Covid Journal, Day 37: Tintagel, Place of Myth and Legend

46 this morning, and the promise of a nice day.

Just came in from re-potting the rest of the tomato, pepper, and cabbage seedlings. It's 63 now, at 5pm, but a chill wind is blowing and my hands are cold, cold, cold.

Looking back through my England trip posts, I see there are two left to write, at least. Today's post will be about one of the places I most wanted to visit in this trip, Tintagel.

Legend has it that Tintagel was the place where King Arthur was conceived and born, and later died of injuries inflicted by his son in a battle of Camelford. (He killed his son in the same battle. What a terrible tragic battle it must have been). I visited Glastonbury where Arthur and Guinevere are rumored to be buried in 2016, and again on this trip in 2019.

Tintagel has a dramatic location on the rocky coast of Cornwall. It is accessible on foot by climbing a treacherous and step stone stairway, and for years this was the only access. And is why we did not visit the castle in 2016, because Larry's knee was not up to that kind of activity.

But this past year, lo and behold, an amazing steel suspension bridge opened to foot traffic, allowing much simpler access to the site. The bridge actually opened only a week or so before our visit. Mind you, there is still a steep decline and then a walkway up to the bridge, all of which must be traversed again on the way back to the village of Tintagel. The day we were there it was very warm, in the 80's, so unusual for England.

And what a place! The location, a small island separated from the mainland by a narrow channel, has been occupied, it is believed, since Roman times, based on evidence uncovered by archaeologists at the sit.

There are ruins from buildings and even what are believed to be garden sites dating to the 5-7th centuries, and artifacts suggest the region was trading with Mediterranean countries as far back as that as well. In 1233 a Cornish nobleman, Richard, to tie into the myth of Arthur and the belief that this was the site of Arthur's famed Round Table.

Time and weather have destroyed much of the castle but it is still a fascinating, beautiful place to visit. It was, like all the places we visited on this trip, crowded with people on their holidays, which took away some of the mystique, but it still exuded a magic that is hard to describe.

The beach far below, where the entrance to Merlin's cave is.

I did not make it to the top, Frankly, I was still tired from our trip the day before to St. Michael's Mount, and my knee was not a happy camper. I had to laugh at the irony that the last trip to Cornwall it was Larry's knee that was a concern, and on this trip it was mine. My sisters did go to the top and reported that it was stunning. But I was content to sit for a while by this stunning wall and imagine how it must have been in its glorious past. Maybe Arthur himself, with his Queen by his side, passed through this very door. So I want to believe, at any rate.

You can take a fine visual tour on the Google Arts & Culture page. Just click here.

For legends of King Arthur, go to this page.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.