Tintagel part two...................

I didn't think I should make my Tintagel post any longer, although I must add two more pictures that I found today. I wanted to show The Old Post Office in Tintagel here on another post. Tintagel Old Post Office is a 14th-century stone house, built to the plan of a medieval manor house, situated in Tintagel, Cornwall. The house, and its surrounding cottage garden, are now in the ownership of the National Trust. For 50 years in the 19th century the house was used as the district letter-receiving office and the Trust has restored it to this condition. There are some really nice needlework samplers in the bedrooms. The house is full of antiques of what looks to be good quality. Here are a few of the pictures I took. The inside is well worth the looking and the back garden is amazing with little places to wander through the shrubs in back. Little pathways.......I would love it. Low beams and ceiling so beware if you are tall. The steps are narrow and steep. The beds look very uncomfortable............look at the beautiful windows though. The back garden with its well and shrubs, quiet places to sit and read. Look at the Fuchsia bushes Well I could go on about that place but there's more in the village than that. Nothing to compare to the castle of cause but some nice watering holes with pets welcome. As its close to Port Isaac I am sure this is why I found this shop. I was not able to go inside but now I wish I had. Must go back. Well I do believe the next stop was Boscastle.

Tintagel.............

It seems that for several days all we did was climb. This first picture is Jason at Tintagel. Tintagel............what a magical place. I would love to be there alone. I could not believe that I could climb up so high and not be afraid. I am normally terrified of heights yet I could climb up and look down and love it. So to begin we walked down to the gift shop and got our tickets before "the climb" There were wild flowers all over along the path to the cliffs. .......a narrow path led up the shear cliff wall, steps once cut into the face of the rock now replaced by wooden walkways (Thank Heaven)but still only one person at a time could make it. That was fine it gave me time to get my breath. My poor legs, talk about exercising the thighs and legs. You look down on the water crashing below and think how it must have been. It was a windy day. Perfect and exhilarating. Looking down on the beach below and people having fun on the rocks and sand. There was Merlins Cave......I would have loved to go down there but there was just so many steps up and I knew I could never do both. As we go higher the view becomes more impressive. The photo's do not do it justice. Me at the top Looking down on a part of the castle remains, and across at the rest of it. Look at the steps up to that part. The castle must have been impenetrable at one time. The caves are intriguing. I will do a second post on the village because there is so much left to show. This next piece is edited from Wikipedia Tintagel Castle (Cornish: Kastel Dintagel) is a medieval fortification located on the peninsula of Tintagel Island, adjacent to the village of Tintagel in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. The site was possibly occupied in the Romano-British period, due to an array of artefacts dating to this period which have been found on the peninsula, but as yet no Roman era structure has been proved to have existed there. It subsequently saw settlement during the Early Medieval period, when it was probably one of the seasonal residences of the regional king of Dumnonia. In the 13th century, during the Later Medieval period, after Cornwall had been subsumed into the kingdom of England, a castle was built on the site by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, which later fell into disrepair and ruin. Archaeological investigation into the site began in the 19th century as it became a tourist attraction, with visitors coming to see the ruins of Richard's castle, excavations in the 1930s however revealed significant traces of a much earlier high status settlement that had trading links with the Mediterranean during the Late Roman period. Not incidentally, the castle has a long association with the Arthurian legends, going back to the 12th century when Geoffrey of Monmouth in his mythical account of British history, the Historia Regum Britanniae described Tintagel as the place of Arthur's conception. According to the tale told by Geoffrey, his father, King Uther Pendragon, was disguised by Merlin's sorcery to look like Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall the husband of Ygerna, Arthur's mother. I found the next two pictures on the web. I wanted to show how steep the steps were. Neither picture is mine (all the others are)First the view through the door. Then this beautiful view down the steps............. Remember I do not like heights. I find it amazing that this so entranced me that I didn't notice the height.