I recently revisited the Men An Tol, but this time with a slightly different perspective. It is still otherworldly, with an atmosphere that quietly slips under your skin and at times takes your breath away with its energy. You can feel it under your feet, smell it in the sweet smelling gorse, see it in the weather beaten trees and the low growing heather. At this visit I was visualising it through the eyes of Loveday having now published my book, The Secret of Creek Cottage. What was spookily eerily was that the hedgerows were scattered with spider webs, just as Loveday had seen in Chapter XXVII – ‘The sun was low but bright, searching out all the cobwebs in the hedges that had been spun overnight, highlighting dewdrops which glistened as though left by the spiders to entice flies into their lairs. Nature was a wonderful thing’.

As I walked the same stony path that Gribble Gummo & Loveday had walked in Chapter XXV, stepping over the granite stone, cattle style stile (theres a mouthful!) and into the field where the standing stones waited, the mist was low and tangible, wetting everything that it touched. I could not have picked a more perfect day for atmosphere! If you are ever down in West Cornwall, I highly recommend a visit.

The stones are thought to be from the Neolithic or early Bronze Age era, making them approximately 3,500 years old. It is highly probable that they were at some point part of a stone circle. Grid reference SW 426349