Cot Valley is located half-a-mile south of St Just in west

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It has a very mild microclimate.Clegg, David (2005) ''Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly: the complete guide''. Leicester: Matador; p. 121 The stream which runs down the valley discharges into the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

at Nanven. This area of Cornwall was once mined for tin (see

Mining in Cornwall Mining in Cornwall and Devon, in the southwest of Britain, is thought to have begun in the early-middle Bronze Age with the exploitation of cassiterite. Tin, and later copper, were the most commonly extracted metals. Some tin mining continued ...

for details) as evidenced today by the ruins along the stream. There is a settlement in Cot Valley and a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

. The valley is secluded and is home to a variety of wildlife. Birdwatchers visit in autumn to see rare vagrants and migratory birds. More recently

Cornish chough The red-billed chough, Cornish chough or simply chough ( ; ''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus ''Pyrrhocorax''. Its eight subspecies breed on mountains and coastal cliffs from the we ...

s have been seen in the valley; other birds regularly seen include

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Easte ...

tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is a stocky, medium-sized owl in the family Strigidae. It is commonly found in woodlands across Europe, as well as western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. The tawny owl' ...

s, and stonechats. From the mouth of the valley at

Porth Nanven Porth Nanven (; most well known as Cot Valley and occasionally known as Penanwell) is a beach in the far west of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located half-a-mile west of the town of St Just in Penwith, St Just. The beach is at the ...

, seals are frequently seen and occasionally dolphins and

basking shark The basking shark (''Cetorhinus maximus'') is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It is one of three Planktivore, plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sh ...

References

. Environment of Cornwall Valleys of Cornwall Tourist attractions in Cornwall {{Penwith-geo-stub