An old "Gibson" postcard of the Loaded Camel which was on Porth Hellick Down above Jack's Point between Porth Hellick and Deep Point and a "today" view from the same spot. The Load and the Camel were levered/pushed off in about 1944 by off duty RAF personnel from the airport who looked after the "Hurricane" fighter planes based here during the Second World War. A big effort was made, to no avail, by Humphrey Wakefield to try and get them replaced by the War Office. The "Load" is visible below to the South and the "Camel" below to the South East...... Robin Mawer
2 comments:
Hi Robin, the rock we now know as Camel Rock or Loaded Camel Rock at Porthellick used to be called Dicks Carn - just wondering why the name change and if it was following the unfortunate demise of the one in the photos - or possibly just confusion following this rock no longer looking like a loaded camel, whilst Dicks Carn clearly still does?
Being named Richard I have a particular fondness for "Dick's Carn", even though it is without doubt more like the shape of a loaded camel. Isn't it weird that there were two loaded camel-shaped rocks at Porthellick? But of course many of the wonderful rocks on Scilly can be conjured, like cloud formations, into many things, limited only by one's imagination.
As for the name change, it probably went: "Hang on a minute, this Dick's Carn actually looks more like a loaded camel than the old one ever did and certainly doesn't now. So, Dick's long dead & isn't going to worry, let's just rename it so we keep a loaded camel on site. No-one will ever know the difference and by the time the internet is invented & the true history is revealed through archived material, no-one will much care".
Post a Comment