In my last post, I shared my visit to the Minack theatre in Cornwall (South West England) where I indulged in my love for Wuthering Heights.

We only visited our neighbouring county for a couple of days unfortunately, but Cornwall is full of myths, legends and prehistoric sites. Particularly famous are the 4,000 year-old Standing Stones which can be found throughout the county – sometimes alone and sometimes in groups or circles. Not unlike the famous Stonehenge, the true reasons for their construction has been lost over time but have been attributed to both Christian and pagan influences.

Cornwall is most notably renowned for its association with the legendary King Arthur. A while ago, I wrote a post about Tintagel  being his acclaimed birthplace – but the legend stretches far beyond that small town.

The night after visiting The Minack, we travelled a few more miles to reach the most westerly point of England. There, surrounded on three sides by sea, is Land’s End.

The famous Land’s End sign post…er, slightly photoshopped for Blackthorn purposes. 😉 

One of the most famous features of Land’s End can no longer be seen. In fact, it disappeared some nine centuries ago. Midway between Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly beyond is the rumoured English Atlantis – the mythical lost land of Lyonesse. Mentioned in Arthurian literature as the home of Tristan, it was inexplicably engulfed by the sea.

The only claimed survivor was a man called Trevilian, who rode a white horse before the waves. Even now, sailors claim they can sometimes hear ghostly bells from the church beneath the water.

 A mocha – and the lost land of Lyonesse hidden beneath the waves beyond?

It was at Land’s End, over a decade ago, that I bought two silver rings (which you can see hints of in the photos) hand crafted by a real pirate! Well, he flies the flag (as you can see below) and certainly looks like he could be. It was from these, all those years ago, that I first developed the idea of Leila’s protest rings as featured in Blood Roses.

And talking of Blackthorn, if you follow me on Facebook you would have seen that I promised a very exciting opportunity coming soon for one lucky Blackthorn fan. More news of that in my next post! 🙂

 Batty flying the flag for British Gothic paranormal romance.