Saturday 3 August 1996. We had a meal in the little cafe opposite the beach at Porth and then set off to walk onto the island as we always do on the first night in Newquay. This is a Burke tradition going back over many years.
It is a true island only at high tide when the sea surrounds it completely. From this viewpoint we are still on the mainland promontary where it forms the northern side of the bay at Porth. Behind us from this point the Iron Age defences begin, guarding the gap between mainland and the island, formed by a rent in the rock that goes all the way down to beach level.
The mainland and island have been joined by a bridge and on either side of the bridge are high earthwork defences. High now, but they have had two or three thousand years of erosion, that not only reduces the height of the walls, but that also fills up the ditches between them.
My nephew, standing on the top of one of the walls. They would be seriously off-putting to any but the most determined attacking force.
Looking along the rent in the cliffs that makes the tip of the promontary an island at high tide. It is high tide and I am standing on a narrow timber bridge linking the two bits of land.
The view from the island side, looking back owards the bridge and mainland. How long must it have taken with no machines to help them make these immense earthworks? Trevelgue isn't a true hillfort with earthworks surrounding it. The bulk of the fort is defended instead by sheer cliffs, not easy to climb, but possible perhaps. In any case defending the length of the perimeter of the island would be a daunting task, requiring a huge defending force. There probably wasn't a great deal of plunder or even natural resources to be gained from any attack, but the defences are probably sufficient to not make the attempt worthwhile for the sake of a handful of slaves and a few domestic farm animals.
It's no surpirse to find thistles on the island. Innocuous as they may seem, a single spark into the white seed head filaments are a sure way of causing a flame. However it only lasts a second or two so you need something else to catch the fire from the burning seed head.
I find sites like these fascinating. Many people laugh at me when I get excited at stuff like this. Even Fran tends to say things like "It's just a hill..." It's not though. Someone had to decide that there was going to be a "hill" there and then they had to build it, forming foundations, packing material into a dense self-supporting mound and then many times, digging a ditch at its foot to make the slope even higher.
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