The photos of the men on the beach prove that the tragic local myth is actually a true story

A man has become the first to photograph a secret cave drawing and poem dedicated to a woman, which until now was only a local myth.

Tom Last risked getting stuck by an incoming tide when he ripped the legendary carving inside a small cave on the far side of Crantock Beach, Cornwall, in southwest England.

The cave was rumored to contain a poignant tribute to a mythical death.

Mr. Last’s images show a hidden poem that is carved into the wall of a cave that is only accessible at low tide.

The sculpture includes a portrait of a woman, a horse and a poem.

According to local folklore, a woman was riding her horse on the beach in the early 20th century and was swept away by a wave and drowned, never to be seen again.

Her partner, known locally as Joseph Prater, then went looking for her and carved the poem into the cave wall as a tribute.

“Do not destroy my face, but let me be, safe in this lonely cavern by the sea. Let the wild waves roar around me, kissing my lips forever,” the poem reads.

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Joseph Prater really existed; he is listed in Kelly’s Directory 1930 as Joseph Henry Prater and that he lived at West Pentire, just above the cave, and worked as a milkman.

He was baptized in the Cubert Church about 3 km from the beach in 1860 and was the son of Nathan and Susan Prater. His father was a farm laborer and the family home may have been at Halwyn in the parish of Crantock.

Records show that in 1913 Joseph married a woman named Lillie Jenkin.

The existence of the image and the poem has long been talked about by locals, but was only recently discovered by Mr. Last.