Walking the Moors of Cornwall

My last day on my own on this trip, and I decided to travel around the beautiful Bodmin Moor.  Most of my knowledge of the area probably comes from my love of Time Team, all of their episodes online really got me through the pandemic.  As well as just hiking the moors I wanted to see some of the sites I had seen on the show. 

To properly explore Bodmin on my own, I got a rental car.  That is always an adventure in England.  I can manage driving narrow lanes and on the wrong side of the road.  But doing it in a vehicle larger than I’m used to, where I never feel like I know my width was an extra challenge.   I ended up on some very narrow roads that didn’t even seem wide enough for ONE car, let alone navigating if you came face to face with another.  Luckily I really only had to reverse down a lane way once.  

I started this morning with another lovely breakfast at the hotel before setting off.  Going counter clockwise around Bodmin my first stop was Golitha Falls.  It was a pretty little spot close to the road so an easy walk.  Lots of people out this morning, and lots of dogs running about.  It had the ruins of old wheel housing from the old workings in the area, it is now a protected area with lots of old growth oaks and flora and fauna. 

I kept along the road to the town of Minions with has some beautiful stone circles, the Hurlers, just a short walk from the car park.  I kept walking along to moor up towards the Cheesewring, which is a stack of stones resembling the slabs of the same name used to press cider apples.  These ones are enormous and there is debate if they are a man made monument or naturally occurring.  The area was also heavily quarried.  Some of the stone cladding along the Tower Bridge is from here.  

I love the open ramble laws of Britain, it was really neat to just wander through this field, past the stones and then continuing up the Tor.  I passed cows, sheep and horses all in the field.  You also have to be careful while driving because the sheep had not been taught to check before crossing!

At the top of the Cheesewring were lots of pits that looked to be from mining and quarrying. It is hard for a novice like me to know which stone circles are Victorian quarries, which are old mining pits and which could be as old as the Bronze Age Rillaton Barrow I was able to find on the top.  They are all, however, stunning.  I didn’t go all the way to the top.  My stamina and my ankle are just not what they were a few years ago and I had a whole day of agony, sorry hiking, ahead of me. 

There were a few interesting spots I would have liked to try and find along the moor, but a couple of the monuments don’t really have road markers.  You just need to find the right lay by and footpath along the road and head off for a walk.  So I did stick to the better marked spots.   The next part of my route ended up being a bit poorly planned with some driving back and forth.  I stopped first in the village of Altarnun that was recommended soley for having a pretty little stone bridge and a lovely 15th century church.  Both were picture perfect, but it probably wasn’t worth navigating the narrow roads in and out for just 15 min!

I headed up the highway a little bit - two lanes! Wide and open! To the Jamaican Inn.  Famed for being a smugglers hide out, the original location was built as a staging post for travellers across the moor.  It got a reputation for smuggling and became famous due to a novel written in 1936 by Daphne Du Maurier.  It got its name as the original owner of the area was also once the British Governor to Jamaica.   

I had a nice lunch there and looked around the 18th century buildings.  I think if there is ever a return visit to Cornwall this might be a good place to stay as well.  It’s also another allegedly haunted site.  With a gorgeous pub for lunch. 

Next was a bit of back tracking, I wanted to go see Rough Tor and google was recommending driving through Altarnun.  A little bit of sleuthing and I decided to take a slightly “longer” route.  The roads seemed to be bigger and I was right and got to drive at a decent speed for most of the way to the spot.  Rough Tor is part of what Time Team had investigated in Bodmin so I was quite interested to see it.  During their weekend you couldn’t seem to turn around with out tripping over prehistoric round houses.   I’m not even sure I walked the best parts and I was not disappointed.

I’m not sure what I was thinking, I managed 3.5km and an elevation gain of over 200m in just an hour.  The wind was howling and the rain had started.  It was everything one could expect of hiking a British Moor.  I didn’t even have the goal of making it to the top of the Tor.  I just staggered passed the amused cows and sheep to the top of the gradual rise, and saved the steeper stone top for tougher souls.  It was incredible.  There were stone circles everywhere, likely the prehistoric round houses.  Stone lines were field boundaries, dating from the medieval and further back into the mists of time.  And stacks of stones at the top of the hill that were carried up there by people a lot more determined to me.

