SWCP Day 12 – 21 April 2017

Tresmorn to Tintagel

I love B&B’s, but they’re awkward to stay at when then are no other guests. Having stared at my own reflection the evening before whilst enjoying a lovely three-course dinner, I was loathe to repeat the performance over breakfast. So I charmed my host into joining me over coffee at the tail end and ended up getting away later than I would have liked. Oh well…

Tresmorn to Crackington Haven (the usual stop for the night on the swcp) wasn’t exactly a ten minute jaunt. From the B&B I had to figure my way through scary farmland again, find the coast path, and follow it out to the incredible heights of Castle Point, then complete a major down-up that I was very glad I hadn’t attempted the day before. Along the way I saw some intriguing spider webs (anyone heard of ground-dwelling spiders?), and some very lazy horses.

 

Arriving at Crackington Haven felt like an achievement in itself and I was very much feeling the weight of the beast and the hangover that a bottle of wine will bring (I blame my B&B host, Emma, who asked if I’d like a glass of wine with dinner, then said “I’ll just leave the bottle with you. Have as much as you like”. Famous last words.)

I slept well, but, yeah, well, anyway…

 

So, the blue sky was just a bit too blue, and, whilst enjoying an elderflower fizzy drink at Crackington Haven, I had this amazing brain wave that if I got to Tintagel under steam that didn’t involve my legs hauling a ten tonne beast, I could then do the path from the other direction with relative ease. Amazing, right? I know.

Didn’t happen.

The bus jaunted up the hill and along tiny little lanes, dodging tractors and range rovers and bicycles and cows and…you get the picture. The driver deserved a prize.

Some time later we arrived in Tintagel and I made a bee-line for the Tourist Information Centre in search of a town map, only to be told that they didn’t really have one, and that there wasn’t all that much to see anyway. Something told me this person wasn’t enthusiastic about her job. Having had no expectation of time to play tourist, and no network connection for days, I hadn’t done a town search. All I knew was Tintagel Castle – of King Arthur and Merlin fame – made the town famous, and that the UK branch of Scientologists had a hub nearby (Apparently Tom Cruise had made a not-so-stealthy visit)(thanks Emma for that little tit-bit).

I didn’t see Tom, or his friends, but I did see King Arthur, and I did explore his castle’s ruins. Amazing place. But that happened a little later.

First, I discovered the Old Post Office…

 

 

…had a coffee and a pastie and an icecream (all the food groups)…

…and then, instead of hiking the swcp in reverse as intended, I went in search of the knights of the round table. Stairs anyone?

 

Places like this spark my imagination. I spent hours scrambling around the ancient walls, imagining life in centuries past.

 

Apparently a lot of visitors to Tintagel Castle are annoyed that it’s a ruin, but I like it that way – seeing time so evident on the landscape.

 

In the summer garden I was reminded of the story of Tristan and Isolde/Iseult.

 

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And King Arthur watched over his domain…

 

Impressive, hey?

The day nearly done, I hightailed it to the Tintagel YHA (another km south along the swcp) to be sure to get a bottom bunk in the dorm – for some reason climbing those ladders is just too much effort even though I’d willingly climbed stairs and cliffs all day.

 

 

[Surge stats: 13.13 km, 70 floors, 20365 steps]