Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Tintagel, Boscastle, Hurlers, Lanhydrock and more

For you King Arther fans, we finally made it to his castle or where it is supposed to be.





It was an absolutely miserable day so I had to plug (as in steal them off another site) a few pictures so you could see them clearly!

Tintagel is a small touristy village north of Port Isaac.  It's main attractions are the ancient post office and of course the ruins of King Arthur's "castle".  (Lionesse is supposed to be located somewhere off the coast, lost to the sea.

Actually, historians will tell you that this ancient ruin has no connection to Arthur whatsoever but why ruin a good story with the facts!



Here is the castle....



And here is the view from the castle......




Now back to my crummy photographs on a crummy day. This is Tintagel's other attraction, the Old Post Office built in the 14th century.


It is mainly known for its wavy roof....everyone has had problems with employees it seems.


Our next stop was Boscastle, a pretty, tiny little village nestled in a valley.  Unfortunately a few years ago they had a horrific flood that wiped out most of the town which they have since rebuilt.





Once again we drove through some gorgeous countryside even if it was a miserable day.  We were on our way to see some old neolithic monuments.




When I say awful weather, I mean awful weather.  That is the gloom descending down the hill.


So we were looking for the Hurlers, those neolithic stone circles.  HOWEVER, we got lost bigger than hell and I guarantee you we saw things no other tourist has seen.  Reminded me of the time Tim got us lost in the Forest of Dean!  We didn't have a clue where those damn stones were!.




Finally we found them but it was so rainy and cold we only got close enough to see them then ran away!  Forget it, it was pneumonia weather and I was done with those stones!




Lunch was at The Jamaica Inn, made famous by the Daphne Du Maurier book.





Mercifully the weather started to clear and we made our way across Bodmin moor on the way to Lanhydrock House.



Lanhydrock House is maintained by the National Trust and is a fine example of a Victorian manor.  Originally built centuries before, it suffered a catastrophic fire and was re-built in the high Victorian style.  It is a gorgeous building set in beautiful grounds.






We finished our day with a journey to the dark side.  Going through Bodmin on the way home we went by the old debtor's prison......


And the old Bodmin jail which totally gave me the creeps.  It was built by the prisoners for King George III by hauling 20,000 tons of granite from the quarry. 

I will tell you that I took a few steps inside this place and turned around and came right back out.  No way I was going in there.  We all know that I get my feelings and I got terrible feelings of dread and misery in this place.  I KNEW it was haunted and I was getting the hell out of there.

I decided to look it up online and sure enough the British Channel ITV had done a story on this place for its most haunted series!!




Exit stage left, RIGHT NOW!!!!!!
















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