With the day coming to an end, the wind threatening to steal my hat, and my knees about to never forgive me, I headed back down to the car to head back to the hotel for my last evening in Cornwall.  Of course that wasn’t the end of the adventure, I still had to drive the narrow roads back to the bigger towns. At one point I actually stopped driving to take a picture of how ridiculously narrow it seemed for even one vehicle!

But I made it safely back to the Bodmin Jail Hotel, which is a gorgeous luxury hotel with amazing food.  My one word of warning is to maybe never visit alone.  At least during dinner in the old Chapel I have had some issues with low moods.  Maybe that is just me though and just a coincidence…you’ll have to see for yourself!

In the Footsteps of History and Myths

One of the places I have longed to visit in Cornwall is Tintagel Castle. Reactions to that have varied from derision for going some where only known for mythology and appreciation from others for the beauty and history of the site.  While much of what makes the area so attractive to tourists does come from its association with the great king of legend, there is also some real history there too!

Ruins on Tintagel date to around the 5th and 6th centuries. While that can be roughly the time of Arthur, there is little proof that he actually existed. How ever kings and warlords mentioned in his sagas, and battles they fought likely did.  Then in the 13th century, Richard the Duke of Cornwall, and son of King John, traded some valuable land to acquire the land around Tintagel.  He built and rebuilt on the mainland and on the promontory.  There is speculation that the romance of the legend of Arthur and as well the legend of Tristan and Isolde is what made the land valuable to him.  Slowly the true history of the land is shining through with the legend.  The 13th century ruins are just as fascinating to me as the legends of Merlins Cave.

I made a slight miscalculation by starting my tour at the “end” because I wanted to see Merlin’s Cave during low tide, which was early this morning.  After walking most of the way down to the shore, I settled for some scenic shots of the cave from above.  There were a lot more stairs in my near future.  As per my watch, 36 flights.

It was a slight trudge back up the hill before taking the switch back track to the entrance to the Castle.  In most areas the walls are only a foot or so high, but a few sill reach above the heads of the tourists gathering around. With the sun just starting to peak out, I was delighted with the views.  Looking back down to the beach where gorgeous clear water was splashing around Merlin’s Cave and all along the beautiful coast.  

Nowadays there is a good bridge that links the land to the island.  Once, the outcropping had a narrow land-bridge but it had collapsed in the 15h or 16th centuries.  Then one would have to climb down the steep steps to a small bridge that had been built before climbing back up to the top of the island.  In 2019 British Heritage finally added a higher bridge that removed part of that difficult climb. 

There is a gorgeous walk around the island, through parts of the Dukes castle, as well as past some of the 5th century walls.  The views were epic, all along the coast which is also accessible as part of the South West Coast Trail. As well as some ancient wells and gardens there is a modern statue called Gallos, he is a Kingly Figure that isn’t meant to represent Arthur, but all the kings of Drummonia who likely lived in the area and fortified the hill.

Then it was back down all the steps again to just above the cove.  And a slow trudge back up to the town.  I cheated slightly and paid for the shuttle.  Annoyingly it dropped us off at the bottom of the last steep climb to the main street.  I may have paused a couple times to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery.  

After Tintagel I drove up the coast to the town of Boscastle.  I had read it was a beautiful harbour town, and it certainly was.  I had lunch at what used to be the Mill, the Wellington Pub, before walking down along the river to the harbour.  Apparently there is an amazing site of a blow hole at low tide, but with the tides right now being low early in the morning I hadn’t been able to see it.  

Boscastle also is the home of a Witchcraft Museum.  It is said to have had the skeleton of Joan Wytte on display for decades.   She was a prisoner of the Bodmin Jail and executed for witchcraft.  First her body was given to a governor of the Bodmin Asylum for a prop in his sceances. Eventually the new owner of the Witchcraft and Magic Museum wanted Joan respectfully interred.  Even in the 90’s it was apparently hard to have her placed in consecrated ground, so they found a place for her in the nearby woods with a monument, so she can be visited by those who respect a wise woman. 

