Sunday 15th September 2024
Today our plan is to visit Tintagel and the castle, 22-miles to our north but through Cornish country lanes, about an hour away.
To set us up for the day Christine produced yet another “full English”; I hadn’t realised our fridge was so spacious with all the food being produced and we haven’t even been shopping!!!
Fully replete and after a few chores, we set off through the Cornish lanes and arrived at Tintagel an hour later, found a car park that had just one space left; again the place was heaving.
A few days ago we decided to join English Heritage and Tintagel Castle is the first ancient monument we are visiting. What we hadn’t realised is the position and more importantly the walk to get to it from the car park, this walk was certainly putting my new knee to the test,
deep-end stuff or what??? Just under a mile to walk down a “very” step hill, fortunately there are resting benches at regular intervals, a “must” for those walking up!! Anyway we reached the entrance, not quite at the bottom and entered the remains of Tintagel Castle built by Richard, first Earl of Cornwall in the 13th Century the second son (spare!!) of King John. This castle was built in a precarious outcrop, a small island standing out in the sea and joined by a narrow strip of land. Of course the strip of land was eventually eroded away and today we only have the remains of the original walls accessed buy a modern cantilever bridge.
However there is a small natural harbour below and during the Middle Ages, it was busy trading with countries around the Mediterranean but especially with south Wales; Welsh coal for Cornish slate. The exit from the remains on the island is down a very, vert steep staircase carved out of the rock, fortunately there is a strong bannister alongside to help the descent. Upon exiting you walk over a more traditional wooden bridge to get to the exhibition building, shop and cafe where we indulged in a cream tea!!!!!
Whilst walking down the hill we noticed a couple of Land rovers heading back up full of people, ah we thought!!! After out tea we headed up the road and there was the queue for the ride back and we joined it; probably the best £6 we spent, what a hill!!!
Anyway back in Tintagel we headed to the “Old Post Office”, a grade 1 listed, old stone house dating back to 14th Century with a lovely garden at the back overlooking the countryside. Over the centuries this building has been many things but the name that sticks is the Old Post Office. It was divided into several rooms all with big fireplaces and low beams to bang your head on!!!
The overriding theme of Tintagel is their association with the legend of King Arthur and his knights of the round table made famous by numerous writers and poets over the years. There are many references to the myth such as the “Merlin Arms”, the “Camelot Castle Hotel”, the “King Arthur Cafe” and various other references to the myths and legend all of which has made Tintagel a tourist “hot-spot”; still we had an enjoyable visit.
The nearest beach to us is “Porthcothan” so headed there to give the dogs a good run round. Yes they had been on the go most of the day ie no sleep but they had been on leads most of the time so it was a chance for them to have a run about. He best bit of this beach is the fresh water lagoon at one end, an ideal place to wash the sea salt out of their coats after running in and out of the sea.
Back to Rosie for dinner after a very enjoyable day
