By Rashleigh MacFarlane

Work is underway to build a £4 million bridge to Tintagel Castle.

English Heritage is now installing sections of the 230-foot bridge.  Each of the 12 sections has to be lifted into place by crane, because it is not possible to use scaffolding.

Tintagel Castle usually gets about 250,000 visitors a year.  It is currently closed to the public throughout the bridge construction but  is set to reopen in the summer.

The construction project follows a controversial planning application, two years ago, which drew criticism from some heritage groups who feared any expansion of the site would be detrimental.  English Heritage says that for centuries there was a footbridge to the castle and that the plan now provides for a sympathetic, modern-day replacement.

Tintagel Castle has been associated with the King Arthur legend since at least the 12th century, when Geoffrey of Monmouth suggested it as the place of Arthur's conception.