At the end of April 2014 Dan and I visited North Cornwall. Neither of us had ever been to Cornwall before and we crammed so much in over the week it was hard to write a blog on each day. Instead I have decided to pick the best photos and my favourite memories from each day and put it all in two blogs.
Saturday 26th April
Tamar Otter & Wildlife Sanctuary
The Tamar Otter & Wildlife Sanctuary is situated near Launceston. This was on the way to our hotel in Bodmin so we decided to check it out. The weather wasn't on our side and it rained the entire time we were there, but that didn't stop our fun though. They have both British and Asian Short Clawed otters as well as other animals including Scottish Wildcat, Wallabies, and an array of birds of prey. I have already written a blog on our visit which you can check out here: Tamar Otter & Wildlife Sanctuary Blog
Sunday 27th April
Tintagel Castle
The next day of the holiday we ventured to Tintagel Castle. Unfortunately the day started off quite rainy but thankfully brightened up as the day went on. Tintagel is a lovely little village with quirky shops and buildings including the old post office - a 14th century stone house with a quaint wavy roof and of course the impressive cliff top castle. Our first stop in the village was at Pengenna Pasties to have a traditional Cornish Pastie - wow, they were fab - Dan had a Steak & Stilton pasty and I had Cheese and Onion. As you can see they were massive!
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| The Old Post Office |
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| Pasty from Pengenna Pasties, Tintagel |
The castle is set high on the North Cornwall coast and is steeped in myth and legend. It is said that it is the place where the legend of King Arthur was born and you can still visit Merlin's Cave where King Uther Pendragon met with Igraine and conceived King Arthur. The remains of the 13th century castle are breathtaking with stone walls and steep steps and fantastic views of the Atlantic Ocean. There is also a lot of bird life and whilst there we saw a kestrel flying around the castle and then perched on a cliff opposite.
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| Kestrel on faraway cliff (taken on Dan's superzoom camera) |
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| Steep steps up to the castle and the impressive cliff edge |
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| One of the main archways of Tintagel Castle |
The castle is built overlooking the Atlantic Ocean (also known as the Celtic Seas) and when you're at the highest peak you are treated to views of Gull Island and, beyond that, the bay of Port Isaac. It is very rocky and slippery in places and a few warning signs for 'steep cliffs' - I would recommend a decent pair of walking boots when tackling the steps and cliffs.
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| View from the clifftops of Gull Rock in the distance |
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| Standing on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean |
On the cliffs there are lots of nooks and crannies that you can hide in and seek refuge from the wind. There are also a number of ruins of the settlements that the ancient kings of Cornwall once resided and the remains of dark age houses.
Tintagel Castle is enchanting and is one of Cornwall's most iconic attractions. It costs's only £6.10 for adults to look around the castle and there is a cafe, toilets and gift shop. The village is lovely too and when we got back to the car we stopped at Treleavens and had the most delicious ice cream - key lime pie flavour...divine :)
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| Some of the best ice cream I have ever tasted! |
Sunday 27th April
The Cheesewring & The Hurlers
Bodmin Moor
The same day we decided to explore the ancient stones that are The Cheesewring and The Hurlers. They are both situated near the village of Minions and stand on the Bodmin Moor and as you can see by the pics the weather changed by the minute.
The Hurlers are stone circles which has been there since at least the 1500s. Legend has it the name 'The Hurlers' derives from men playing 'Cornish Hurling' on a Sunday and were transformed into stones for punishment. Nearby stands two other stones that are called 'The Pipers' - they are supposed to be the figures of two men who were playing music on the same sabbath day.
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| The Hurlers with a dramatic sky |
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| The Hurlers in the foreground with the Cheesewring in the background |
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| The Pipers |
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| Rocks, old buildings & dramatic skies |
Not far from The Hurlers is The Cheesewring, a granite tor situated on Stowe's Hill. It is unbelievably a natural geological formation caused by weathering (the breaking down of rocks through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, organisms and water). The name derives from it resembling a press-like device that was once used to make cheese. Even though they say it is formed naturally I much prefer the legend that surrounds it. It is said that the Cheesewring is a result of a stone throwing competition between a saint and a giant.
There are many other impressive rock formations on Stowe's Hill. In the eighteenth century it is said that Druids worshiped the tors as 'rock idols' and also made basins on top of some tors to hold blood of their human sacrifices! The weather is also unpredictable and whilst by the cheesewring we experienced rain, sun, wind, mist and a rainbow :)
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| The Cheesewring with a rainbow in the stormy sky |
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| The weather on the moors changes by the minute - this was taken only a few minutes after taking the above pic. |
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| Some interesting shaped tors with me on top to show perspective. |
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One of the ritual basins with only water thankfully!
(BTW Dan thought it would make a great pic if I laid on one of these stoned...errr no!) |
There's a lot of flora and fauna on the moors and whilst we were there we saw beautiful Scottish Blackface sheep daringly walking on the edge of the peaks and horses grazing near the old 1881 engine house of the South Phoenix mine - At this time there were also a lot of lambs around which were adorable to see. The moors are a wild place and remain untamed but the livestock seem to manage well here.
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| Scottish Blackface sheep graze around the rocks. |
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| The old Houseman's Engine House |
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| A sheep with it's adorable lamb |
Bodmin Moor is also teeming with bird life and whilst exploring around the moors we saw meadow pipit, raven, stonechat and wheatear. The wheatear are a summer migrant from Africa and Bodmin Moor is the breeding stronghold for them in Cornwall.
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| Wheatear (pic by @danturner23) |
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| Raven (pic by @danturner23) |
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| Meadow Pipit (pic by @danturner23) |
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| Stonechat |
It is easy to get lost on the moor and at the back of your mind there could be the Beast of Bodmin out there stalking you! Some people say myth, but there have been sightings of big cats on and off for over 20 years. In the 1970's it is believed several large cats were released onto the Moors, which of course would be a suitable location for a large animal to hide for many years. Sightings are becoming increasingly rare but you can never be too careful :)
This part of Cornwall is fascinating and you could literally spend a day here exploring. It's got a magical feel to it, very similar to Stonehenge and it was definitely one of my favourite places from our visit.
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Not sure why the look of distress LOL...I could be lost on the Moors? (Dan's pic)
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Sunday 27th April
Golitha Falls
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| The pretty cascades of Golitha |
The day ended with us visiting Golitha Falls on the Southern edge of Bodmin Moor. The nature reserve is a site of SSSI and the River Fowey runs through it creating a series of spectacular cascades. We got there quite late so we didn't see much bird life (although there are over 30 species here) and because it was getting dark we didn't have many good pics. But it is such a pretty place that would be worth visiting time and time again.
Part two coming soon with Bodmin Jail, Jamaica Inn and Brown Willy...
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