St Michael’s Mount and Bodmin Moor

We made it to St. Michael’s Mount, which is an island at high tide, but part of the land at low tide. It’s a wonderful in-between place, used by Neolithic folk as a location where they could meet ship born  traders in search of tin. Pytheas the Greek visited this place in 350 BC, which ultimately led to a little trouble with the Romans.

 

 

This megalith hangs onto the cliffside next to the castle at the highest point of the island, indicating the antiquity of the site. It’s not approachable for close inspection, but looks like a Celtic cross of the type found here in Cornwall. 

Bodmin Moor has a very different character to Dartmoor. It feels more damaged and exploited after the centuries of tin mining that has happened here. It’s bleak and has a similar population of horses and sheep, and we discovered that the local farmers breed cows on the moor with the bulls on the loose. We saw four during our hike, avoiding them carefully.

 

Four thousand years ago Neolithic people were here building their enigmatic structures. This pair of megaliths is known as the Pipers, found standing at the edge of the triple stone circle called the Hurlers in the middle of the Moor. It’s another unusual site, being the only triple circle I know of.