A Blog about Cornwall's Hidden Places & Untold Stories
It is fair to say that if you look hard enough every nook and cranny of the Cornish coast has some tale or other to tell. Whether it is shipwrecks, mermaids, ancient cliff castles, strange geology or wily smugglers, it’s really hard to find a cove or cliff without some story attached to it. While […]
Read More
The first place that the Spanish Armada was sighted on mainland Britain was supposedly at Lizard Point in July 1588. From there, in a pre-arranged signal, a great chain of beacons was lit. The glow of fires jumped from one hilltop to the next up across the country to warn of the enemy’s arrival to […]
Read More
Having so many prehistoric monuments in such a relatively small area as the Penwith can mean that sometimes something rather special gets overlooked. I was sitting beside Bosiliack Cairn recently, eating my picnic and enjoying the last bit of sun. In the distance Lanyon Quoit was attracting a steady stream of visitors, as was Men […]
Read More
The Clay Country region of Cornwall is an area that I know very little about, somehow I have passed through but never really lingered or come to understand it. Strange I suppose considering that its towering white waste mountains haunt the horizon from so many of Cornwall’s high places. They never seem far away. So […]
Read More
“The sour and uninviting upland pastures” J.R.A. Hockin, 1939 It seems that some places by their very nature create their own mythology. The austere wildness of the vast tracts of Davidstow Moor have conceivably led to it being regarded by many as a dark and haunted landscape. However, a number of strange and unfortunate occurrences […]
Read More
The Killigrew family are said to have been the original builders and benefactors of Falmouth. They were the first to realise and exploit it’s potential as a harbour and a centre for trade. With their deep connections to the monarchy from the time of the reign of Henry III in the 13th century they were […]
Read More
Loe Pool is Cornwall’s largest natural lake but the curious uncertainty over its formation and the myths and legends associated with it make this mysterious body of water so much more than a picturesque nature reserve. It may be a haven for wild birds, trout and otters but this lake gathers stories too . . […]
Read More
We all know that walking is good for us in so many ways, both physically and mentally. And especially in recent months, for many of us, I am sure that getting out in nature and escaping the constant news cycle has been very important – I know it has for me! It is easy however […]
Read More
Tantalising glimpses of Cornwall’s forgotten history can often be found preserved in the names given to villages, roads, woodlands, tors and rivers. The Cornish translation can offer clues, hints of former industries perhaps, a remembrance of a historical figure or subtle signpost to past events. In the graveyard of Camborne parish church there is an […]
Read More
Just when I think I am becoming familiar with our prehistory I discover somewhere new! Warbstow Bury is Cornwall’s second largest and best preserved Iron Age fort. Built around 2500 years ago the impressive concentric rings crown a spur of high ground in North Cornwall close to the River Ottery. On a clear day standing […]
Read More
