On the Road to Camelot

Completed tour in 2007

Monday:  June 4
Leave DFW on 7.00pm flight

Tuesday:  June 5
Arrive London’s Gatwick airport.  Meet the group and board motor coach.  Enjoy a goody bag designed to make your trip more enjoyable. 

Lunch in the pretty market town of Andover and visit the Iron Age Museum.
Within a couple of hours we will arrive at our hotel, The Retreat B&B.  The Retreat is a Georgian manor house on a quiet street in Shaftesbury.
Take the remainder of the day to rest, hike or explore around the city.

Shaftesbury is perched on a hill high above Dorset’s gentle Blackmore Vale. Here, you will find one of England’s most scenically located and charming historic market towns. Founded 1100 years ago as the home of King Alfred’s citadel Benedictine Abbey, and today largely unchanged since the 18th century, the town is a browser and historian’s treasure trove.

View from the Abbey Walls

Shaftesbury’s most famous view is to be found tucked away below High Street: Gold Hill, the quintessential English cottage view. The name may be derived from ‘Gild Hall’; today’s Town Hall stands at the crest of the hill on High Street.

The Shaftesbury Abbey: Founded in 888 AD by King Alfred the Great as a Benedictine community for women. It was the catalyst for the prosperity of the town and surrounding area for 651 years. From AD 888 to 1539 the Abbey was one of the most important in the country. It is thought that, at one time, as many as 350 people lived in the Abbey community, including nuns, novices and all those employed by the Abbess, the first of whom was King Alfred's daughter, Aethelgifu.
Catherine of Aragon stayed at the Abbey on her way to marry Prince Arthur (the older brother of Henry VIII)

Wednesday:  June 6
After an early wake up call we will leave by motor coach to drive to Stonehenge where we will take advantage of the inner circle access to walk among the stones.Stonehenge is surely Britain's greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance. In his great 12th century epic - The History of the British Kings - Geoffrey of Monmouth tells the story of how Merlin erected Stonehenge. Arthur's uncle, Ambrosius Aurelius, had summoned Merlin to find a way to commemorate the great British kings and warriors. Merlin 'put the stones up in a circle thus proving that his artistry was worth more than any brute strength.'

From Stonehenge we will drive to Winchester where you will have a delicious breakfast. Our guide will be ready to meet us at the King Alfred Statue for a walking tour of this beautiful old Cathedral city.  Take your time to shop and explore on your own this afternoon.

Winchester is the ancient Capital of Wessex, the County Town of Hampshire, England . It’s the burial place of many of England ’s Kings, Queens, Saints, and famous people such as Jane Austen, Izaac Walton and Keats. Here the rule of Common Law was established, the Domesday Book compiled, and the Winchester Bible written. 

Here too, we will see King Arthur’s Round Table.

The Round Table

Thursday:  June 7
Visiting the fortications of Old Sarum will give you an appreciation of the skill of the Anglo Saxons in defending themselves.

Salisbury Cathedral is the most graceful of British Cathedrals.  Our guide will tell us its history and then take us on a tour of this pretty City.  Close by in the Cathedral Close is Montpesson House (famous as the setting for the film Sense and Sensibility)  You may enjoy visiting this charming house with its walled garden, or perhaps Pollys’ Restaurant with its choice of delicious home made cakes will prove irresistible or you may prefer to explore and shop on your own for the afternoon.  Yours to choose, we will be there to guide you.

Friday:  June 8
After breakfast we will be driving to Glastonbury where we will meet our delightful guide, Joan Robertson for a tour of Glastonbury Abbey, the Tor, the Chalice Well and Wells Cathedral

Joan Robertson, our guide is an outstanding authority on King Arthur.  She  has excellent knowledge of the history, myths and legends, which relate to the sights in Glastonbury. You will experience the power and beauty of the living landscape of Avalon.

As part of his bargain with Uther, Merlin seized the baby Arthur when he was born and left him with foster-parents, his identity kept secret. According to legend, Merlin took the infant Arthur to be raised by foster parents in Dunster.

At Dunster, he would have been educated in the martial arts by Prince Cadwy, a prince of Dumnonia, according to Welsh and Breton sources.  Merlin also seized the magic sword Caliburn (or Excalibur) and once Arthur grew up, his unique ability to pull the sword from the stone in which Merlin had placed it marked him out as the rightful heir to Uther's throne as King of Britain .

