Poltesco

Poltesco is a hamlet and valley in the parish of Grade-Ruan, on the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, UK. The lower part of the valley is owned by the National Trust and was once the site of a stone industry that exported carved ornaments to the rest of Britain and Europe.GeographyThe Poltesco stream drains the southern part of Goonhilly Downs and reaches the sea at Carleon Cove on the east coast of the Lizard. At the head of a small tributary, on the downs, are the remains of South Wheal Treasure copper mine, working in 1823. The walls of three or four large buildings, including an engine house, can still be seen. A lode has not been located.The streams flows through a wooded valley and discharges at Carleon Cove on the east side of the Lizard Peninsula. Less than 1 km to the north-east is beach of Kennack Sands and 1 km to the south-west the village of Cadgwith. The South West Coast Path, which follows the coast of south west England from Somerset to Dorset crosses the Poltesco stream at Carleon Cove. The valley forms part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is within the Caerthillian to Kennack Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The tree and shrub cover makes Poltesco an unusual feature of the windswept peninsula.