Cornwall Continued

Monday, October 18, 2010

Today, it was almost as if someone kept ordering, “Cue the weather!” to coordinate with our itinerary.  The only rain we had was light and it had dissipated by the time we reached our first destination, Tintagel Castle.  Tintagel is on the north coast of Cornwall and the castle is situated high (many, many steps high) on a headland over the sea.  Only ruins of the thirteenth-century castle remain, but it has earned a place in legend as the birthplace of King Arthur, despite the fact that Arthurian lore actually predates the castle by several centuries!  No matter, the place practically defines evocative; in addition to the castle ruins, there is evidence of buildings dating back to the fifth-century Celts and some believe the Romans occupied the site before that.   With the wind blowing, the clouds swirling, and the sea crashing on the rocks below, any fantasy could be real and the day’s reality seemed fantastic.  We were mesmerized by a bird that seemed absolutely stationary in the air; it just floated on wind current, and only an occasional flap of its wings assured us that it wasn’t actually a small kite.  What a place!

Before leaving the town of Tintagel, we picked up Cornish pasties, which we enjoyed overlooking the water in Port Isaac, a short drive along the coast. We spent the rest of the day driving west along the northern coast, through small towns and past isolated stone farmhouses high above the sea.  We were able to take a short hike past the ruins of an abandoned tin mine’s chimney, on a path that led us through pasture land to a promontory with farmhouse ruins above the rocky coast.  Calling Daphne du Maurier!

Our last stop was just north of Land’s End, at Cape Cornwall.  There, though the sun was not yet near the horizon, it seemed to set into a bank of clouds.  The contrast between the sunlight on the water and the darkening sky was magical.

As was this day.