Country diary: St Ives, Cornwall  

The procession of bards wends its way through narrow streets in St Ives. From the Guildhall they pass St Ia's church, whose pillars are garlanded in hops, the lifeboat station, harbour, cafes, ice-cream and pasty shops, art galleries, gift shops, holiday lets and crowds of bemused visitors, en route to the Island, the site of this year's Gorsedd. There, yntra deu vor (with sea on each hand) the gathering of blue-robed bards attracts spectators perched on rocks and grass below the chapel of St Nicholas. This chapel was used as a watch house and landmark by fishermen before the War Office set about demolishing it in 1904; protests led to its restoration in 1911.

Inland and out to sea is hazy and dull but this shore is brightened by fleeting sunlight, which glistens on the adjacent Porthmeor beach while also enhancing the blueness of the circle of bards and reflecting on their copper regalia. Today's ceremony includes the introduction of a recently forged sword, carried in two halves by a Breton and a Cornish bard, and presented whole to the delegate from Wales to symbolise links between the three Celtic countries. Before the sound of harp and pipes heralds the bards' arrival, people gather around stalls selling books about Cornwall's history and language. The Guild of Cornish Hedgers displays photos of old walls, hedge banks and stitches (remnants of medieval strip fields) which contribute to distinctive landscapes; there are references to dialect words still associated with traditional hedge-building like batter, ram, rab hard and tob off. Tros an Treys, a group of dancers dressed in red and black perform a serpent dance, and the local concert band's music mingles with the sound of waves and gulls.