Surprise Sunday #1 - Tintagel & Boscastle

At the beginning of May we were looking to mix things up a bit and start to explore more of Cornwall, so on 08 May we decided to implement Surprise Sundays. Christine suggested that I come up with a place to take everyone, put them in the car, not telling them where we were going (not even Christine), and go. We’ve done that on three Sundays so far and will be continuing this tradition until we head home on 01 August.

That first Surprise Sunday we headed to the north coast of Cornwall, which is known for extreme coastal relief, large waves, and a lot of history. We had been wanting to explore Tintagel Castle, the mythical home of King Arthur, so I decided to head in that direction. I also knew that I could get there without any navigation help, so that was part of my thinking. I also have wanted to visit the picturesque village of Boscastle, which is just up the coast from Tintagel. I’ve known about Boscastle for years because I show a video to my intro hydrology classes about a flash flood that struck this village in 2004. Here is the location of the two villages that we visited on that first Surprise Sunday. We’re just 10 miles up the coast from another village that we have visited, Port Isaac.

Tintagel Castle is operated by English Heritage, an organization to which we belong.

The site is really more ruins than castle, but the setting is so spectacular, with cliffs and caves in addition to the ruins, that it is well worth visiting. The main portion of the ruins is on what is essentially an island. Here is the view from the mainland ruins.

Some of the castle walls are fairly well preserved,

with archways that are still standing

and other rough walls,

but what we really enjoyed were the coastal views. In fact, that is probably one of our favorite things about Cornwall. Notice the caves behind Rebecca in the picture below. Caves like these are common all along the coast. Look later along in this blog for pictures from inside one of these caves.

This picture looks north toward the village of Boscastle and some other future Surprise Sunday locales.

The tide went out as we visited the ruins. We were quite happy about this because it gave us a chance to walk on the small, pocket beach below the castle. Better yet, it gave us the chance to walk through one of the caves at the site. It is named Merlin’s cave after the eponymous wizard of the King Arthur legend. Rebecca and Gwendolyn (also the name of Merlin’s wife!) loved being in the cave.

They were excited to walk all the way through! So was Christine!

I enjoyed the small stream that reached the sea as a North Carolina-style slickrock waterfall.

Here is how Rebecca summed up her feelings about Tintagel.

Up in the village of Tintagel there is a National Trust property known as the Tintagel Old Post Office. It was originally built in the 14^th Century and was a yeoman’s farmhouse. It later became a Victorian shop and post office. There is still a Victorian-era post box built into the wall of the building.

The building is famous for its wavy roof

But really, there are many buildings in this part of Cornwall that have the same type of roof. After a good lunch in The Cornishmen’s Arms in Tintagel, we headed up the coast to Boscastle. The National Trust has preserved a large portion of the village, especially in the vicinity of the harbour.

This is a tiny village that is most famous for its 2004 flood that resulted in the largest air evacuation in the United Kingdom since WWII. Look above the “Licensed Bistro and Espresso Bar” sign in the picture below and you’ll see a small green sign showing the height of the flooding in this part of the village.

I show a video of this flood to my introductory water class at ASU. It’s a bit sensationalistic, but the flooding was quite amazing, especially when you see how small the stream is that runs through the village. If you watch the video clip, you’ll see people standing on the roof of this building, waiting to be picked up by Royal Navy helicopters.

Here is the stream, the River Valency, now redone in an impressively-sustainable way in an effort to limit future flooding.

The main focus of the National Trust’s effort is the harbour, which is quite beautiful. The Atlantic Ocean lies around a couple of meanders, just beyond Christine. Boscastle is still essentially a fishing village.

One of the things that we enjoyed about the village was the sinuous exit by the river to the sea. It cuts through some interesting rocks that have eroded small pockets and caves into the cliffs. We all enjoyed watching for waves to come in

and blast air out. It reminded Christine and I of the so-called Boca del Diablo blowhole that we saw a few years ago when we visited the Dominican Republic. Here is the one in Boscastle in action

and here is a video of it with Rebecca reporting.

We enjoyed walking along the South West Coast Path, which makes its way around the harbour in the village. The girls enjoyed climbing on the nicely-folded rocks that are common along this stretch of coast.

It was a successful first Surprise Sunday outing.