Page 26 Daily Mail, Thursday, August 8, 2019the busy school holidays. There
was also concern over the impact
the new structure would have on
the natural landscape.
Inspired by the legend of King
Arthur, Richard, Earl of Cornwall,
built a castle on the jagged head-land in the 13th century. A rock
bridge linking one part of the castle
on the mainland to the rest inspired
its name, which comes from the
Cornish Din Tagell, meaning ‘the
Fortress of the Narrow Entrance’.Medieval scholar Geoffrey of Mon-
mouth wrote that ‘three armed
men would be able to defend [it],
even if you had the whole kingdom
of Britain at your side’.
But the link collapsed in the 15thor 16th centuries. English Herit-
age chief executive Kate Mavor
said: ‘Tintagel has been made
whole again. Our new bridge both
protects the castle’s archaeology
and brings its story to life.’Page 26THE original bridge was said
to be so narrow that three
knights could have defended
Tintagel Castle against an
entire kingdom.
But more than four centuries
after that bridge collapsed, visitors
to the supposed birthplace of the
mythical King Arthur can gaze in
awe at the views from its ultra-
modern replacement.
The sleek new bridge of steel, oak
and Cornish slate over a 190ft gorge
means tourists are no longer con-
fronted with a demanding trek up and
down a steep path.
Built as part of a £5million redevel-
opment of the site, its unveiling today- before it opens to the public – will
bring a sigh of relief from local busi-
nesses. Tintagel Castle has been
closed since last October and work
was not finished in time for the start of
Crossing: The bridge at Tintagel
with the old stairway link below itBy James TozerSpanning the centuries: The bridge on Cornwall’s rugged coast joins the two halves of the castleA KNIGHT’S TRAIL
Bridge joins King Arthur’s Tintagel
to mainland for first time in 400 years
Cyprus ‘gang
rape’ claim
Briton ditches
her lawyer
A BRITISH teenager held in
Cyprus over alleged false gang
rape claims ditched her local
lawyer in court yesterday in a
row over how to defend her.
The 19-year-old woman tear-
fully told a district judge that
she wished to appoint a new
defence team.
Her Cyprus-based lawyer
Andreas Pittadjis had made an
application to quit the case cit-
ing ‘a serious disagreement
with his client and her family’.
It comes days after the UK
organisation Justice Abroad
took up the case, claiming she
had been coerced into with-
drawing her gang rape claim.
She had been expected to
enter a plea for the charge of
‘public mischief’ after being
accused of making up allega-
tions against 12 Israeli youths in
the party resort of Ayia Napa.
She was remanded in custody
until August 19 when a new
lawyer will be appointed.
Human rights lawyer Michael
Polak said the teenager had a
statement dictated to her. She
was forced to sign it after being
threatened with the arrests of
her friends and was refused a
lawyer. Police in Cyprus have
denied claims of wrongdoing.From Inderdeep Bains
in CyprusV1ПОДГОТОВИЛА
ГРУППА"What's News"
VK.COM/WSNWS