The last time I visited Stonehenge was in 1997 when I traveled with my mom and sister. On that visit, there was no visitors center and it was raining so hard that we did the 15-minute trot around the stones under umbrellas! Today, it was overcast, chilly, and very windy, but there was no rain! We spent close to an hour going around the stone circle, listening to the audio tour that we downloaded to Tobey’s phone. Yahoo. There is also a very well-done Visitors Center at the site now, where Tobey and I spent time seeing all the displays.
It was amazing to see how many burial mounds like the humps in the picture below surround the area near Stonehenge.
After our visit to Stonehenge we stopped at a “Little Chef” restaurant in one of the “Service” areas, similar to our truck stops. I would not recommend eating at them – the food is adequate at best, the prices high, and the service slow! Oh well, an hour later we were on our way!
Next stop was Tintagel Castle situated on the northern coast of Cornwall and thought to be the place where King Arthur was conceived. Richard, the Earl of Cornwall, selected this site to build his castle in the 1230s.
As we started our climb to the island ruins, we passed the stairs down to the beach and Merlin’s Cave. We saved the walk to the cave until the end of our tour.
We had the steep climb across the bridge to see the island courtyard and rocky cliff of Tintagel.
From the top of the island we could look across to the mainland and see the upper mainland ruins. Tobey and Tyler did that climb to see those ruins while I waited at the bottom.
This is part of the Island Courtyard and Great Hall. It was really fun to look out over the water and imagine life in the 1200s here!
We continued to explore the island and wandered out along the rocky cliffs. It was so windy I could imagine taking flight if we held our coats open!
It was fun to see sheep grazing along the cliffs on the island! When Tobey and Tyler reached the mainland courtyard, they were able to look back at the island and see the Great Hall. The English Heritage Trust is continually working on restoring these sites and you can see the chain mesh holding rocks in place along the cliffs.
The ruins on the mainland side show the approach to the castle.
After exploring the island and the mainland castle, we did go down to the beach and check out Merlin’s Cave. It was pretty cool and went all the way through to the other side of the island. We stopped at the tide pool before heading back.
We continued to explore the island and wandered out along the rocky cliffs. It was so windy I could imagine taking flight if we held our coats open!
It was fun to see sheep grazing along the cliffs on the island! When Tobey and Tyler reached the mainland courtyard, they were able to look back at the island and see the Great Hall. The English Heritage Trust is continually working on restoring these sites and you can see the chain mesh holding rocks in place along the cliffs.
The ruins on the mainland side show the approach to the castle.
After exploring the island and the mainland castle, we did go down to the beach and check out Merlin’s Cave. It was pretty cool and went all the way through to the other side of the island. We stopped at the tide pool before heading back.
The walk from town to the castle is 660 meters – down a pretty steep hill on your way to the castle, so it seems even worse on the uphill on the way out! If you want to catch a ride in one of the Land Rovers, they charge $2GPB per person – each way! We walked as we are all in pretty good shape.
There is a beautiful stream that follows the trek and it cascades into the bay at the bottom.
It was close to 6 by the time we got back to town and we spotted a few of the local citizens out for an evening walk!
We are staying in Padstow at the Harlyn Inn tonight. No internet service, even though it was advertised. Oh well! Tomorrow we will head to Land’s End and explore a few of the little towns nearby before heading back to Oxford.
There is a beautiful stream that follows the trek and it cascades into the bay at the bottom.
It was close to 6 by the time we got back to town and we spotted a few of the local citizens out for an evening walk!
We are staying in Padstow at the Harlyn Inn tonight. No internet service, even though it was advertised. Oh well! Tomorrow we will head to Land’s End and explore a few of the little towns nearby before heading back to Oxford.
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