Looking around near the Bristol Channel

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After a good breakfast, we set out to look around places near the Bristol Channel. We began at the beach of Woolacombe. This is a very popular surf beach, and in fact the only place we have seen surf lifesavers on duty. The tide seemed to be out and there was a large sandy beach. Lots of people were arriving in wetsuits with their surfboards. Many of them were also wearing gloves and boots! The were lots of surfers in the water, many catching waves. We watched for a while and then moved on. Our next stop was going to be Arlington Court, a National Trust place. The Chichester family had lived there for a long period of time- the last of them dying in 1949,when the National Trust took over the property. It is a big house, which houses many of the last occupant’s collections of model boats, shells and more! The National Carriage Museum is also housed in the stables of the property. There is a lovely garden, church and many acres of land with some lovely walks. We had to decide how much we would look at, as we also wanted to go to Dunster Castle today. We decided not to walk around the property, so we had time to look at the house, some time in the garden and a quick look at the carriages as well as lunch. The carriage museum was very interesting, as it explained the different styles of carriages and their uses, as well as how many people it could carry and how many drivers and footman were needed to manage it. It was amazing how many different carriages there were. We tried using a map today, as well as the gps. We have had to travel on so many really narrow roads when we have followed the gps, so we wanted to try and follow A roads with as small a number as was possible. We managed to get to Dunster on the A 39, with only a couple of times where we needed to stop and let cars going in the opposite direction past. We crossed the moors on our way to Dunster, passing groups of Exmoor ponies grazing. They are small stocky ponies that live on the moors. There were also sheep grazing, as we had seen on many other moors around the country. Dunster castle was also interesting. The first castle on the site was a Norman castle. It underwent refurbishments and extensions over its long life, the last of these was to update the kitchens in about 1950. There are beautiful views over the Bristol Channel, which today was busy with shipping. Because it was such a sunny day, we could see across the Channel to Wales very clearly. Again we needed to decide what we would look at, because we knew we just didn’t have time to see everything. We looked over the castle, and had a quick look at the gardens near the castle. There are beautiful old trees and grassy areas, and they are well placed so you can also see the long views of the Channel. Each of the buildings today told the stories of the families that lived in them, making it an easy way to learn some history. We left Dunster a little after 4 o’clock, so that we would be back at a reasonable time. Dinner tonight was at Giovanni and Luca, an Italian restaurant recommended by our hosts at a Marine Court. We enjoyed a good meal, before looking again at the harbour and the tide. Tomorrow we move on to Wells, so we spent some time looking at the route, and possible stops on our way.

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