Monday 14th March 2016

After what has seemed like four months of continuous rain there is a spell of settled weather. We packed up the van and left home heading north. Got to a road closure just before Bampton on the southern fringes of Exmoor and spent the next hour going round in circles. Eventually arrived at Porlock Weir on the Exmoor coast.

The village car park at Porlock Weir is right by the shingle beach and a reasonably good deal at £6 for 24 hours. None of the other vehicles parked there seemed to be displaying parking tickets but we decided to pay anyway as we didn't want to give "vanners" a bad name!

Here's the view across the bay from our parking place. It was quite hazy and there was a cold wind.

We took a walk on the beach. There was some nice driftwood. Later on when it got dark we went for a very good meal in the village pub. 

Tuesday 15th March

In the morning we watched the tide coming in at Porlock Weir.

The previously beached boats started to float.

The beach reinforcements appear to take quite a battering with all those stones being thrown around by the storms.

We moved on from Porlock Weir to Minehead to get diesel and some bread.

We stopped for the day (and night) on Bossington Hill high above Minehead.

We went for a walk. Unfortunately it clouded over and became quite cold while we were out.

We were glad to get back to our van and out of the wind.

However we're gluttons for punishment and we soon went out for another walk on the more wooded and sheltered side of the hill.

Later on there was a nice sunset.

Wednesday 16th March

After a late start we moved over the border from Somerset into Devon and visited Arlington Court (National Trust). Many years ago I was given life membership of the National Trust by my adopted mother so we can visit Trust properties for free whenever we like.

Arlington Court was the family "seat" of the Chichester family until they gave it to the trust in 1948. Their emblem seems to have been this rather strange bird. Frances Chichester was the first person to sail single handed around the world.

There are quite a few peacocks living in the grounds and they are very partial to the vegetables in the kitchen garden.

We saw this interesting old grain store in the grounds. Arlington Court houses a very impressive museum of old carriages which for some reason I forgot to photograph. Among them is the very very grand carriage of the speaker of the house of commons which was retired here in 2005.

Inside the house itself you see the "normal" stately home stuff!

We stopped for the night at a small car park high above the sea at Martinhoe just west of Lynton. Here's the view from our parking place.

Thursday 17th March

In the morning there was still a cold wind but the sun was out. We saw some red deer in the fields on the other side of the bay.

We headed back towards our "other house" at Widecombe as Ann wanted to be at her voluntary work with Dartmoor National Park on Friday.

When we got home the weather was still gorgeous and the wind had gone down.

Sometimes I wonder why we bother to go away at all!