Along the bank of the River Hayle, on the south of Lelant, is a stone wall, occasionally referred as a quay. It does not appear to be built for the purposes of wharfing, but then again, neither does it appear that it was built to form a support wall for the railway. However, the railway was opened from St Erth [St Ives Road] 1st June 1877; it was originally mixed gauge and ran along the edge of this wall; it was described as Lelant Quay, 600 feet long and with warehouses a steam crane and a weighbridge; in 1892 the line was changed and re-routed inland, so the land has developed into scrub, leaving the wall isolated. There was a small signal box set by the rail side. The wall is far and away different and above 'normal' railway construction, because it was for West Cornwall Railway, and was built by Thomas Lang of Plymouth; work commenced in 1875. The reason the wall was necessary was because of the fractured state of the slate ground, being well decayed. Unlike the Promenade, this wall is built on cut base of a more sold form of slate. The granite has been scribed to the bed rock in places.
12th May 2009
