Eden project to Slaughterbridge

27th May 2016

30.5 miles , 755 metres climbing, total so far 127 miles

Everything was sodden this morning and the midges were out en force so we packed up the sleeping bags and clothes and went off to the Eden Project leaving the tent to dry out as the sun came out later.

Local people had been somewhat equivocal about the Eden project but we thought the biomes, especially the rainforest one were impressive in scale and execution, clearly a massive undertaking and even out of school/holidays it was really busy.

We then set off on the Sustrans 3 which took/us to Bodmin where we had a late lunch in the sun and on to join the Camel Trail- an idylic disused railway along the Camel river ‘
,Victorian railway engineers were geniuses , creating level routes through the undulating landscape, a welcome respits after the last couple of days.

We then had a steep climb up onto Bodmin moor in the late afternoon sun, fantastic views

Coffee in Bodmin

Camel Trail

Bodmin Moor

We had arranged to camp at Slaughterbridge at the Arthurian Centre when we had emailed we had such a warm message baCck from the owner Joe supporting our venture , we arrived to find that he and Sam had arranged a barbeque for us and invited friends round to support MSF- really moving

We had a further surprise- around this part of Cornwall there are a lot of Arthurian themed fish and chip shops , pubs and dog grooming parlours however on Joe and Sams farm they have the site of the Celtic / Saxon Battle of Camlann ,the last battle of the true historical Arthur figure ( giving the name to the hamlet of Slaughterbridge),  Tennyson visited the site and went on to write his poem and create the Victorian romantic myth. THERE is also an intriguing stone pillar inscribed in Latin with Arthurs name and Ogham script, it was recorded in medieval texts but then lost for several hundred years until it was found having been used as a footbridge over a small stream. It is now looked after by English Heritage but still lies on the bank of the stream on their land.

There is also a medieval farm that is being excavated by archaeologists. They have arranged access to this in a low key symparthetic way with a path through the meadows and over the stream where there are otters . Although they have been appoached by people wanting to develop a Disney like experience they have resisted and the whole feeling was in keeping with the surrounding landscape- a very heartening experience after visiting Lands End

Arthurs Stone

We are camped in a small field behind the farm- proper camping with warm showers but no karaoke- perfect

BBQ with Joe and Sam