The new Lelant to Hayle Ferry cuts across the estuary.

TV reporter John Doyle is at the launch of the new Lelant to Hayle ferryboat with an inaugural ride for Tory Defence Minister and St Ives MP John Nott, Mayor of St Ives Terry Tonkin and the Mayor of Hayle. The ferry reopened on 1 May and was owned by Tony and Tinker Lake of the Ferryman's Cafe by the beach in Lelant. Allan Thomas was the ferryman. The ferry stopped in 1966 because a rise in car ownership meant people preferred to take the 1825 causeway road across the sands.

Hayle gained town status in 1974 and Lelant was once an important port. The area is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site for Mining with vestiges of its iron foundries Harvey's and Copperhouse and many quays with names that hint at an industrial past, Norwaymans Quay, Clay Quay and Brewery Quay. Towan in Cornish means sandbank and Hayle Towans and Lelant Towans are stretches of golden sand at the mouth of the estuary. Dynamite Quay and Dynamite Towans refer to the National Explosive Works of Upton Towans in operation from 1888 to 1920. It is now an area for pleasure boating, the shellfish fishery and wildlife with walks along the estuary taking in Ryan's Field salt marsh, Copperhouse Pool and Carnsew Pool.