The hamlet of Temple on Bodmin Moor is but a few miles from the incessant A30, but the sound of traffic is not heard at all as one walks down the gentle grassy slope and enters the Church of St Catherine, also known as Temple Church. The site of the church dates back to the 12th century when the Knights Templar founded it as a hospice for pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.

We passed through Temple on our way to the abandoned Glynn Valley China clay works, which looked about a mile away as the crow flies, but after crossing a stream, various muddy bogs and barbed wire fences, ended up being an extremely arduous mile indeed.

It was worth it, the slag heaps like snow-topped mountains, along with mysterious abandoned mine workings and a large flooded quarry. It feels incongruous out here on the moors, most China clay works being around the St Austell area. Remains of copper mining can be seen at the nearby and wonderful Golitha Falls.

Previously on Barnflakes
Up and down the Cornish Alps
The China clay pits around St. Austell
Welcome to St. Decay