This is a nice easy going walk of about 2 miles around the Trenoweth area of Mabe, unfortunately most not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies (unless the driver is a practised buggy off-roader, it can be very muddy in places). Part of the walk is on a lane where there are houses, so be aware of traffic. Good area for dogs, of course please keep under control if any livestock around, although the route doesn't cross any fields and there may be horse riders at times. Take time to admire the views (on a fine day) stretching across lots of Cornwall. This walk can be joined with other caching routes in the area to extend the walk
The area around where the caches are set was heavily quarried for granite in previous centuries, The stone in this area was Carnmanellis Granite, which was extensively quarried from the south-eastern part of the pluton around the parish of Mabe, notably from Carnsew quarry which provided the stone used for the exterior of Truro Cathedral. Carnmenellis Granite was also used in the construction of the 16C castles at St Mawes and Pendennis, Falmouth. Several quarries are still actively working the Carnmenellis Granite, but mainly for the production of crushed aggregate, used for general construction work
Industrial quarrying was made possible by developments in stone-splitting methods and controlled blasting techniques. Before 1800 a row of chiselled grooves would take iron wedges which were then hit with sledgehammers until the rock split. After this date plug-and-feather splitting was adopted; iron plugs were hammered into lines of hand-drilled holes, each flanked with a pair of hardened iron ‘feathers’, until the rock broke along the line.