The Cornish mizzle turned into a steady rain during the day. Our only stop of note was in Tintagel. The castle there is where the legend of King Arthur was born and perpetuated by successive generations of monks who seemed to like spending their time adding to life's simple realities by dreaming up stories of bravery and intrigue. Reality and legend have been blurred into one. Here also is Merlin's cave, the home of King Arthurs teacher, which can be entered at low tide. We didn't get to see it.
The weather packed in so our planned drive through the Exmoor National Park didn't happen. The lack of visibility wouldn't have made it worth our while. The rest of our day was spent driving country lanes and motorways (when we couldn't avoid them) to get to our overnight stop here in Highbridge. We had planned on going a bit further but it was getting to be bumper to bumper, crawling, traffic so we decided to call it a day.
When we can we prefer to travel the country roads. Although windy and narrow and a lot more trafficked than in Ireland, the country views and small villages we pass through make it worthwhile. Areas of deciduous forest are very attractive even on a bleak day like today. You can imagine the deer and badger that must live there. Most villages seem to have been built on the tops of hills which make for narrow, windy and often steep streets and lanes bordered by stone walls and houses.
