A Road Trip

 Visiting the Cotswolds was like being in a story book, with a new vista around every corner; it’s chock-a-block with cute little villages with their honey coloured stone cottages, all topped with thatched or moss covered slate roofs. And I think I may have already mentioned the gorgeous autumn colours all around. On one of the roads we came across these lovely moss covered trees lining a section of the road.


On leaving the Cotswolds we ventured further south to Dunster, a medieval village in Somerset with a history that dates back to Saxon times. The village grew around Dunster Castle and flourished with a market and thriving cloth and wool industry. The Yarn Market still stands in the centre of the village.


We were looking forward to visiting Dunster Castle but unfortunately it was closed during the time we were there, but we enjoyed exploring the village.





Our accommodation was in the Dunster Castle hotel, with parking included. The entrance to the car park was the old carriage entrance through a stone archway, around a set of stairs. Our rental car barely made it through, we needed to fold in the rearview mirrors and have someone stand in front and behind the car to make sure we didn’t come into contact with the rough stone walls. Peter Sals managed very well and we got away without a scratch. It was nerve wracking though.


We took a day trip to the coast of the Bristol Channel. Our first stop was at the historic coastal village of Porlock, dating from the 10th or 11th century, where the boats were sitting on the stony bed of the harbour at low tide. 







Driving through Exmoor we came across these wild Exmoor ponies. They are one of Britain’s oldest native pony breeds dating back around 130,000 years! And apparently stand on the side of the road waiting to be photographed.


The twin villages of Lynmouth (at the mouth of the West Lyn river) and Lynton (at the top of the nearby gorge) are most interesting because of the funicular Cliff railway that joins the two. It opened in 1890.




There are two carriages, each with a large water tank underneath. The top carriage tank is filled with water, gravity then pulls it down the cliff, whilst it simultaneously pulls the lighter car from the bottom up. When the top car reaches the bottom, the tank is emptied, and the other car which is now at the top is filled with water to start the next trip. It uses only water and gravity.


We travelled up on the railway and walked the steep cliff paths back down to Lynton.






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