Minehead update

We’ve been out to Dunkery Beacon, about 10 miles from the site to do a walk out of Country Walking magazine. This is the highest point in Somerset at 519m, unfortunately the mist rolled in as we approached so we could only see about 20yds! We persevered and made it up to the beacon, a quick photo and back down. We then headed back to Dunster and went for a walk around the gardens and grounds of Dunster Castle only to realise afterwards that dogs aren’t allowed! Luckily we got away with it!

We also had a walk around Dunster village, an ancient village which has a yarn market at its heart, and some very pretty old buildings.

We’ve also headed to the Bakelite museum just the other side of Watchet. An unsuccessful visit because we thought it was free and we only had £5 between us. It turned out to be £4 each and when Linda saw someone looking at us from the café we had to run!

We went for a walk along the beach in Minehead, and stopped for a picnic under the new sea defence, then carried on along the beach and walked back along the Golf Course and the promenade where we were entertained by the boy racers (screaming tyres and handbrake turns).

Back to Tonks and we headed for Lynton and Lynmouth, 2 small villages just up the A39. Lynmouth is a village which was devastated in 1952 by a flood caused by extreme rainfall on Exmoor. A huge wave of water and debris was carried down the river Lyn which seriously damaged or destroyed 100 buildings along with 28 of the 31 bridges. In total, 34 people died, with a further 420 made homeless.

We parked in Linton at the top of the hill and walked the footpath which follows the water powered cliff railway down to Lynmouth. Lynmouth was lovely to walk around, particularly the tiny harbour and little shopping street. We took the dogs into a pub on the harbour and had a lovely pint before the big ascent back to Tonks. The view from the top on the drive back was spectacular as the sun set over Exmoor and we could see the Welsh lights across the Bristol Channel.