What did William the Conqueror, every royal family in the west's history for over a thousand years, and the Nazis obsess and fight for, in a small, hidden, beautiful area of South Devon in England? Why did the Knights Templar build an elaborate international map made out of stone, and commission epic tales of Arthurian legends to lead the uninitiated to South Hams? And why, after so much work to preserve the knowledge, are we ignorant about what and where the Holy Grail, and much more treasure, is? It’s 3. 25am on the winter solstice night of December 21st, and I’m standing on top of Snapes Point, the mystical hill with a secret, overlooking the vibrant coastal town of Salcombe, in South Hams, the hidden corner of South Devon that stands beneath the dark mists of Dartmoor, and the 52 miles of coastline below.

The wind is howling and swirling around me with fifty-mile-an-hour gusts, and I’m spinning round in the dark, staring at the heavy swirling mass of shapes circling overhead and around me, my mind grappling to define what I am seeing, and like some form of Hollywood crescendo, “Bring it on!”, I yell into the air, my voice lost into the cacophony of the storm. At 3.

27am exactly on the winter solstice, the wind abruptly halts, and above me the clouds clear and I can see the three stars of Orion’s Belt. But within a minute, the howling starts again, and I turn and walk down the hill and back to the safety of my van.

It was the conclusion of my first adventure into the world of ‘The Grail’. Over the previous six years, I had pursued what started as an exploration into the local history of South Hams, but rapidly turned into a Raiders of the Lost Ark-style treasure adventure that has taken me down hidden tunnels and castles, caves, cathedrals and churches, as they revealed the treasure map of all treasure maps.

That of the Holy Grail. And you can find more than you could ever have dreamt of.

The Grail is just the beginning. .

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