'Slightly Bodmin'

There is a current TV show, ‘Doc Martin’ set in Cornwall, where the phrase Bodmin is used as a euphemism for madness. So midway through the holiday, it was time for a little madness up on the moors.

We headed up the A30, then turned off right onto the A38. My intention was to look at various crosses and wells throughout the day, whilst aiming for Rillaton Barrow up by the Hurlers, then moving across the A30 to get up to Stannon Moor stone circle.

The first stop was for a pair of inscribed stones at a crossroads at Welltown (SX136678). Of this pair, only one is mentioned in Cheryl Straffon’s ‘Cornish Earth Mysteries Guide to Bodmin Moor and Tintagel’, and then in a slightly different location, against a farm building. These stones now sit high on the hedge at the crossroads just to the north of the hamlet.

Next up was a small cross head, at SX142680 which I can find no reference to in Andrew Langdon’s excellent Cornish Cross series of books. This was sadly surrounded by rubbish bags, and a yapping dog meant I had no wish to stay longer than I had to here, so a quick photo, and away.

The Crowpound Menhir was our next stop, at SX174677. Robin Payne suggests this is of unknown antiquity, but it certainly looks and feels like the real thing, although it is a bit too close to the roadside to be in an original location. It stands across the road from a mediaeval enclosure, from which it takes its name.

A comfort break in St Neots afforded the opportunity to see the churchyard crosses there, a veritable collection of no more than three old Cornish crosses, along with a beautiful cross shaft, covered in Celtic knotwork, very similar to that seen on the King Doniert’s Stone a short way NE of the village.

Passing the Wenmouth wayside cross, the aforementioned King Doniert’s Stone, and Long Tom, we continued on to Minions, where I left Mikki in the car and headed up to the Hurlers.
Taking a direct line through the Hurlers and heading for the Cheesewring, once the stones were out of sight behind me I headed off to the right to successfully seek out Rillaton Barrow. This is of course where the famous Rillaton Gold Cup was discovered in 1818. We had seen a facsimile of this in the museum in Truro on Monday.

I took several photos of the Hurlers and the nearby Pipers before returning to the car to plan the next leg of the excursion.

We decided to cut back to Golitha Falls and follow the line of the River Fowey up toward Bolventor, where we rejoined the A30 briefly, before heading up towards ST Breward, passing the Trippet Stones in the process.

I had hoped to spot some of the Holy Wells in the area, but had come badly prepared with only the OS map to guide me. I guess I’m just not as enthused about wells as I am the other monuments, as I failed to find a single one today. Abandoning the Well search, we headed for Harpur’s Downs and the Stannon Circle.

This really is an amazing place. The road crosses the downs, then finally just peters out, ending at Stannon House, by what to all appearances looks like a massive Iron Age hillfort.

Appearances can be deceptive though, as this is the outer bank of the china clay works that sits just a couple of hundred yards from the circle. The road turns into a track from here, but it is possible to take the car to within 50 yards or so of the circle, and I was pleased when Mikki agreed to enter the circle - she doesn’t get to many of the sites I visit.

Just to the northeast of the circle is a strange arrangement, listed in Robin Payne’s book as the Devil’s Teeth stone setting, possibly the remains of a stone row.

Back at the car, I noticed that the Moorgate Menhir was only a short drive to the north. Last time I’d been there, it was swathed in fog, so I was tempted to take another bite of the cherry. Parking is precarious though (I’ve no idea where I parked last time!) and as Mikki’s ME had flared up, we decided to call it a day and head back to the chalet. One last stop just north of Bodmin itself, at Longstone, meant that I saw both the stone and cross erected there.

An early finish to a busy day.

Harry Safari

Today was my day to be a tourist. Leaving Mikki at the camp to continue her college work, I headed off to Penzance to join up with ‘Harry Safari’, billed as a trip with ‘spectacular scenery and over 4000 years of history in a tour that is fascinating and fun’. We’d discovered on Sunday evening that Mikki’s brother-in-law was a good friend of Harry’s, so I made my introduction on this basis, and climbed aboard the mini-bus.

The tour was entertaining and informative, but didn’t hold much of interest for the serious megarak. Harry’s forte is Cornish history, with particular relevance to the industrial heritage of the area, although he admitted that he’s had to bone up on some of the older stuff as that’s what tourists like to hear.

We did visit Towednack Church, reputedly on the site of a stone circle, but with no stones in evidence. All members of the tour were urged to try dowsing in the church, and everyone got a reaction at the prescribed spots. We also visited Treen Common enclosure, touted as a circle, although there is currently some doubt as to its antiquity in some archaeological circles (ouch!) The final Neolithic site visited was Lanyon Quoit, where Harry pointed out the inscribed date of its reconstruction, which I’d not been aware of before.

All in all, an entertaining 4-5 hours, which I’d recommend to anyone visiting Cornwall, but don’t expect a serious tour of Neolithic sites.

So then it was back to collect Mikki, and we pottered over to St Ives for a browse in the bookshops before returning to the camp and a roast dinner.

Dorset Diversions

Every time we drive down to Cornwall, I want to stop off and see some sites in Dorset. Every time, something conspires to stop me, be it time constraints, the weather, carriage of pets, or whatever.

Today we were on a time constraint to get to St Just by 1pm, to pick up some meat from the organic butcher there. So an early start was called for. We left the house at 3:40 am. A smooth drive down the M3 ensured we were travelling through the New Forest just as the darkness started to disperse.

I had a few possible Dorset targets in mind: Nine Stones of Winterbourne Abbas (recently desecrated with runic inscriptions by idiots with chalk), the Hellstone, The Old Grey Mare and her Colts, Kingston Russell Stone Circle. Having seen the Nine Stones in the past, and knowing how difficult they are to photograph even in the day, I turned off for the Old Grey Mare group, but missed the appropriate side road. Pulling into a layby to check my bearings, I realised I was perfectly parked to pop over to see the Hellstone.

Two fields later, and having passed a herd of vicious/ultra-curious bovines in the adjoining field (why don’t they put something in their morning coffee to stem such behaviour?) I was standing by the Hellstone, just as the sun began to rise. Sadly the same group responsible for the Nine Stones graffiti has desecrated this site too. The same/similar symbols were in evidence here, with runes inscribed inside the chamber. Unlike the Nine Stones, though, the rain won’t have a chance to wash these ones off.

Saddened by this, I watched a glorious sunrise to lift my dampened spirits before returning to Mikki in the car.

We retraced our route back to the side road and made our way down towards the entrance to Gorwell Farm, ready for the walk to the Grey Mare.

The walk was much easier than I’d anticipated, though the ‘Beware Low Flying Aircraft’ signs were a little worrying, and I jinked off the footpath at just the right spot to see the Grey Mare. As Moth describes them, they are indeed a ruinous version of Waylands Smithy. Not much more to be said really. I did look for, but couldn’t see, the optical illusion so in evidence at Waylands, so maybe not such a good comparison after all?

A quick glance at the time proved that I wouldn’t have time to continue on to Kingston Russell on this occasion, so it was back to the car to continue our journey, arriving in Penwith in good time for the butchers, despite a long breakfast stop on the way.