For months we drove past the signpost for Dozmary Pool, on our way to other places, saying every time that we would go there one day, until finally we did take the turning at the signpost. We drove down the tiny country roads, through a village that might not even be big enough to be called a village, past fields and farms, and right back out on to the road we started on, just a little further up from the first signpost.
Somehow, even though we had all been looking out for further signposts and Dad had even been using Maps on his phone, we had completely missed Dozmary Pool. We hadn't even been near anything that looked like it could lead to Dozmary Pool. We started to think that maybe Dozmary Pool didn't actually exist.
Then, on our way home from Golitha Falls, after weeks of joking about the mythical lake that didn't exist, Dad spotted another signpost for Dozmary Pool. Mum turned the car around and we headed straight for the turning at this new signpost. Passing fields and other lakes, we started to wonder again if maybe this place really didn't exist, until finally we saw another little signpost at the side of the road. There was nowhere really meant for parking so we sort of abandoned the car for a minute, but we found it! It actually exists!
It may not look particularly remarkable, and I cannot overstate how poorly signposted it truly is, but some people believe that Dozmary Pool is the home of the Lady of the Lake. That this is where her hand rose from the water to give Arthur his famous sword, Excalibur (or in the words of Monty Python 'some watery tart threw a sword at [him]') and that this is where Bedivere returned the sword to as Arthur lay dying after the Battle of Camlann.
The barbed wire fences maybe interrupt the illusion a little bit, but standing there, looking across the water, I could definitely see this as a place imbued with that magic and legend. And it was definitely peaceful, on account of how no one can find the damn thing.
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