July 2018 – Exmoor
Gerry saw the Haematology consultant on Monday (16th July) and was given the OK and his next follow-up set for the end of November which is brilliant news. As a result, we decided to visit Exmoor for three days later in the week. We stayed at The White Horse Inn in the village of Stogumber and our intention was to do some walking based around the West Somerset Railway route from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead.
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On our way down we visited Hestercombe Gardens and enjoyed a good walk in the grounds. It was very pleasant but the gardens were suffering badly as a result of the brilliant weather and lack of rain. The formal gardens were, as a result disappointing but well worth the visit.
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Our arrival in Stogumber saw us stop at the station to enjoy a cup of coffee in the station garden. For some reason we both think it is a brilliant and peaceful place to enjoy some refreshment and possibly see a steam train!
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The Inn was good value and pleasant enough. However, if you ever visit, beware that the meals are very substantial!
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The next day we travelled from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead by steam train and then enjoyed a five mile walk which involved a bit of a climb but gave us some lovely views back to Minehead and the sea.
We broke our return rail journey at Stogumber Station for tea and cakes and then caught the next train back to Bishops Lydeard.
The views and the stations were a joy to behold and never cease to impress!
Readers may wonder why we didn’t start and finish our rail journey at Stogumber. A good question and the answer is that the station is over a mile from the village and up a narrow and windy road!
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On our final day we enjoyed a walk through Horner Woods, one of the largest and most beautiful ancient oak woods in Britain and part of the National Trust Holnicote Estate.
Saturday morning saw us head back home – we were so pleased to be heading north as the M5 southbound was so busy and stationary in some places (it was the first day of most schools’ summer holidays).
