Lynmouth

We are now in Lynmouth, North Devon where we are staying for a couple of nights but we have spent most of the day in Somerset.

After leaving the M5 we travelled through some lovely little places in the Quantock Hills, West Somerset and stopped at Dunster Castle ( NT) for coffee and a cheese scone at the Old Watermill after a pleasant walk around the gardens.

We went on to Minehead and had a nice stroll along the promenade seeing the start of the South West Coastal Path and keeping away from the Butlins end of the bay.

Continued on to Porlock and Porlock Weir which I’ve wanted to visit since seeing it on a blip. Lovely little place on the edge of Exmoor but still in Somerset. Had a real (proper) Somerset Cider from Porlock Vale, very nice and suitably cloudy. 

A steep climb up Porlock Hill into North Devon and onto Exmoor, stopping briefly above the Lorna Doone Valley, somewhere that has always intrigued me since childhood reading.

Having booked in to our hotel we took a wander around taking this view from the harbour wall of the beacon and the railway beyond, the beacon was destroyed in the devastating 1952 floods which we read about in an exhibition in the church opposite the hotel. The restaurant here is closed tonight so we are going to the Ancient Mariner hoping for some seafood. We may try the little railway up to Linton tomorrow but we hope to walk in the morning.

Very heavy rain in Bath last night but a fine if overcast day today, which has been amazingly warm and muggy, no coats needed!

A good start to our short break and at least the weather is better than at home today