He told me he very rarely reads, as he is dyslexic, but he listens and remembers. He believes the veil is thin here, so there is a greater connection to spirit, again the mists suggested we were peaking through the veil in the myth rich Vale of Avalon.Īlthough Tor has an authoritative air he refutes any claim to be an historian, he’s happy to be defined as a tour guide, but to me he is a storyteller of the best sort. Tor thinks of Glastonbury as a place of transformation rather than of healing, that is to say the healing comes about as a result of transformation. Nobody really knows, they don’t call it the Dark Ages for nothing.
King Arthur’s remains may lie in the Abbey, or the monks might have made it up to boost tourism, or there may not have been a King Arthur at all. the figures in the distance may be real, or spectres. It felt appropriate to be listening to the Glastonbury story on such a misty day, Glastonbury’s past is hazy, vague, it’s difficult to be ‘sure’ about anything. I’d never actually heard the henge theory before and I found myself wanting to ask for the evidence, the archaeological record, some peer reviewed papers perhaps, but then I remembered I was here to listen to a story that has had an enormous influence on the history and mystery of Britain, regardless of such concepts as ‘facts’ or ‘proof’. He stated matter of factly that its dimensions mirrored Stonehenge, and that around it was placed 12 round huts, making it quite likely that the chapel and huts were constructed on top of the remains of a henge, sacred to the Pagans, sanctified by the first Christians.
Tor began his talk with Joseph of Arimathea’s arrival in Glastonbury, and the construction of the round wattle and daub chapel that was England’s first church. Tor started his spiel, I noticed he doesn’t use notes, just his stick to point out relevant features on the landscape, and a copy of Palden Jenkins’ Glastonbury Ley Line Map to show how everything joins up. When we got to the remains of the Holy Thorn on Wearyall Hill’s summit we encountered a Pilgrim Traffic Jam – a group of Spaniards doing Qi Gong. He reckons he guides about 170 people a year, visiting Glastonbury, Tintagel, Stonehenge, Avebury and other sacred sites in the South West. He prefers groups of 8, as that’s how many his minibus accommodates, and much larger groups tend to lose focus. He’s been leading tours for five years, having started out casually taking friends and family around the sites of Glastonbury, and now he leads parties of between 1 and 40 people. There’s something solid and reassuring about Tor, he’s only just turned 40 but his tweeds, beard, walking boots and wiggly walking stick give him the air of a retired University lecturer.
Glastonbury tor uk free#
Tor is such a great Glastonbury character that I knew there would be material for the blog, and besides, he’d promised me a free lunch. I was accompanying a lady from San Francisco who was on Tor’s week long guided tour.
Tor Webster had invited me along to check out ‘Tor’s Tour of the Tor’. November the 1st, a cold snap in the air and the mists of Avalon lay thickly around as we climbed Wearyall Hill to the remains of the Holy Thorn.
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