South West Coast Path: Day 1 - Minehead to Porlock.

We woke up to bright sunshine to begin our 5th long distance walk. This time the six of us are in the South West of the country and are walking the coastal path from Minehead in Somerset to Westward Ho! in Devon. The SWCP is the longest of Britain's national trails measuring 630 miles (1014km). We are only walking a small section of the path and expect to walk about 80 miles.

We left our luggage at the hotel as once again we are using a luggage transfer company and will have our luggage transported each day to our next accomodation. We have also left our cars here for the week in the hope they won't be towed away in our absence. We thought we could pay for parking before we left but that wasn't possible and no member of staff really knew what the procedure was for non-residents leaving a car and not returning for seven days. Paul managed to be reassured by Luke, the receptionist, that he had put something on the system so we wouldn't end up carless or with a massive parking fine.

At the beginning of the trail is a monument of a pair of gigantic hands holding a map. This was the place for our first group photo.































This was my first visit to Minehead and I was very impressed. It wasn't as I had expected as it had a lovely sandy beach with hills rising above the thatched cottages.







We opted to have our breakfast at a cafe overlooking the small harbour.

Tina took this great photo from inside the cafe. After a freshly cooked English breakfast we were ready to leave Minehead and begin the walk.

On the way out we passed the lifeboat station.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution has operated from this boathouse for over 100 years. It has two  inshore lifeboats. The lifeboats are manned by trained volunteers who provide a 24/7 service.

The path is clearly marked with the acorn sign.

We were finally on our way with a steep climb up onto the hills.

It wasn't long before the path took us away from the coast up  a wooded slope. Fortunately the path zig-zagged its way upwards, making the ascent easier.

The view of the sea was never far away.

As always, we have Steve with the guide book, Paul with the OS map and Tim with a GPS. I was of the opinion that if the sea was on my right then I was OK!

The stunning views made the steep walk up worthwhile.

We also had views inland of Exmoor and the Exmoor ponies.

Exmoor ponies roam freely on the moor. All the ponies belong to someone with the National Park owning two herds. The foals are born in the Spring and early Summer. In the Autumn the herds are driven down to the farms. The foals are weaned and all ponies are inspected and micro-chipped before being returned to the moor for the Winter.

Sheep and cattle also graze on the grassy slopes.

Going up does mean that we then have to go down.

So we began our steep descent on the other side of the hill into the small village of Bossington.

The village is mostly owned by the National Trust which maintains the cottages

We had a short break here but were disappointed that the tea shop was closed, so no cream teas for us here.

We followed a road out of the village down to the beach, hoping to walk along to the next village where we were spending the night. It was a pebbly beach and not comfortable for walking across so we retraced our steps and followed a track into the village of Porlock.

The village is off the route of the coastal path but it was the nearest village to find accommodation.

We stayed here at the Overstream Guest house. The owners Maggie and Nick welcomed us with tea and homemade cake. It was a beautiful guest house with large ensuite rooms. Tina and I had a great view of the village from our room with the sea in the background.
 It had been an easy walk of 10 miles today with only the one main hill to climb so Tina and I decided we still had plenty of energy to wander around the town.

Lots of thatched cottages and you could see the mark of the thatcher on the top of this one.

All thatchers leave their mark on the roof.

A George VI Letter Box. George VI became King in 1936 when his brother abdicated and reigned for 16 years.

This cottage was built in 1604

 On the chimney are two marks. I think they are fire insurance marks.  One shows a phoenix rising from the flames with the word protection underneath.The other one has the word Royal with a phoenix  below.

The marks identified that the property was covered by fire insurance and were attached to the building so they could be be easily seen but out of reach of thieves. The marks were brought in from the late 1600s and each company had their own mark.

Just off the High Street is the old tannery. It ceased trading in the 11930s and became a riding school until the outbreak of the second world war when it was used as a barracks. They have now been converted into residential workspace.

Across from where we were staying is the 12th century church of St Dubricus. Inside was this ancient clock.

There were also the canopied effigies of Lord Harrington (c1384-1418) and his wife Elizabeth (died 1471).

Porlock is a delightful village and we were pleased we had the time  to wander around. This is a photo of the Museum which was closed but we were able to access the community garden behind and enjoyed sitting there, with views over Exmoor and out to sea, before returning to the guesthouse to meet up with the others for dinner.

Dunster Castle, Somerset

On my way to Minehead in Somerset I stopped to have a look at Dunster Castle.

There has been a castle here for over 1000 years, starting as a Saxon stronghold, being reconstructed many times. The Luttrell family, who lived here for 600 years rebuilt and remodelled it between 1868 and 1872 into the building it is today.

The rooms looked as though they were still lived in, with family photographs on the tables and the dining room table laid out for an extravagant feast.

The beautiful carved, wooden staircase.

The bedrooms all looked very cosy with terrific views over the valley to the sea beyond.

This is a rare, late 17th century leather hanging.

A well stocked library would be top of my list if I lived in a castle!

Second on the list would be an adjoining conservatory with comfy chairs and a fabulous view over the gardens.

As it was such a beautiful, sunny day, I left the castle and had a wander around the gardens.

I found an empty seat in the small cafe which had a great view of the valley and the sea. Perfect for a cream tea.

I enjoyed my break from driving and returned to the car for the final short drive to my destination. This afternoon I would be meeting up with my five walking companions at a Premier Inn hotel in Minehead. Tomorrow we will be setting off on this year's long distance walk along the South West Coast Path. More about that in my next post.

Sharing with Our World Tuesday

The chewing gum man

This is the Millenium bridge over the Thames with St Paul's Cathedral on the North bank and the Tate Modern on the South bank. For those of you who live in London or have visited London you have probably walked over this bridge but how many of you have noticed the art beneath your feet?



This is the artist Ben Wilson but he is commonly known as the Chewing Gum Man. For the last decade he has taken on the challenge of converting the ugliest stains on our footpaths into miniature works of art.

Using a blowtorch and layers of acrylic paint he creates tiny pictures of strange creatures and brightly coloured patterns beneath our feet.

Once you have spotted one then you can't resist scanning the ground looking for more. A number of them include the names or initials of people who have asked Ben to include them in his work.

He has been arrested a number of times but as he restricts his painting to the chewing gum he cannot be accused of criminal damage. It is usually because of the crowds he attracts that creates a problem for the police.

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So next time you are on the bridge see if you can spot the brightly coloured chewing gum.

#1 Tourist destination in UK

I was surprised to learn this week that the most visited tourist attraction in 2018 was the Tate Modern art Gallery just ahead of The British Museum.



























I wonder if the new extension with its 360 deg views of London increased the number of visitors.


















Maybe its exhibitions. At the moment there is an outdoor collection by Franz West.

I enjoy some of the exhibitions but there are a number that I don't really appreciate or understand. I was there last week to see an interesting exhibition of Dorethea Tanning's work, an  American artist who was influenced by the surrealists. She was married to Max Ernst, the German.




Door 84. There is a door separating the paintings.

100th station

It has taken over four years but I have now visited my 100th tube station on my 'Above the Underground challenge'. It wasn't quite how I imagined it would be. Find out more here