June 8, 2013 - Saturday
We went over to breakfast
at the main building and met the two guys from yesterday. We chatted for a while about the places we
had seen. They suggested that we not
drive anywhere near Bodmin as the Royal Cornwall Show was on in Wadebridge,
which is near Bodmin, and traffic would be backed up in the roads leading to it. They suggested that we drive towards St.
Austell and then head north that way.
For whatever reason, Petros brought up Camelot and we told him that
Tintagel Castle, on the north coast of Cornwall, is reputed to be the
birthplace of King Arthur. While it was
not Camelot, it is probably as close as he was going to get and that it might
be worth a visit. So, after breakfast,
we packed up, said our goodbyes to Tanji and the farm and left for Tintagel
Castle. We parked the car in town and walked to the castle ruins. The ruins
perch precariously on a rugged, remote promontory of land on the north Cornwall
coast. We did not go down to the castle, which can only be reached by a steep
climb from the cove below or by a narrow pathway from the mainland. Instead, we chose to view it from
Camelot. Yes, we found Camelot and it
was the Camelot Castle Hotel. The hotel
overlooked the castle and the Atlantic Ocean and Irene and I had coffee and hot
chocolate inside the hotel while Petros and Florine had their coffees
outside. Archaeological studies have
revealed that the old settlement predates the Round Table by far, being
established in the 3rd or 4th century AD. By the 6th
century, a great ditch had been dug, creating a formidable fortress within,
known as Din Tagel. Earl Richard of
Cornwall and Poitou acquired Tintagel in the 12th century and built
the castle whose ruins we saw today.
From Tintagel, we drove
along the coast to Clovelly in Devon.
Clovelly is a small village with a steep cobbled street that tumbles
down past white cottages to the tiny harbour.
It was once a bustling fishing port famed for its herring and
mackerel. The quay dates back to the 14th
century, as do many of the cottages. The
famous cobbled street, known as “Up-along” or “Down-along” was built from
pebbles hauled from the beach. The
street is too steep for motor vehicles so donkeys were the main form of
transport, though they are no longer used for heavy loads. Today, all goods in the village are
transported by sledge. We paid GPB 6.50
each to go into the village from the Visitor Centre. The village is owned by one individual family
(one of only 3 since the Norman Conquest) and there are no cars and no
individually-owned houses. The buildings
are all repaired with traditional materials and the admission fees help with
the maintenance of the village. Parking
and admission to the Visitor Centre, the Kingsley Exhibit, fisherman’s cottage
in the village and the Clovelly Court gardens are also included in the
charge. Charles Kingsley lived in
Clovelly as a child and returned many times as an adult. There is an exhibit dedicated to him. He wrote “Westward Ho!” while in Clovelly and
it also inspired him to write “The Water Babies”. ON our way down to the village, we stopped at
the donkey stables for a quick look before going to the Craft workshops where
we bought some silk scarves. Along the
way, by a stone fountain dedicated to Queen Victoria, we saw 3 donkeys that are
used for photographs and to solicit donations for their care. We eventually made our way down to the quay,
where we had a late lunch of fish and chips at the Red Lion Hotel. Our meal
choices were limited as it was way after normal lunch hours. After lunch, we took one of the side streets
and met a dog who reminded us of Roxie sitting in a garden where her owner was
doing some work. On our way up, just
before the Craft workshops, we stopped at Mount Pleasant, a grassy picnic spot
with a war memorial and views of the surrounding countryside. From there, we made our way to the car and we
were off to our next destination. We
decided that we would like to have a Devon cream tea and I am not sure who told
us, but the best cream teas in the area was in Docton Mill. Petros turned the car around and we followed
signs to the Mill. It took us quite a
while to find the mill and when we finally got there, it was too late for
tea. The tea room closed at 5:00 pm and
we were about 15 minutes too late. We
had a quick look at the gardens, which has a mill leat with a holding pond that
runs the length of the garden and is a key focus. The gardens were first
developed in the Thirties and were extensively cleared and redesigned in the
Eighties when huge numbers of trees were planted and a bog garden created. Since 2000, a magnolia garden, herbaceous
borders and the woodland were developed.
We left in disappointment.
We set out for Chepstow and
our next bed and breakfast, Willowbrook Guest House. It got a bit busy around the outskirts of
Bristol. It was a pretty long (3 hours), though uneventful drive to
Chepstow. We found Willowbrook Guest
House after we went past it and then had to double back. We parked the car and then rang the bell at
the front door. It took quite a while
before we saw a young child in the house.
He went away and we waited until a woman came and opened the door for
us. Sarah had an amazing hairdo – there
was a lacquered hive of curls piled on top of her head. She told us she had
guests over to celebrate her mother’s birthday and the purchase of a new home. She
was very nice and friendly and showed us to our rooms. The first room she took us to had 2 rooms and
the other room had 2 beds. Irene and I
took the room with the 2 beds and left the other room to Petros and
Florine. Sarah recommended the pub just
down the street for dinner and we set off for it after unloading our luggage
from the car. We walked over to the New
Inn and chose a table for our dinner. We
had to wait a while for the waiter to take our order at the table. By the time he took our order, the kitchen
was out of lamb shanks – another disappointment for the day. But we survived. I can’t remember what we had for dinner but I
think Petros had lamb. There’s a photo
of some kind of meat – maybe pork, with peas and potatoes. We had cider and Petros had a beer. After dinner, we walked back to our b&b
for the night.
Where we stayed: Willowbrook Guest House, Pwllmeyric, Chepstow, Ghent,NP16 6LE; 44 1291 645951; Sarah
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