Lands End
17 - 18 June 2024
Not every day on Julie and Anthony’s trip was perfect. On Monday we planned to visit Land’s End with stops at Arthurian legend sites upon the way. Our first stop was at the Trethevy Quoit. A Quoit is a Neolithic Monument/Tomb, the Trethevy Quoit dates from 4th Century BC / Iron Age. We expected a hike (thus the sticks), but the quoit was just a few feet from the parking.
Next Julie and Anthony found the Tristan Stone. The Tristan Stone was a bit underwhelming, unceremoniously located on the side of the road, next to a bus stop. After this we drove to the Arthurian Center (home of the a Round Table, there seems to be more than one), inconveniently closed during the week until school recess in July. At this point we decided Land’s End would be a bridge too far, so we headed to St Nectan’s Glen, near Tintagel.
St Nectan’s Glen reminded Julie and Anthony a bit of Davidson River in the Pisgah Forest near Brevard. The walk from the parking lot to St Nectan’s Glen is over a mile. On the way we passed a number of houses, and farms before heading into a forest. The trail followed a clear shallow creek, surrounded by foliage, cooling the area down. On the way we passed groups of people heading out, but not many folks headed in. We reached the entry and discovered access to the waterfall was closed. It seems Nectan’s Glen has been commercialized.
Many of the logs are filled with coins, embedded in the wood.
The waterfall in St Nectan’s Glen, that we didn’t really see.
On Tuesday, Julie and Anthony FINALLY made it to Land’s End. Land’s End was worth the wait, and the 3 hour drive from Torquay. This was one of the things Julie really wanted to do, having read about the area in one of her books. We had a nice lunch and met a lovely couple from the Lake District, whose children are getting married at Land’s End this summer. We may meet up with them when we pass through there for a pint.
Longship’s Lighthouse, 1.5 miles off the coast of Land’s End. It looks like a Greek? column rising out of the water.
After Lunch Julie and Anthony hiked about a mile North of Land’s End to the Maen Cliff Castle.
Next we hiked South of Land’s End, for more spectacular views.
We stopped by the Merry Maidens Standing Stones, a short distance from Land’s End
We had dinner at the Mackerel Sky Seafood Bar in Penzance. We sat outside by the Newiyen Coombe River.
Here are the maps of our travels, notice Monday’s Circuitous route.
