KING ARTHUR'S CASTLE?
Thursday Sept. 12th 2019
Since King Arthur was only a legend, how could he have a castle?
Evidence of life in Tintagel during the Dark Ages was found showing the opulent wealth of its' citizens. (400-600AD) Very little evidence was found aside from a few pieces of pottery and wine flasks; hence Dark Ages when little was left behind for history's records. During the 13th century, the hugely rich and ambitious Richard Earl of Cornwall and brother to Henry III acquired Tintagel which by then had all but disintegrated or been overgrown with grass. Nearly all of the castle as Richard knew it fell into the sea by the 14th century. The sea in this area is very turbulent and has created many caves in the rocks making the land unstable.
People in that era loved to hear about "their King Arthur" which was a fictional character created as a culmination of other living and much loved kings. People back then also loved story telling and story tellers would retell the tales of King Arthur and embellish a bit at each retelling. Hence Merlin was created.
I had the pleasure of meeting 2 ladies in their 60's, historians themselves who shared some of these interesting facts. After all, I came to England not for the weather or food but for the history.
After hiking down to the beach over some slippery rocks I entered what is called "Merlin's Cave". I was alone in there. As requested I searched for a pretty stone and found that there were many pretty stones. I could have stayed in there a lot longer to find just the right pretty stone but after changing my mind about 10 times, I left to make the big climb up to the top to find the castle remains. Once at the top amidst the high winds I saw what was left of stone foundations from the stone houses with thatched roofs outside of where the castle stood. But very little was left of the castle. Just last year a new walking bridge was built connecting the mainland to the peninsula where the castle existed. The castle was never meant to be used as a military stronghold.
Again; so many dogs with their humans made this trek on top of this mountain with vistas only found in photos and paintings.
After my climbing up and down steep steps I made my way back out of the gorge to the town of Tintagel where many tourists were eating Cornish pastries and fudge. 2 fudge shops close to each other but the pastry shops were plenty.
I returned to Port William to my hotel and met up with the couple from the hotel with the Laboradoodle (Harvey). We sat outside, drank and talked with the most beautiful vistas of waves crashing down below on the beach. For dinner I decided to try The Mill House just up the road a bit. This place I am staying does not have very good food. The Mill House proved to be just perfect for dinner. I had a whole fish (sole) minus head and skin but still with bones. I didn't mind the bones. It made me eat a little slower and savor the fish with baby potatoes, a salad and a mini goat cheese, tomato tart. My meal was accompanied by quite a scuffle at the bar between 2 dogs. And then the howling of a Husky chimed in. It went on through most of my meal. I did not mind and no one else seemed to either. Then a couple came in with 3 wire-haired Dachshunds on leads. They kept quiet and laid at their humans' feet while some scuffling in the bar still kept on. After dinner I went into the bar to see who was making all that noise. It seems there was a Sproodle (Springer Spaniel and Poodle mix) on his first holiday with his humans and he did not get along too well in this atmosphere. I didn't get to meet him as a family member took him outside to chill.
My 1/2 mile ride back to my hotel in the dark was harrowing at best.
I love the town of Tintagel and all the little townships around that area. Incidentally, all the little towns in this area begin with the letter 'T'. Port William is not the name of this town-just the hotel. Trebarwith is the town's name. Aside from a few big cities in Cornwall, I am very happy to have discovered this Southwest corner of England
Since King Arthur was only a legend, how could he have a castle?
Evidence of life in Tintagel during the Dark Ages was found showing the opulent wealth of its' citizens. (400-600AD) Very little evidence was found aside from a few pieces of pottery and wine flasks; hence Dark Ages when little was left behind for history's records. During the 13th century, the hugely rich and ambitious Richard Earl of Cornwall and brother to Henry III acquired Tintagel which by then had all but disintegrated or been overgrown with grass. Nearly all of the castle as Richard knew it fell into the sea by the 14th century. The sea in this area is very turbulent and has created many caves in the rocks making the land unstable.
People in that era loved to hear about "their King Arthur" which was a fictional character created as a culmination of other living and much loved kings. People back then also loved story telling and story tellers would retell the tales of King Arthur and embellish a bit at each retelling. Hence Merlin was created.
I had the pleasure of meeting 2 ladies in their 60's, historians themselves who shared some of these interesting facts. After all, I came to England not for the weather or food but for the history.
After hiking down to the beach over some slippery rocks I entered what is called "Merlin's Cave". I was alone in there. As requested I searched for a pretty stone and found that there were many pretty stones. I could have stayed in there a lot longer to find just the right pretty stone but after changing my mind about 10 times, I left to make the big climb up to the top to find the castle remains. Once at the top amidst the high winds I saw what was left of stone foundations from the stone houses with thatched roofs outside of where the castle stood. But very little was left of the castle. Just last year a new walking bridge was built connecting the mainland to the peninsula where the castle existed. The castle was never meant to be used as a military stronghold.
Again; so many dogs with their humans made this trek on top of this mountain with vistas only found in photos and paintings.
After my climbing up and down steep steps I made my way back out of the gorge to the town of Tintagel where many tourists were eating Cornish pastries and fudge. 2 fudge shops close to each other but the pastry shops were plenty.
I returned to Port William to my hotel and met up with the couple from the hotel with the Laboradoodle (Harvey). We sat outside, drank and talked with the most beautiful vistas of waves crashing down below on the beach. For dinner I decided to try The Mill House just up the road a bit. This place I am staying does not have very good food. The Mill House proved to be just perfect for dinner. I had a whole fish (sole) minus head and skin but still with bones. I didn't mind the bones. It made me eat a little slower and savor the fish with baby potatoes, a salad and a mini goat cheese, tomato tart. My meal was accompanied by quite a scuffle at the bar between 2 dogs. And then the howling of a Husky chimed in. It went on through most of my meal. I did not mind and no one else seemed to either. Then a couple came in with 3 wire-haired Dachshunds on leads. They kept quiet and laid at their humans' feet while some scuffling in the bar still kept on. After dinner I went into the bar to see who was making all that noise. It seems there was a Sproodle (Springer Spaniel and Poodle mix) on his first holiday with his humans and he did not get along too well in this atmosphere. I didn't get to meet him as a family member took him outside to chill.
My 1/2 mile ride back to my hotel in the dark was harrowing at best.
I love the town of Tintagel and all the little townships around that area. Incidentally, all the little towns in this area begin with the letter 'T'. Port William is not the name of this town-just the hotel. Trebarwith is the town's name. Aside from a few big cities in Cornwall, I am very happy to have discovered this Southwest corner of England
I hope the rock escapade wasn't too much trouble!
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