Cornwall
October 2015
Frank was pleased to find he had his own collection of luxury biscuits in one of the shops in town! Then we headed for the National Trust shop at the end of which was a café - we went in there first. BooBoo spotted the scones and - as we were in Cornwall - we decided a cream tea was the order of the day, even though it was barely 10am!
The scones, jam and Rodda's clotted cream were really nice (though not as nice as The Waymarker) and we had coffees too. We bears were, however, advised that we did not need ice cream as well. Humans are weird.
There's a mannequin with a Scold's Bridle (scolds were nagging or argumentative woman who may - or may not - have been accused of witchcraft). The tongue was held down to prevent them speaking. There is also a Wrist Shackle, Waist Band and also Thumbscrews, which are known to have been used in Scotland. We took the Weighing Chair for a test drive - witch versus Southwell Bible. I think we got away with it!
I spotted this Medieval Spice Rack, okay so it holds herbs used in witchcraft and medicine. I even found one called Bearberry! It is used in the treatment of bites by venomous reptiles. The lady below seems to have been a bit of a potions expert. The mark above my head (below right) is an indication of the water level back in the 2004 floods. Now that's scary!
Theo found a collection of Poppets and thought he'd try to be one. He was pretty convincing! They were made to harm or heal, sometimes stuck with pins. (Attaching hair or fingernails can make the spell work better, by the way.) Then, of course, Theo found other things to do! Below right is the Baphomet (the Goat of Mendes) - usually half man, half goat or with a goat's head. It was said that the Knight's Templar worshipped this as a source of wealth and fertility. O-kay then.
It's not a huge museum, with artifacts stuck into every nook and cranny but if you read everything, or take one of the guidebooks with you, you can spend an hour or two. No surprise that Theo found some Strega (Italian for witch). This is a liquor, containing over seventy herbs and barks and takes it's name from the many witches who brewed potions around Benevento, Italy. They had a few Ouija Boards though I think I prefer Scrabble.
There's all kinds of bits and pieces here, including a Painted Broomstick. Below right is The Shrine where Museum guests can leave a memorial.
Outside we got a group photo in front of the Museum where there were a few jackdaws about. We took a quick wander down the river before it was time to head out of Boscastle.
As we drove out of Boscastle we found a road block! You don't see this very often!
We bought our tickets and then approached the entrance to the castle, passing by Tintagel.Beach.
There were a lot of uneven steps up, poor Frank was worn out by the time he got to the top! We all sat to get our breath back and admire the view. We didn't go up the other side (below centre) as it was pretty steep and it was that or the café and gift shop. So, a no-brainer really. There's a good view of the waterfall from up here too.
Through a gate we found some Castle ruins. Out across the sea there's a good view of some caves in the cliff walls.
We caught a glimpse of one of the sheep released onto Tintagel - I saw it on BBC's Countryfile!
We had planned a teddy bear's picnic up on Tintagel (what else?) so we decided to find a spot to eat - the assistants were complaining the food was heavy. We found a nice slopy bit on the side of a hill (anyone can have a picnic on the flat!) and put down a blanket. However, there were a few large seagulls about so we decided to sit under a nice protective rock instead of out in the open - we didn't want anyone carried off! This guy was particularly persistent and stuck with us for the entire meal.
After our picnic we found some more ruins including this old well (below centre).
We then got up to what some people might refer to as shenanigans. Where'd Pink Ted go? Ooooh here she is.
Don't ever tell bears not to climb on the walls! Eventually it was time to leave so we headed back down the stairs - they looked even more daunting from here!
Of course, I had to do my bannister-sliding thing. Once we were back at the entrance we decided it was time for a drink and cake. Theo chose the Tintagel Brewery Castle Gold beer.
Sitting at the next table was George, the dog. Like me, he is on Twitter. I found out later he found a home through Finding Furever Homes, great guys who work hard to find homes for dogs. Small world! After the cake we hit the gift shop. They had the usual toys, magnets, local foodstuffs and we even got to try some of the local mead! Maybe we had too much as Reddy got really excited when he found this fabulous helmet. Luckily his dad found one too! Score!!
We had to drag Di back up the hill to the car park and sadly we didn't have oxygen for her at the top so she stayed purple for a really long time. Ah well. She didn't die.
We got fish and chips and some onion rings. The fish was fabulous in crispy batter, but Assistant Paul couldn't have any as they fry the shrimp in the same fryer as the chips and fish and he's allergic so he made do with a roll and butter! Aahhhh. Fortunately for veggie Di they do a veggie burger with fries cooked in vegetable oil, the regular food is cooked in beef dripping.
As well as the eat-in restaurant there is also a takeaway counter so if there's a wait - and the next night they were lined up outside before it opened - just go and eat em in your car. To be fair, you'll probably be more comfortable! If you do eat in they have beer and wine!
