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.
The village is built mainly from local stone as are quite a few of the villages in the area. Some are whitewashed and give it that quaint fishing village quality.
The river coming in from the Harbour makes a wonderful place for kids and dogs to play. Several dogs were having a great time chasing stones being thrown for them from the bank. This one was sticking his head under to find the right one.
This little toddler in his wellies is sooooo cute and having a fun time.
The shops all over England put out the water bowls for the local dogs. As I have said before the way the dogs were welcome all over was just sooooo refreshing.Something I greatly miss where I live.
The houses are just so pretty and the shrubs and flowers seem to be larger than life.
Just another lovely place we saw on our way to Avebury. We stopped the night at a farm house for bed and breakfast. It was rather nice.
Our room above and the hallway outside the room
The lady who ran the bed and breakfast was the sister of another one that we stopped at. Liz and Rodney had stayed with them before and they stopped to say hello.
Back to where we stayed, more sheep. I love sheep.
I will do more on the place we stayed in my garden blog because I want to show more of the flowers.
