1 Oct. - Tintagel

 Image: Inside Merlin's Cave under Tintagel

Stories grip us with a lasting strength that time seems only to tighten.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's tale uniting legendary Arthur with the linked island of Tintagel, override still the newfound truths of ancient inhabitants defensively clinging to this scrap of wind + ocean-battered slate + quartz arising so dramatically from the sea.

Similarly, the tale of self built on the web by (+ of) Oran Lynch has brought me to Sennen Cove + White Sands Bay (today, similarly wind, rain + wave lashed) where it collides with my parents' tale of a youthful, 'Just Married' hitchhike from south to north - tents + Youth Hostels - and, (with other strange + unique keepsakes) a small, turned-stone lighthouse that stood sentinel upon a windowsill beside the front door of my childhood home.

Stories are powerful indeed!

Notes: I am sad to report that no-one seems to still think it worthwhile to make simple and elegant turned-stone lighthouses to sell at locations such as Land's End. It's all plastic and gaudy and oozing tackiness.