Admittedly, King Arthur probably had pictures on those walls, carpet on the floor and Merlin conjouring up foie gras and stuffed peacock for lunch, whereas I had to make do with a day-old Cornish pasty and a fence to stop me falling off the cliff, but other than that, I had the authentic Arthurian experience yesterday. Except that he didn't exist.
As long established waterfall junkies (we've loved them since Sunday), our plan had been to stop off at St Nectan's Kieve on our way to Tintagel yesterday. And stop off we did. For about thirty seconds. Which was the amount of time it took us to read the sign informing us that the waterfall was a one mile walk from the car park. After our experience at Lydford Gorge, we decided not to risk another white water, white knuckle scramble, and instead pressed on to calm serenity and confident safety of Tintagel...
Yeah, they didn't warn us about those steps either. I should probably make better use of TripAdvisor. But like the true adventurers we are, Amelie and I made it to the top right corner of the castle ruins in the photo above, where I managed to calm my shaking hands long enough to take this picture...
Amelie wasn't the only one clinging on for dear life there, but whilst I was on the verge of crawling on my hands and knees just to cope with the acrophobia, Amelie did it mainly to peer through the castle walls...
It's odd - if someone told me to climb over that wall, I'd struggle to manage it, so I know I'm in no danger of accidentally toppling over, but despite that, I felt genuinely terrified every time I stepped within three feet of the edge. I expect that's normal for a man's man.
Anyhoo, it wasn't all an uphill struggle. Upon arrival, we actually headed down the first flight of steps to the cove below Tintagel Castle...
Well, I say 'we'. If you enlarge the photo below, you might just notice two key features...
One is the large gap between the bottom of the steps and the beach, and the other is Lisa standing halfway up. The two are causally linked.
But one person who's not put off by a three foot drop (mainly because he knows I'll carry him) is Toby...
So while Lisa gazed thoughtfully into the distance, contemplating medieval history, world peace and nose cancer...
... the rest of us frolicked in a waterfall.
The good news, however, is that Lisa wasn't alone for long. By the time we'd explored Merlin's Cave and got back up to the wooden bridge, Toby had had enough of steps, and refused to go any further, so while Amelie and I climbed up to the gatehouse courtyard...
... Lisa and Toby clung to each other at the bottom...
To be honest, it was definitely the right decision. Some of those steps are stupidly steep for small legs and terrifyingly high for tiny minds. Lisa would never have made it.
But with the relieved pose of people who are lucky to be alive, Amelie and I conquered part one of Tintagel Castle...
Having done so, we returned down those steps and advised Lisa and Toby to withdraw to the café. They didn't need much persuasion.
Amelie and I then headed up the even steeper steps to the Island Courtyard, and higher still to the Chapel, for views like these...
That long bungalow above is the café where Lisa and Toby hung out for an hour while Amelie and I enjoyed refreshments of a different kind, in the bracing cliff-top breeze...
Our family was eventually reunited at the Tintagel Castle café in the heart of King Arthur country to toast the legendary knights of old...
They only have square tables. I couldn't believe it.
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