The current Dunster Castle dominates a steep hill overlooking the picturesque village of Dunster. The hill has been fortified since Saxon times, although nothing now remains of these early defenses. In 1617, Sir George employed the architect, William Arnold, to erect a new house in the lower ward of the castle. The house was modified and developed over the following centuries, and much of the current appearance dates from the 18th century when the park was landscaped

Sunday:  June 10
You may choose to attend Morning Prayer at the ancient parish church of Dunster before we leave this pretty town for the drive to Cornwall.

We will break our journey and take lunch at Killington Manor.  This home is replete with fascinating momentos of the Accland family.  It will be good to stretch our legs as we walk through the lovely gardens.  if we have the time we will visit the old waterpowered grain mill. As evening falls we will arrive to a warm welcome at the Crantock Bay Hotel. Rest and enjoy, or walk along the beach before dinner in the main dinning room of the hotel.

Monday:  June 11
This is a day to rest and enjoy your beautiful surroundings.  Read a book, surf in the sea, walk the cliffs or indulge in the wonderful treatments at the Thalgo Spa.  Please ask me for more information about the Spa treatments.  I strongly advise you to book a treatment before we arrive.
Meet in the lounge before dinner for an interesting talk on the influence of King Arthur on the PreRaphaelite painters, and about the local artist center at St Ives.

Tuesday:  June 12
After breakfast we will drive to Tintagel where we will see the Light Show at King Arthur’s Hall.  Following King Arthur’s Hall, we will meet our guide and take a walking tour of the town and castle ruins.

Tintagel is perhaps the most familiar of all the  sites associated with Arthur. In Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the British Kings, Tintagel is the scene of Arthur's conception.

Merlin's Cave    There are two tunnels that run beneath Tintagel Island. The shorter tunnel was definitely made with metal tools; it opens out in the meadow above the cliffs. The larger, known as Merlin's Cave, is washed by the tide. Legend tells that the cave is still walked by Merlin, whose voice can sometime still be heard. In Tennyson's Idylls of the King, most famously, Merlin stood on the beach beside the cave's entrance with the infant Arthur raised high in his arms

We will return to the Crantock Bay Hotel for dinner in the main dining room of the hotel.

Wednesday: June 13
After breakfast we will drive to Marazion and walk across the causeway to St. Michael’s Mount where our castle guide will meet us.

An old Cornish legend had the Archangel Michael appearing to fishermen in the year 495. History from then until around Norman times is pretty vague but it is known that Edward the Confessor gave the Mount to the Benedictine Abbey of Mont St. Michel, presumably because they knew what to do with rocks just off the coast that had suffered appearances by St. Michael

 

 

 

St Michael's Mount derives its Arthurian fame as a major landmark of Tristan's legendary kingdom of Lyonnesse. The Mount's old Cornish name is Carrick luz en cuz - the 'old', or 'hoar', rock in the woods'. There are certainly traces of a petrified submerged forest around St Michael's Mount, affirming the legend that it was surrounded by thick woodland before Lyonnesse was drowned.

Folklore knows St Michael's Mount as the home of Cornwall's greatest giant - Cormoran. Geoffrey of Monmouth tells of Arthur's battle with the giant of Mont St Michel in France, but which is now more often told of St Michael's Mount. Arthur was on his way to fight the Roman emperor and to give his army courage he slipped out of camp to fight the fearsome giant. With all his strength and craftiness, Arthur finally overcame the giant, chopped off his head and carried it back to his army.

We will spend the afternoon exploring the artist colony of St Ives. This is a charming fishing town. The Tate Gallery has an outpost here exhibiting the works of Barbara Hepworth, and there are many small art galleries and artisans workshops.

Dinner at the Crantock Bay Hotel.

Thursday: June 14
After breakfast we will leave Crantock Bay with fond memories and journey east. We will stop at South Cadbury and take a leisurely climb up the hill for a delicious picnic lunch on this beautiful site

Sadly this is our final evening together. Enjoy the gardens at the Langshott Manor Hotel before dinner in the main dining room.

Friday:  June 15
After an early breakfast we will leave for Gatwick Airport and the return flight to Dallas.