Fairytale Of Great Britain
Storybook destinations
Found on the uninhabited island of Staffa, Fingal’s Cave in Scotland is a location straight out of Scottish and Irish mythology. According to legend, Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhaill built the cave when he arrived in Scotland. It is similar in structure to Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, also reputedly built by Fionn.
Science, however, states that the basalt columns were formed around 60 million years ago due to lava flow. The cooling of the solidified lava caused it to crack and break, forming the hexagonal pillars we see today.
If you want to get a better look in the cave, you are able to swim through it. Although the waters may be chilly, you’ll have the opportunity to get close to the extraordinary marine life too, which include dolphins and minke whales. On land, the most commonly found species is puffins – and they are only too happy to pose for photos.
The cave has been admired for centuries. It has attracted a number of famous visitors including William Wordsworth, John Keats and Queen Victoria. The sea cave has been painted by JMW Turner and is also said to have inspired Felix
Mendelssohn to compose the overture TheHebrides.
However, if you do decide to venture inside the cave like these famous guests before you, watch out for the giant who supposedly lives there. It’s said that he captures naïve travellers and stores their bodies in hanging bottles at the back of the cave. So keep your wits about you!
Another fairytale cave is in
North Yorkshire, known as Mother Shipton’s Cave. This is England’s oldest tourist attraction after opening to paying visitors in 1630.
The cave is famous for its petrifying well, the water of which contains carbonate and sulphate compounds which encrust objects, magically making them look like stone.
A number of items which have been “petrified” by the
water, including an ice skate and teddy bears, can be seen hanging in the cave.
The legend of this attraction states that a fortune teller named Ursula Shipton (later Mother Shipton) was born there in 1488. She is said to have had a crooked nose and made potions with the flowers and herbs found beside the cave. How much of this story is actually true has yet to be discovered, but the mystery of Mother Shipton and her cave lives on.