Today I promised myself that I would visit the solitary church setting  on the hill for over a thousand years or so now.

but first let’s go back to 5/23 and Edinburgh

We started our morning at Starbucks

with a great view of the Royal Mile.

Then a stop by a former church that is now a:

THEN catch a cab to Dean Village

The first authorization to run a mill in the area was given by King David in 1115 to Holyrood Abbey.  The conversions of these old industrial buildings to modern apartments, restaurants and stores is to use a British phrase:  Brilliant

 

These converted mill dwellings are interwoven with rows of mew houses and Victorian changes makes an area a unique community that was meant for the wanderer and explorer.

 

The path meanders and so did we as we enjoyed the lovely park like places intermingled along the waterway.

 

Walking beneath the Dean Bridge which is 447′ feet long 39′ wide with 4 arches and rises 106′ above the river. 

 

 

It is called the “bridge of sighs” and was featured in STRIP JACK by Jan Rankins as the place where a woman was found dead beneath it. Also was in The Lewis Triology II:  THE LEWIS MAN

 

One of the arches was raised several feet to keep people from using it to commit suicide.

 

After 800 years of processing grain the village was made obsolete by newer mills in other parts of the city and by the 1960’s had become slums.

 

The present area was redeveloped in the 1970’s and the walk way developed in 1983.

 

We moved along enjoying the crisp morning (are there any other kind in Scotland) and the lovely sunship (not nearly as common in Scotland).

 

When next we came to The Bernard Well.  The actually inspired by the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, Italy .

 

The well was here in 1760,, but the temple was built in 1788 with a new pump room for the well.

 

The Well is basically unchanged for 200 years, but the well has seldom been opened since 1949.

 

The statue is of Hygieia, the Greek goddess of health.

 

Once a major draw of visitors to the area, the waters were reputed to cure arthritis, back aches, even total blindness.

 

Water supposedly and taste metallic and was described as “the washings out of a foul gun barrel

 

Then we wander into Stockbridge.

 

The name of the town is Scottish meaning a timber bridge

 

The village was at one time a small place outlaying from Edinburg. 

 

It was incorporated in the 19th century and the current bridge which is stone, was built in 1801.

 

We wandered about visiting shops and checking out restaurants the rest of that day.

 

 

 

Back to the world of Cornwall:  6/24

 

There’s a street by my hotel that goes steeply down and the winds about and up the hillside to the Church…but it is narrow and only room for one car and no area for the pedestrian to get out of the way, which makes me a bit hesitant to wander that way.

 

So I wandered thru town while I worked on finding a path there (I had seen a sign noting such a path, but couldn’t quite remember where.)

 

I ended up walking onto a side street that goes to the next village—which sets on a hill and is plainly visible from the street I walked down….also visible was a notice of a trail to the church, across the sheep dotted hilltop fields.

 

Everything went well till I missed the turn off and ended up in the most beautiful garden with two lovely stone houses and the owner talking with friends there.  I apologized for trespassing and requested if she could show me how to get to the church I’d move on. 

 

She was gracious and told me that the house use go below to the church and when we went through a large wooden door and I could see the road.

 

SUSI:  on our left was a small chapel which we had seen 8 years ago on our walk up to see the church.  What is now a little chapel (and which she leaves open to the passing public) was originally a stable for horses but eventually became this hapel in the 1920s…

 

She told me a story that one day she and a friend were setting quietly in the chapel and a group of people came in.  Her friend and her set quietly seemly unnoticed by the new people and to her amazement the new guest proceeded to carr66y out a service.  My lovely hostess says her friend and her set there and watched the ceremony, not interrupting it.

 

I finally reached the church yard and winded my way among the stones.  Many of the stones are old and covered with all manner of growing moss and the like.

 

The most interesting to me was the grave of an Italian cabin boy in a shipwreck off the coast here.  On the grave is a life preserver (the actual orginal is now preserved inside the church.  The burials here are old and new and reflect the ongoing people and activities of the village below.

 

The church itself is very old with lovely stained glass windows.  It is an ative church with plaques to the newer people of the village as well as remember the inhabitants of long past.  I just set there for awhile soaking up the ambience before exploring further.

 

Then I was off again along the sea side cliffs

 

for a view of the outcropping of stone and it’s contained history that is called The Castle.  One an outgrowth of land carved by the sea’s constant action of the stone….it became an island in the17th century (if my memory is still good) when that same sea tore away it’s anchor to the mainland and made the rough hewn place the isle it is today.

 

It is here that Tintagel got it’s name—here were digs have shown habitation since the Roman times and the existance here of a dwelling with rich pottery and that if not actually associated to the fabled but of questionable reality of King Arthur.

 

It is a stark place which clearly shows it’s battle with the elements with many areas of bare stone visible through the thin covering of green.

 

The path along here is rough and easy to stumble on with its uneven stones and my bad knee.  The steps vary in size from a small step down to one that stretches my short legs.

I received assistance from a nice gentleman out walking with his wife and son and took the easier path back to Tintagel rather than the steeper and many stepped one to the castle.

 

I have heard plans for a very high bridge to span the old area where the land had been to do away with the multiple steps, but talks with locals show they do not hold any optimism that it will ever be completed given the wind and the weather that once tore the land apart an would probably do the same to the bridge, but only time will tell.

 

Down a narrow path that moved down at a nice grade through heavy growth of trees and the like.

 

It finally came out at a bridge at the bottom of a steep pass that would return me to the winding main street that makes up the majority of the village.

 

After dragging my weary body up the path I ate dinner at the hotel and settled down to an exiting evening of watching TV.