Glastonbury Tor
The hill for which this site is named.
The above photo was taken with an old Kodak Instamatic camera in November 1989, hence the poor quality. But it is still special as it was the first time I really felt the mystique of the Tor. As I was walking up it, I spotted the rainbow, and I wandered off the path onto one of the terraces to take this photo. I didn't know anything about the Tor maze then, but just that I had to take a photo of the tower with the rainbow behind it.
There are many myths and legends about the Tor and I'll retell some of them here. I found it enigmatic on my first visit to Glastonbury. I couldn't stop looking at it, even as we drove away. Right to this very day, I keep a look out for the first glimpse of it. There is a point on the railway line through Castle Cary where you can see it, and also from the M5 motorway and from the train heading down to Taunton. Sadly I failed to spot it from the air when going into land at Bristol airport recently, despite having my nose pressed up against the plane window for the last 15 minutes of a 50 minute flight!
I've seen the Tor and climbed it in most weather conditions now except snow. I have yet to see it snow covered. Maybe one day, I can but hope. I have watched the sun set from up there twice, in summer and in autumn. I woke at 5am one morning when camping at the foot of the Tor to see just one end of it covered in mist. I've got wet up there, windswept, hot, cold and sunburnt! I don't climb it every visit, sometimes it just doesn't feel right, or it is a bit too windy. But that first glimpse of the Tor every time I visit means I am almost there, journeys end, at the place I love.
Pages in this section
Slideshows of the paths up the Tor
And for more Tor photos see my Tor set on Flickr
I also set up a Glastonbury Tor group on Flickr as there wasn't one!
I am going to share some of my many photos on here, split into sections. To be continued... Last update 23rd Dec 2007, sunrise and sunset page started