My final stop today was just at the Camel Valley Winery.  I had tried their wines at the Oyster Festival and really enjoyed them.  It was a beautiful location, though as I was driving and on very narrow winding roads, I didn’t try and more.  Oh yes, I haven’t really mentioned, I have a rental car for this part of the journey.  I’ll have to tell you all about that tomorrow!  There will definitely be more driving as I will be headed all over Bodmin Moor to see sights and hike very small amount of the epic country side. 

From the Coast to the Moors

After a rough sleep and lots of walking the last few days I was having some trouble getting motivated for my last day on the coast.  So I decided to have an easy day wandering Penzance as I pleased.  I headed down the hill to the promenade and had a lovely walk.  It was a bit dreary too, but no rain.  I started out having a cup of tea and a croissant from a little trailer set up on the promenade.

Next I walked down to the Jubilee Pool.  When packing for this trip I had debating bringing a swim suit, but I could not remember why I thought it was a good idea.  While Cornwall has beautiful beaches, it was not going to be very seasonal for swimming.  None of my hotels had pools.  So I shrugged it off and didn’t bother. 

Well, the answer was the Jubilee Pool.  It started out with the town piling rocks to create a swimming area.  In 1935 the Jubliee Pool was opened for King George V’s Silver Jubilee.  It is a triangular shaped pool that is managed, but is filled by seawater and has a small children’s section.  And the reason for my need of a swim suit was the recent edition of a geothermal heated pool.  The hot pool was filled with people, and a few taking laps in the main pool as well.  

My stroll then continued to the Yacht Inn where I had lunch and a pint of local lager.  Further along I stopped at a building that was the oldest lifeboat house in Cornwall, and is now a little cafe.  The family that runs it also has a meadery.  So with my tea I sampled a flight of six meads.  They were not quite to my taste, but I enjoyed the peach flavour quite a bit.  

My slow meander through town took me back up the hills now, where I stopped at 45 Queen St, a small fancy little restaurant for an early dinner.  I relaxed there for a bit with a glass of wine and my book before heading back to my inn.

I had seen a sign that it was a trivia night, and they collect money for a charity in hour of the landlords nephew who passed from cancer recent.  The funds go to support cancer treatment with the NHS.  I slipped into the main pub and ordered a pint.  It can be hard being on a trivia team of one - I was dead last at one in Australia! They are still fun none the less.  But the lovely people of the Fountain Tavern had none of that.  One of the locals asked if I was playing and I was encouraged to join one of the teams.  

It was lots of fun getting to know the locals, and I did provide a bit of an edge with some questions.  Though not too many!  My best was being able to name five famous Jennifer’s from film and television.  To some hilarity when I was asked where I was staying, I replied that I was staying at the inn there.  With some laughter I discovered two of my teammates owned the establishment!  They and their friends had quite a good night and were very welcoming.  I had an excellent stay and was glad I decided to join the trivia challenge. 

In the morning was check out, not a rush as it was just a one hour train ride to my next destination.  I’m staying in Bodmin near the beautiful Bodmin Moor.  I am also very excited to be treating myself to a very posh hotel that was once the Bodmin Jail.  Built in 1779 it was a remarkably modern jail for its time, inmates had individual cells, women had a separate area and there was even hot water!  The room are comprised of three cells to make them very spacious, and I think my bed is actually in what was an extra fire place in the women’s section so the pregnant and nursing mothers could have some extra heat.  So kind of them.  That wing was eventually given over to the Navy and used to house prisoners from the military. 

The restaurant is in the old chapel, and the bar is the Chaplin’s office.  From here he could see the executions in the public yard from the comfort of his own chair.   I’m quite excited to stay here, both the luxury and the history.  There is an eerie silence in my rooms though with the think stone walls.  As well as a plaque on the wall that says the cell was used by Benjamin Ellison who was executed in 1845.

Tonight I will be doing a ghost tour of the museum that is on the site.  I’m really looking forward to a nice sleep in the plush comfort of my room.  So I hope I won’t regret the tour!