TRAVELS: Doxey Pool: The Only Inland Mermaid Legend in Britain?

Doxey Pool can be found on the path that runs across the top of the Roaches, a gritstone escarpment not far from the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border. The area is rich in myths and legends, but I particularly love the stories surrounding this strange body of water (which allegedly never dries up even in a drought). 

Some accounts maintain that it's bottomless, others say that it connects to Blake Mere, another nearby tarn, via a deep subterranean passage. Both pools are reputed to house a malignant mermaid. In 1949, a Miss Florence Pettit claimed to have witnessed a weird creature emerge from the water just before she was about to take a morning swim. Here's her description of the event:

…a great ‘thing’ rose up from the middle of the lake. It rose very quickly until it was 25 to 30 feet tall. Seeming to be part of the slimy weeds and the water, yet it had eyes, and those eyes were extremely malevolent. It pointed its long boney fingers menacingly at me so there was no mistaking its hostility. I stood staring at the undine, water spirit, naiad or whatever it was while my heart raced. Its feet just touched the surface of the water, the weeds and the air. when I dared to look again, the creature was dissolving back into the elements from which it had formed.

Sadly I didn't see anything odd when I visited, but there's definitely a haunting stillness surrounding the mere. It's easy to understand why locals are wary of the spot and continue to avoid the pool, especially at night.

TRAVELS: Doorways to Other Worlds: Quinta da Regaleira

The Regaleira Estate in Sintra, Portugal is one of the strangest places I have ever visited. Commissioned by the fabulously wealthy Carvalho Monteiro in the early twentieth century, it's full of secret rooms, grottoes and hidden symbols. The most famous feature is the Initiatic Well (pictured), an inverted tower that plunges 27ft into the earth and then connects with several underground passages, which lead out into terraces and pools further down the garden. It's not that easy to find though because Monteiro, ever the fantasist, decided to conceal the well behind an artificial rock formation complete with stone doors - very Indiana Jones! (see below).

Although the well is spectacular, there are lots of other fascinating structures in the garden including a chapel, several terraces and many fairytale towers, most of which can be climbed to appreciate views across Sintra.

The true purpose of the design is not fully known. Some believe that the well was used for masonic initiation ceremonies, others think that this is merely one aspect of a complicated art installation that combined Monteiro's secular and religious interests in a hugely decadent way.  Whichever one is true, there's no denying that the garden is a magical place built to spark the imagination. Who knows what secrets still lie buried in those subterranean labyrinths?

Getting There
Trains run from Lisbon (Rossio Station) to Sintra every 15 minutes on weekdays (30 minutes on weekends). Quinta da Regaleira is 10 minutes walk from Sintra Tourist Information.