West Somerset.

Another lovely day which started with us heading to Monmouth and then following the lovely Wye Valley down to Chepstow.
It’s a lovely area we have visited several times from Bristol. Today we stopped at Tintern  Abbey for a coffee where we have previously walked up to the Devil’s Pulpit for the view down over the Abbey.

We crossed the (old) Severn Bridge then took to the motorway for a while until we could turn off through the Quantock Hills towards the West Somerset coast.

Our afternoon stop was here at Dunster Castle just inland from Minehead. It’s a National Trust property that we visited about the same time last year.  Last time we didn’t look around the castle so after a cuppa and some cake we headed in. It was interesting with the usual formal rooms but as it was lived in by the Lutterell family until the 1970’s it also had a ‘modern’ 1960’s kitchen and traditional 3 piece suites.  They gave the castle and some of the land to the NT in 1976. Don’t feel too sorry for them they moved to a bigger house nearby in East Quantoxhead!

The castle stands high up on a mound so the views from the terrace and the garden paths that wind down around it are fantastic taking in the beautiful Quantock Hills and the coast line of the Bristol Channel to the Welsh coast beyond.
Below is the Mediaeval village of Dunster which is worth a visit in itself. In a garden at the very top was a fantastic poppy the like of which I’ve never seen. Very tall with lots of white flowers with yellow middles. It’s called Matilija Poppy, according to my plant app. or a California tree poppy - Extra 
The castle has it’s own mill and I bought some muesli from the shop where they were also selling Dunster oats and flour.

Late afternoon we left West Somerset behind and climbed up onto Exmoor in North Devon. The heather is out on the moor and the views inland and out to sea were lovely. At the headland before dropping down Countisbury Hill into Lynmouth 
there was a strange cloud. We weren’t sure if it was mist or smoke but it was wispy low cloud just hanging on the headland Extra 2.

After a walk around and a drink we headed for our accommodation up the East Lyn valley in the heart of Exmoor. Another coaching inn, 17th century this time in quite a remote hamlet. We’ve just had dinner and there were quite a number of people eating including a group with a gentleman we met on the coastal path in the Valley of the Rocks a year ago. We recognised him by his West Midlands accent! Maybe we will both be here next year!