St Agnes Head and Wheal Coates

The clifftops above St Agnes are Cornwall's postcard mining coast, and the Wheal Coates engine houses perched on the edge give a drone an instantly recognisable subject with the Atlantic filling the background. From St Agnes Head the heath rolls north and south along a broad, walkable coast path, so you have room to compose without crowding other people. The Towanroath engine house sits lower on the cliff and looks superb from a slightly elevated hover with waves breaking below. Much of the immediate ground around Wheal Coates is National Trust, so take off from the public car park or the road verge at the head rather than their land, and keep launch and landing away from the ruins. This is old mining country: unfenced shafts lie hidden in the heather, so watch your footing and stay on the paths. Airspace is easy here, with the nearest flight restriction zone at Newquay roughly 21km to the north east. The headland is exposed and the wind funnels along the cliff, so pick a settled day and keep upwind of the edge. Sunset is the classic slot, when the engine houses glow and the sea turns molten; it is popular then, so arrive early.