Knockan Crag

The road heading north from Ullapool, in the North-West Highlands of Scotland, passes beneath a mile-long cliff that dominates the landscape. This is Knockan Crag, which tells a violent story that dates from before the time of the dinosaurs.

The rocks that form this part of the British Isles are extremely old, dating back more than 1,000 million years. They comprise a complex mixture of ancient sedimentary layers and igneous and metamorphic rocks that were laid down during periods of intense volcanic activity.

They are also the result of the collision of ancient continents, and that is what can be seen at Knockan Crag, where older rocks overlie younger ones, which logic suggests should be impossible.

Some 400 million years ago an event known to geologists as the Moine Thrust took place. Deep underground, a layer of schist - a medium-grade metamorphic rock – was thrust over the top of younger quartzite and limestone rocks. Over millions of years, further earth movements and erosion by wind and rain exposed the Thrust to the surface, as can be seen today.

Today, Knockan Crag is a National Nature Reserve with well-marked paths and observation points. As well as being able to look at very old rock formations at close hand, visitors can see rare plants and animals, catch a glimpse of golden eagles wheeling overhead, and look across a vast, barren landscape of lakes, moors and mountains that has seen little change for an unimaginably long period of time.

© John Welford

Staffa

Staffa is a small island off the western coast of Mull, which is a much larger member of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island, which has been uninhabited for centuries, is less than half a mile long and a quarter-mile wide.

There are two main reasons why people visit this island, which is completely devoid of roads or buildings. One is the wildlife, which includes colonies of puffins, fulmars and black-legged kittiwakes, as well as dolphins, grey seals and pilot whales offshore. The other is the geology.

Staffa is entirely the result of volcanic activity about 60 million years ago when vast sheets of lava poured across the region. In places, these cooled very slowly to form massive crystals of basalt that can be seen today as six-sided columns. A noted location is the Giant’s Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland, and Staffa is another. Here, the columns are topped by a mass of non-columnar basalt that clearly cooled at a much faster rate and did not form crystals.

At the southern tip of Staffa is the feature for which the island is world-famous, namely Fingal’s Cave, where the basalt columns can be seen to best effect, punctured by a sea cave.

Over the centuries Fingal’s Cave has had many distinguished visitors, including Queen Victoria and the composer Felix Mendelssohn, for whom the cave was the inspiration for his “Hebrides Overture”.

Not surprisingly, there are legends about how the island came to be. One is that the giant Torquil MacLeod was on his way home from building the Giant’s Causeway when his sack burst open and some of the rocks he was carrying fell out. Another is that it was the work of Finn McCool, and that the Giant’s Causeway and Staffa are the two ends of the bridge he built so that he could cross over to Scotland to fight a rival giant.

Boat trips from neighbouring islands will take modern visitors past the entrance to Fingal’s Cave and land them at the only available jetty on the east side of the island, if weather conditions permit. From the jetty one can walk to a point close to the cave entrance.

The paths that cross the island are fully exposed to the prevailing winds and there is no shelter should the weather turn bad. The cliffs are generally sheer, so sticking to the paths is always to be advised, especially as this avoids disturbing the wildlife.

On a fine day, visitors are rewarded with splendid views towards the nearby islands, the Scottish mainland and out to sea.

© John Welford

Clovelly, North Devon

Clovelly is a very unusual village on the north coast of Devon, south-west England, between Barnstaple and Hartland Point. 

The village is privately owned and has been carefully preserved so that it looks as close as possible today to the way it looked centuries ago. However, that does not mean that the residents are prevented from having TV aerials, or telephone lines coming to their homes. They must, however, keep their cottages whitewashed and in good repair.

The main feature that sets Clovelly apart from other villages is the fact that its main street is very steep and cobbled, which means that no wheeled vehicles can pass up and down. Goods are transported by donkeys or on wooden sledges that are hauled by hand.

The reason for Clovelly’s existence is that its small harbour is one of the very few safe anchorages along this stretch of coast, which is typified by steep wooded slopes and sheer cliff faces that rise up to 400 feet above the sea. A small fishing community formed around the harbour, and the cottages were originally occupied by the fishermen.

Not much fishing is done here today, but the village has become a tourist attraction in its own right. Visitors must leave their cars at the top of the village and walk down to the harbour – although donkey rides are also possible. Once at the bottom, the only way to get back to one’s car is to climb back up to the top!

As one might expect, Clovelly’s High Street and the harbour area are very popular with tourists, and on sunny days in the height of summer the place can become unpleasantly busy and crowded. A good time to visit Clovelly is therefore out of the tourist season.

© John Welford

The Great Hall and Round Table, Winchester

Winchester Great Hall (Hampshire, England) is just about all that is left of Winchester Castle, built by William the Conqueror in 1087. The hall was extended by King Henry III and has been described as the second finest medieval hall in England – the first being Westminster Hall next door to the Houses of Parliament.

It consists of a double cube of five bays, with aisles supported by shafts of Purbeck marble.

The feature that most people come to see is “King Arthur’s Round Table”, which hangs from the wall at one end. King Arthur presides at the top, with places marked for each of his 24 knights.

However, there is absolutely no reason to believe that this has anything to do with King Arthur. The wood has been dated to the 14^th century, and it would appear that the table was constructed in the hall in 1348.

The decoration is somewhat later, with every chance that it dates from the Tudor period of the early 16^th century. Evidence of this can be seen from the Tudor rose at the heart of the table, and the fact that King Arthur bears a striking resemblance to the young King Henry VIII.

Whether anyone ever connected the table to King Arthur prior to its Tudor decoration is open to speculation. However, it would appear that somebody had the bright idea of doing so in response to a renewed interest in Arthurian legend that was characterized by Thomas Malory’s highly dramatic and imaginative “Morte D’Arthur” which was published in 1485 and printed by William Caxton. Why not link young King Henry to his legendary predecessor?

There can be no doubt that many people have believed down the centuries that this really was the Round Table, and it must therefore be assumed that the trick worked at the time, thus giving Henry a boost that was welcome if wholly undeserved!

© John Welford