trust sign which is on the wall.

What to wear

We went on a really sunny day which meant it was very refreshing in the shade. It also meant that the ground was very dry. However, I can imagine after some bad weather the ground could get very muddy so definitely a place where you should wear your wellies!

Other posts

I hope you enjoyed this blog post about Kennall Vale, it was actually my first time visiting and I would say that it is well worth a trip. If you like woodland walks why not check out my other posts on Cardinham woods and Golitha falls which are both also in Cornwall. Or you could take a look at Falmouth, Glendurgan gardens and Trebah gardens which are near by.

Lots of love, Melissa x

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