day 17: Of Saints, Mystics and Tractors

The day dawned quite damp and the rain that had been threatening all week looked like it was going to be with us for a while. So we headed out in the rain, via a different road out of Newquay on which we had not travelled before. Our first destination was the coastal town of Port Isaac, home of Doc Martin. We knew that it would be a challenging town, but we were not prepared to be “googlejacked” and sent down the smallest laneways of Cornwall and over another Ford no less! We had had enough of this Google nonsense. We finally found our way into Port Isaac, discovering that of course there would have been an easier road, and we even found a parking spot, but what we weren’t prepared for was the icy Atlantic blast of rain that arrived in torrents just as we parked the car. It just was not worth wandering steep slippery streets in that weather so, we left the carpark and rejoined the better road in search of Tintagel, home of Merlin and the Arthur legend.

We tricked Google and sought out some B roads rather than unmarked ones and wound our way down to Tintagel, parking in the carpark in the village. By this time the rain from Port Isaac had cleared and, while the breeze was cool, it looked like we were going to be ok. A short walk away was the very steep path down to and then back up again to get a glimpse of the castle. Unfortunately the walkway bridge, an impressive new structure does not officially open until Friday and so we couldn’t actually walk on the island where the Tintagel castle is. But we could see the ruins, and then we trekked further down the coast path to the very bottom of the hills where you could see Merlin’s Cave, be entertained by some street theatre and have a bite to eat. It was a beautiful and peaceful spot with the water lapping into Merlin’s cave. One of the great things that they have organised is that you can catch a Jeep all the way up the steep hill for two pounds... a very very worthwhile investment after the long and steep trip down. Mooching for a little while in the village was also great, and Martina found her much sought after raincoat,  until heavy rain returned and sent us scurrying back to the car. It was such a great experience. 

 On our drive we started to make a note of all of the saints names we were seeing as places along the way. Enid was in charge of the recording and just today we found a 16 staggering of them including St Umy, St Mabyn, St Tudy, St Austell, St Combe, St Kew, St Issey, St Jidgey, St Just, St Ives, St Mawgan, St Columb (Major and Minor), St Wenn, St Eval, St Colum. So to any of my friends who have a confirmation class, there is a short list for you!

This afternoon, exhaustion had overcome all of us and Liz was getting a little sick too, so rather than go out we opted to rest at home and get sorted for our check out tomorrow: destination London! Tractors have been a very strong feature of life in Cornwall (and in Devon  and Somerset), but today’s tractor count was something of a record. 12 tractors in a half a day. Chris was in tractor heaven, and mercifully we did not meet any of them on a single lane road. Boys and their toys.
Port Isaac - but too cold and miserable to walk down to Doc Martin's house
Tintagel church
The castle keep
Merlin's cave
Galahad and other storytellers. 
The new suspension bridge across to the castle - not open 'til next week.
Chris walking the coastal path
And of course tractors!

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