Wednesday had been a torrential unrelenting downpour. It would turn out to be the first of many such rainstorms over the next few weeks which would result in the Cornwall and Devon regions having one of the worst spells of flooding in living memory in January 2014. However, this was just a prelude, but it meant that I delayed my outings until Thursday 19th December, then got back on track as the skies cleared up and the temperature lifted to unseasonable levels.
This would be my last productive day in Cornwall, yet I was still a slave to the weather. The morning was bright and promising, but all around as I travelled out to my first destination I could see banks of greyness closing in, and I knew my time was going to be limited today. I chose to visit the northern coast of Cornwall, and to see a new place – Perran Round, or St.Piran’s Round.
Perran Round had been mentioned in a book I had just bought called “Celtic Cornwall” (by Alan M.Kent). It looked very interesting – a great example of the Cornish embankment circle known as a Plain-an-Gwarry, or Playing Place – a theatre, essentially.
Saint Piran‘s Round – another purloined site – is located close to the village of Rosehill near Perranporth. It’s a popular area for campers and caravanners, so I expect that the site gets visited quite a lot in the summer. Here, in the depths of winter, I had the place to myself.
Instead of walking into the earthwork, I dowsed for a way in which would be appropriate for me. I was taken clockwise around the outer edge of the structure, through an overgrown ditch to the back entrance. Was this the way in for me? No – actually the walk continued through the ditch around the perimeter until I reached the main entrance again, and then I was led into the centre of the structure.
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