Month: July 2023

Dunster and the delights of Devon….featuring roads I will only ever drive on once!

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I do tend to base many of my holidays around National Trust properties, and although this was primarily booked for the coast and moorland, I have been making good use of my membership again.

A couple of days ago I went to Dunster Castle which has a lovely little village below it, and a very interesting history, having originally been a fortified castle from the time of William the Conqueror and survived the Civil War to now be a very impressive former family home.

There was not a huge amount of textile loveliness but I did find this wonderful quilt, made of silks and satins, probably Victorian looking at the fabric.

As well as the interior, featuring Elizabeth and plaster ceilings, Jacobean carved staircases and all the lovely things you would expect to find in a house in almost continuous occupation for 1000 years, there was an amazing garden and Riverside walk, ending at a working watermill.

I love hydrangeas, the colours and shapes are so amazing, and there were so many of them.in the castle gardens.

I have become slightly obsessed with English cottage gardens as well. All this time amongst the bougainvillea and cactus has made me really appreciate the very delicate flowers that were growing in this memorial garden in Dunster Village.

The garden was in the grounds of the old priory, next to the Tithe Barn and a fascinating dovecote dating from the 13th century that had space for 500 pigeons, all bred for eating.

Yesterday I drove across the border into Devon again, to visit the Valley of the Rocks. The coastal path runs along here and the views are amazing.

The rock formations look like ruins of castles themselves.

There are wild goats that live here, one family of which was perched on a ledge so high above the sea.

To get there I had to put on my big girl pants and drive up Porlock Hill, 25% slopes and so many sharp bends!!! I also happened to be following the coastal bus.

Katy and I did really well but I did opt for the route back across Exmoor with slightly flatter roads, stunning views and only the odd sheep and cow in the road. Since I started learning to drive in Marsden that is something I am very used to.

I only have one more day here before I go to my first festival. A few days of meeting other van people and hopefully chilling listening to blues in a sunny field.

I will be back soon with a new location, spending a couple of days in between festivals at a childhood day out location pretending I am 12 again. Until then good bye from my sunny campsite.

Have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.

Clouds, coastlines and cottages

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I have now been in Somerset for nearly a week and am very much enjoying my time here. The weather has been variable, but that has meant lots of opportunity to watch the cloud formations over the sea and moorland so I don’t mind at all.

There have also been some fabulous rainbows across the bay.

I have had various posts from friends who are melting in Spain, so am enjoying my 17 degrees!

Minehead is a very cute little town and is the start of a coastal walk, of which there are many sections. I have only done a bit so far due to the rain, but have enjoyed the sea and pebble beach views, very different to my Spanish scenes.

The harbour at Minehead has some cottages with beautiful little gardens.

Somerset is full of quintessentially English thatched cottages and today I went to Selworthy, a National Trust village.

There are four gorgeous little cottages, grouped around the village green, with gardens with some of my favourite flowers in.

Two are a tea shop and gift shop and I think the others can be rented.

There were lovely views over the valley.

The church there was also very impressive, with stunning carved pews and a ceiling full of carved angels and bosses.

There was also another of the Mother’s Union Virgen Mary banners that I have seen in so many churches.

I would love to know if the patterns were centrally supplied for these, as I have seen so many that are similar on my travels.

I also went to Porlock Weir, for another set of cute cottages and pebble beach, and one of the smallest museums I have ever visited.

This was a packed room of all things sea related.

There was some great stuff, like this set of signalling flags from the 1800s.

I am trying out a new app that allows me to make collages which are faster to upload while on the road so I hope you like the layout.

I have another four days here so there will be yet more Somerset fun to share later in the week. Until then have fun, take care, stay safe, and thanks for visiting.

England’s green and pleasant land

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Well I am off on my travels again, at the first campsite of many this summer, fingers crossed. I have had an excellent if a little damp time at the Tewkesbury Medival Festival, and was lucky enough to have a dry couple of hours yesterday to pitch up here in North Somerset.

I am just outside Minehead, on the edge of the Exmoor National Park, with excellent views over the bay.

The campsite is on a very large hill with lots of walks along the coast and views of the moorland so I am looking forward to lots more outdoor adventures.

The forecast is not brilliant but I have got a great vantage point for cloud watching and it doesn’t get to be so green here without a bit of rain!

The heather is still in bloom, along with gorse and I love the way that the raindrops get caught in the spider’s webs.

It is great to be back in such a different landscape, I love Spain but this is such an amazing area, with such different foliage.

There are woods with trees that seem to have eyes, whose roots cover the walls, and walls so old you can hardly see them for the moss on them.

I was very excited on my walk this morning as I came across some beautiful Exmoor wild ponies. We saw some on Dartmoor a couple of years ago and they are amazing.

My Mum bought me an excellent book for my birthday, written by someone who spent years walking the Cairngorms. It is a really detailed piece of nature writing and is a great read while I am camping.

I have also treated myself to this book above so will enjoy sitting in the reading nook, with the new lap quilt and chilling.

There are lots of rabbits on this campsite, as well as squirrels so am looking forward to some excellent relaxation

As well as blog posts I have also set up a separate Instagram for my travels, as that will be easier more regularly, especially when I don’t have much signal. If you would like to follow that it is @KatyKangoo

I am here for two weeks and have lots of museum and heritage visits planned, as well as more of the spectacular coastline, so I will see you again soon.

Take care, have fun, stay safe and thanks for visiting.