Cyfaredd 7: An Excalibur Moment

Haia Pawb (Hi Everyone)

The last few weeks I have been busy with researching sites for my book, finishing up my residency at Corris, and travelling to Manchester and Ynys Mon (Anglesey) to visit friends and continue the research phase of my trip. So, apologies for not posting a blog for some time. I intend to write about the aforementioned activities and other events of my trip in the coming days, but these may not appear in the order I experienced them. I hope you continue to find them interesting and inspiring.

During one of my walks in Corris, the one that goes past the Italian House, I ended up at the plateau/lookout I have mentioned before. I sat there for some time listening to the birds and watching a bee flit from one flower to another as it gathered nectar.

View from the lookout on a bright day

When I was ready to leave, instead of heading down the path on the other side, I decided to explore the mountain behind me. It had been raining the previous few days and I could hear a waterfall. I scrambled through bramble and bracken and had what I can best describe as an Excalibur moment. The scene I stumbled into, with mist, rock, lush green vegetation, and tumbling water, reminded me of the colours and atmosphere of the John Boorman film (trailer can be found here).

My Excalibur Moment

One of the reasons I applied for the residency at Stiwdio Maelor was to use the opportunity of being in the UK to visit various sites in Wales and Scotland associated with my book and gather experiences I can draw on for the writing. This unexpected moment showed my intuition to follow this idea was correct. (The irony of a film about The Matter of Britain prompting an experience of the same isn't lost on me.)

For those fans of the film, here's an iconic image:

Excalibur and The Lady of the Lake

And for those of you following my enjoyment of jackdaws, here's another photo:

'Who was that director again?' 'Hitchcock.' 'Yeah, loved his Birds.'

I hope things are going well for you.

Until next time.

Pob Hwyl

Earl

PS. After finding out people were having trouble posting comments, I've changed the settings, which means you don't have to log in or create an account.