The British Invasion: Part IV - Tintagel

[shanmonster]

After Clovelly, it was time to drive to Tintagel. By this point, knightky and I were jet-lagging badly, and could barely stay awake in the coach. We'd sit down and nod right off. Even the steep walk at Clovelly hadn't woken us up for long. The fried food and legumes were taking a toll on my digestive tract, and the meds Kyle were on for his sick elbow were taking a toll on his. We were exhausted and our intestines were doing terrible things to ourselves (and one another!), but no matter. We had Tintagel ahead of us.

Tintagel was my favourite destination on the entire tour. It's overflowing with ancient beauty. Driving there was an adventure. The roads are steep, narrow, and filled with switchback turns. The houses all look to be hundreds of years old, and stand so close to the road in places that I could have touched them if the coach were lacking windows.

What the two of us wanted to see most of all were the castle ruins at Tintagel. Arthurian legend says King Arthur was conceived at this location, and in the 13th century, a castle was built at Tintagel Head by Richard, the Earl of Cornwall. While most of the others on the tour went on to explore the town itself, Kyle and I roused ourselves enough to walk down the steep trail to view the castle ruins. The pathway was every bit as steep as the one at Clovelly, but thankfully, not so uneven.

This was our first view of the ruins.



After purchasing our tickets to walk through the site, we went up to the castle courtyard. The castle incorporates a lot of slate, which is common in the area.



The view from the castle is spectacular. This must be one of the most beautiful places in the world. A lot of tourists were exploring the area. Steep stairwells scaled the cliff faces, and these steps were even more treacherous than the cobblestone pathways of Clovelly. The edge of each step had an upward-jutting lip of slate, and the site has little in the way of safety walls. One false step and you might fall down here.



Smuggling has a long and illustrious history, especially in areas which seem made for it. Tintagel looks made for it. The shoreline is chock full of caves. The cave you see here is referred to as Merlin's Cave.



I wanted very much to go into the cave, but we simply didn't have the time. We made our way back to the town.



We barely had any time to spare, so we rushed to King Arthur's Hall, a Victorian-style museum dedicated to all things Arthurian. We only got to spend about ten minutes inside, much to our chagrin. The man working there was sympathetic, and gave us a picture book about the museum (normally for sale at an additional cost) so we could see photos of the exhibits while on our coach. That was sweet of him.

The most amazing thing about the gallery is the stained glass of Veronica Whall. It is the most beautiful stained glass I've ever seen. The work is incredible, and it's a bloody shame there is so little information to be found on her online.

Look at how gorgeous this is.



But then it was time to make our way back to the coach. Fresh buttered scones in hand, we got back on and drove to Plymouth for the night. Exhausted, we crashed hard.

You can view more and larger photos from Tintagel in my annotated gallery.