England 2016 – Tintagel

June 8 – Wednesday

Today is Cornwall day!  Tintagel! Coastline! My favorite B&B!!!

It didn’t take long to get to Tintagel – about an hour and a half.  It’s so interesting to watch the changing countryside along the way.  Rolling hills, barren moors, rocky cliffs… and narrow roads.  As you get to Cornwall, the single lane roads are lined with 10 ft. tall hedgerows so that no one can pass and anyone coming from the opposite direction may have to back up quite a way to the nearest side slip.  But, no such fun for us this day!

We arrived in Tintagel, drove up to the B&B, and were met by the effervescent Peter.  The Avalon B&B is the nicest B&B I’ve stayed in with all my travels to the UK.  If you get the sea view single room, you will be looking out over a beautiful garden and out to the Atlantic ocean.  You will also be within short walking distance of the town centre, King Arthur’s Castle, and Merlin’s Cave.  If you are an intrepid hiker, it’s only about 30 minutes from Tintagel to the woods leading up to St. Nectan’s Glen, a magical and very pretty nature walk.  We’ll talk about that later… for now, Sharon and I are checked into our beautiful room and about to explore the town.

View from Our Room

There’s lots of shopping in Tintagel (it’s a tourist town), and restaurants out the wazoo!  My favorite, from the last trip, is the King Arthur’s Arms pub.  It’s got a wide menu and plenty of drinks.  It’s also central to everything in Tintagel AND allows dogs.

Great Pub

We were in town fairly early, so we decided to do laundry.  There was no waiting at the laundromat (yay!) so we were in and out fairly quickly.  By that then, it was time for lunch at the King Arthur’s Arms and afterward to shop at the local gift stores.  We found out that the following day the Women’s Institute (WI) was going to have a tea in honor of the Queen’s 90th birthday.  Sharon would likely be doing that while I hiked to St. Nectan’s Glen.  For now, we were just enjoying the great weather, the shopping, and the laid back feeling of Tintagel.

June 9 – Thursday

Today, I get to have Peter’s fabulous brulee porridge!  Peter is an amazing cook, and his breakfasts are to die for.  Most of the other guests are really nice.  There’s one New England couple where the lady seems a bit strange, but not in a Jeffrey Dahlmer kind of way.  More of an insecure, uptight way.  But, that said, Sharon and I make our way to King Arthur’s Castle.

Peter’s Famous Brulee Porridge

Now, the castle is atop a cliff that is accessed via steep stairs.  Like a mountain goat (with a broken leg), I make it to the top.  Sharon, to her immense credit, made it as well and we were able to snap tons of lovely pictures as well as see the lovely ocean views and the castle ruins.  Merlin’s Cave lies just below the castle and is only accessible at low tide (which it wasn’t during our time there).  I was done much earlier than Sharon with my sightseeing, so I went downhill to the little café for a pear cidre and a nice rest.

Sign to the Castle

View from the Ruins

Meeting King Arthur

After awhile, Sharon appeared, and we headed over to the Castle gift shop to see if there was anything we couldn’t live without (there wasn’t).  So, we made our way back to the B&B where I changed for my walk and Sharon got ready for the Queen’s tea.

I drove the car to the car park just outside the woods to St. Nectan’s Glen.  It’s a lovely walk through the forest which begins at St. Piran’s Well, through a faerie wood bounded by a babbling brook, and ending at a café run by (what appear to be) Wiccans.  The Wiccans are very sweet (one gave me a wildflower bouquet), and the food is good.  There is an alcove dedicated to the memory of loved ones who have passed away where you can leave pictures and mementos or light a candle in their memory.

Wildflower Bouquet

Alcove

There is also a gift shop and sell tickets to see the waterfall below.  As you descend to the waterfall, you feel as if you are descending into history and time.  St. Nectan supposedly lived here in the 5th century.  His legend is closely tied to the waterfall and pool (or kieve). I took off my shoes to wade in the sacred water only to find that there were others (apparently not knowing of the spiritual history of the place) that were running and frolicking in the waterfall.  I envied them, actually.  I wanted to go into the waterfall, myself, but didn’t have a change of clothes with me!

I sat and prayed for a bit.  Soaked in nature for a bit.  Then, as others had done before me, I tied ribbons to a tree and made wishes with each ribbon.  You will also notice faerie stacks (small stacks of rocks) that evidently are meant as a form of communication between our world and the faerie world.

Faerie Stacks

I never want to leave this place… but (looking at my watch), I might just make it to the Queen’s tea if I leave sooner rather than later.  So, off I went, up to the café, and out through the woods.  Ahhh… I could definitely live here.

Back in town, Sharon had made several friends at the tea service.  I had a couple of cookies and sat and chatted for a moment with an elderly gentleman.  The tea was winding down, and I wanted to rest up a bit so we headed back to our B&B and rested before dinner.

June 10 – Friday

We were unsure what we wanted to do, but after some discussion, we opted for a trip to Brixham in Devon to see Agatha Christie’s summer house.  On paper, it looked easy.  Only a two-hour drive and I’d never been to Devon before.  Well… two hours on paper, maybe.  But NOT two hours by car!  It was a long and winding road that got us to Greenways.  It’s a bit off the beaten path as well.  But, we made it to the place and were whisked to the house in a golf cart from the car park.

Greenways is interesting enough, but I find that museums and galleries are typically not my bag.  I liked seeing how she lived.  The rooms were full of clutter (collections).  Evidently the family were ardent collectors of just about everything!  The house sits right on the River Dart and has lovely scenic views.  It’s gothic proportions make it seem anything but homey; however.  But, it had a little café and gift shop, so I could be easily entertained. J  I really wanted something “Poirotish”, but could find very little.  So, I waited for Sharon and watched the river drift by.

Personal Photos of Agatha Christie

Greenways

Getting back to Tintagel from Greenways was a nightmare! When we finally got onto a major road, we ran into traffic.  “Let’s exit and find our way on the backroads,” said Sharon.  So, off we went… into a never never land of tiny roads, tiny towns, and wrong turns.  It took us forever to get back on the main road, and forever to get back to Tintagel.  I think I don’t have to do Devon ever again!

Back in Tintagel, we were trying to decide where to have our last meal.  There is a lovely Cornish Pasty shop in town, but we decided on the King Arthur’s Arms, and returned to the B&B to pack and ready ourselves for the next leg of our trip.

Cornish Pasties

Continued…