THE VIEW FROM CAMELOT

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This past September, 18 readers joined me in the West Country on the BRITISH HERITAGE ‘In Quest of Camelot’ tour of King Arthur’s England. The lingering effects of Hurricane Danielle followed us across the Atlantic, blowing in overcast skies and rain that supplied our adventure with a Dark Age ambience and dampened our shoes and trousers, but not our spirits. Led by Dana Huntley of Lord Addison Travel, we discovered a land of legend, populated by ruined abbeys, medieval fortifications, and tall tales.

Our first destination was the Arthurian shrine of Tintagel on the rugged Cornish coast. An Intercity train carried us from London to Plymouth, where a quick detour brought us to the Mayflower Steps, from which the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for America. We struck out in a different direction, heading inland by coach and arriving at Tintagel following an overnight stay at the Moorland Links Hotel, on the edges of moody Dartmoor.

In the legends, it took the magic of Merlin to get Uther Pendragon into Tintagel Castle. BRITISH HERITAGE readers may be hardier, because not even gale-force winds kept several of them from making the climb to the top and lying down for a short rest in a ruined stone enclosure that, by common agreement, was identified as ‘Ygrain’s bedchamber’, where Arthur was conceived. Nor did most of the group shrink from making the ‘Dozemary dash’ through a driving rain to catch a glimpse of the pool where some folks say Excaliber was cast following the Battle of Camlann. Sadly, the Lady of the Lake kept her hands to herself, so our visit lacked some of the drama that Sir Bedevere experienced during his own trip to the waterside.

The following day, the weather proved less challenging, but the still-muddy slopes of South Cadbury hillfort made for an adventuresome trek to the crest of Arthur’s supposed headquarters. The sloppy and determined band that reached the top walked the hillfort’s innermost rampart as the skies cleared to throw bright sunlight on spectacular views of the surrounding Somerset countryside.

We brought ample samples of the local soil back down with us on our shoes, necessitating an apology or two for our appearance when we rendezvoused with Mr. Geoffrey Ashe, the respected Arthurian scholar, who treated us to a private tour of Glastonbury Abbey, the fabled ‘Isle of Avalon’. (’Don’t worry,’ his charming wife reassured us, ‘Somerset mud washes out very easily.’)

Appropriately enough, our Quest continued on to Bath, the most likely site of the decisive Battle of Badon, and then on into Wales and Caerleon, the ‘City of the Legion’ where Arthur battled against barbarian invaders and held court, and finally to Wroxeter Roman City, which the latest research suggests could be the real-life Camelot, from where Arthur ruled Britain in the 6th century. Maybe so. But we refused to let rigid historical research limit our fun. ‘I believe all of the legends,’ Dana Huntley decided. ‘Even the ones that contradict each other.’ And we all heartily agreed.

At the same time, we were by no means single-minded in our pursuit of Arthurian fact and fantasy. Our comfortably paced itinerary allowed some of our group to make side-trips to several of London’s premier museums, including the Victoria & Albert, the Tate Gallery, and the British Museum. A number of us also took advantage of an opportunity that might well have appealed to the pagan-smashing Christian soldier Arthur himself–attending Sunday morning services in Westminster Abbey, as well as choral Evensong in magnificent Wells Cathedral. These living churches with their golden-voiced choirs contrasted markedly with the evocative ruins at Glastonbury and Valle Crucis Abbey in Wales, where rain once again sprinkled us while we strolled along the roofless nave of what must once have been a building of comparable beauty.

Also in London, the West End theatre beckoned and a lavishly staged production of Beauty and the Beast overwhelmed our modest expectations. Shopping sprees in London, Plymouth, Hay-on-Wye (the used-book capital of the world) and medieval Shrewsbury turned up teddy bears, commemorative coronation teacups, treasured first editions, antique prints, and even an elusive, rare (and ultimately unaffordable) Beanie Baby. Others returned to the States with signed editions of Geoffrey Ashe’s books, sure to become treasured keepsakes in their own right.

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