30 December 2013 - Trip: West Somerset Railway, Bishops Lydeard/Minehead (20 Miles)

Synopsis: A trip out for Mum and me on West Somerset Railway. We travelled the full distance of the line between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead. Stormy start to the day but it turned out nice.

Photo Set – Flickr -:- (Map)

GPS Tracklog Download (.gpx) Microsoft OneDrive -:- Google Drive

 

Tracklog and Photos - Google My Map

Tracklog overlay - OS – WheresThePath

 

Tracklog overlay (1 – Bishops Lydeard to Minehead [train]) - OSM – ViewRanger

 

Tracklog overlay (2 – Minehead [walk]) - OSM – ViewRanger

 

Tracklog overlay (3 – Minehead to Watchet [train]) - OSM – ViewRanger

 

Tracklog overlay (4 – Watchet [walk]) - OSM – ViewRanger

 

Tracklog overlay (5 – Watchet to Bishops Lydeard [train]) - OSM – ViewRanger

 

 

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

Once again, it was Tesco who we have to thank for today’s trip on the West Somerset Railway. I had a number of Clubcard Days Out vouchers that would soon expire, and so I chose to use them on this trip out today, which of course helps to keep the cost down. Sounds miserly I know, but that’s me.

The weather forecast indicated that a bout of severe weather passing over the south west during the night would head eastwards through the morning. I was banking on this, as the weather I woke up to was nasty in the extreme. By the time we were parking the car at Bishops Lydeard the rain had stopped and breaks in the cloud were beginning to appear.

Bishops Lydeard railway station - ticket office, decorated for Christmas

Everything about the West Somerset Railway transports you back into an earlier time. The ticket office is just as it would have appeared in the 1940s. And many of the staff including the ticket salesman were dressed in period costume. The ticket office had been decorated for Christmas. The West Somerset Railway is largely a summer attraction, but during these few weeks in December it opens for the Christmas holidays.

 

 

 

Bishops Lydeard railway station - train that will take us to Minehead

 

 

Our train was waiting for us, steamed and primed for the journey to Minehead. I took a moment out to take a look at the engine. I then joined Mum in one of the carriages where we waited till the scheduled time for departure. The train started out punctually from Bishops Lydeard.

 

Watchet railway station

It was such a muggy days the windows were wet with rain outside and steamed up with condensation inside. We wiped down the inside of the windows as best we could with tissues so that we might get a clearer view of the beautiful countryside through which we passed. One of the highlights of this journey for me is the small country railway stations that we pass en route. I feel they are so emblematic of the age of steam. This is an image of one of the larger stations, that at Watchet, a photo I took through the window of the carriage door.

Chug, chugging along

Apparently the West Somerset Railway is deemed ‘the longest standard gauge heritage railway in the United Kingdom’. I think that makes it rather special, and perhaps not as well known as it should be. I clocked a leisurely 27 mph as the maximum speed the train achieved on our journey to Minehead today, with an average speed on the journey of 15 mph and an elapsed time of 1 hour 15 minutes. As the train ran along the north Somerset coast I watched through the open carriage window the wispy smoke trail spiral into oblivion.

Minehead - Stones Bar & Restaurant for lunch

On arriving at Minehead (11:40) we headed up The Avenue, the main road in the town, in search of somewhere to eat. I spotted a place named Stones Bar & Restaurant and as we stood outside perusing the menu it began to rain, so rather than dither we dashed inside. The placed looked welcoming so we sought out a table in one of the windows. A lunch of scampi and chips washed down with drinks was enjoyed by Mum and I. Refreshed and fed we resumed our stroll through Minehead.

I found this building on The Avenue intriguing, as I tried to determine what it was. It had decoration which indicated it was of the art deco period, but just what was it? At first I thought it was a church but around the front is a theatre ticket office, and that is precisely what it is, at least mostly so. Sadly the ground floor is given over to garish shop fronts which rather detract from the architecture of the building. It’s known as the Regal Theatre, and there’s a brief history on the official web site that states it was built as a 1,600 seat theatre and cinema in 1934. It apparently had a £300,000 refurbishment in 2012. Below left is the Regal Theatre as it looked in 1935, and below right is my photo of how the building looks today.

The Regal Cinema And Ballroom 1935, Minehead - © Francis Frith (photo 2)

Minehead - The Regal Theatre

I then noticed a footpath and a sign which indicated that it lead to a park. Mum and I followed this footpath and discovered this took us to Blenheim Gardens. These are lovely gardens, a little oasis just off the main street. Walking through the gardens led us in the direction of the seafront, on which we emerged just short of the harbour. Below left is a photo showing how Blenheim Gardens looked in 1925, and below right is my photo showing how the gardens look today.

Blenheim Gardens 1925, Minehead - © Francis Frith (photo 2) & (photo 3)

Minehead - Blenheim Gardens

Minehead seafront - sculpture marking one end of the South West Coast Path

Minehead has only a very small breakwater providing an equally small harbour for just a few boats. As Mum tires easily we didn’t walk the full length down to the harbour-side. We stopped at a modern sculpture dedicated to the fact that Minehead is one end of the South West Coast Path, a long distance footpath that runs around the south-west peninsula from here to Poole.

We headed back to the railway station as we wanted to catch the 14:15 train. Our plan was to break our return journey at Watchet, which we could do if we caught this relatively early train.

 

 

 

Watchet - the quay - houseboat?

 

On arriving at Watchet (14:47) we walked through this small town to the harbour. There were a few fishermen on the harbour wall, but we found Watchet to be very sleepy on this winter’s day. It’s a very pretty place, occupying a lovely location. There’s a statue of the Ancient Mariner on the harbour side, complete with albatross. But what really caught my eye on our visit today was a boat in the harbour that looked very picturesque, which I take to be a houseboat.

Watchet - Hellikers Cafe for tea and cake

There were however few open cafés to be found, but eventually we settled upon one named Helikers, small and humid, but serving the basics of tea and cake. After this quick snack we made our way the short distance back to Watchet railway station. We couldn’t afford to miss our train (16:41), as it was the last train of the day.

 

Bishops Lydeard railway station

 

Dusk was upon us as we headed on our train out of Watchet. And nightfall was upon us as we passed through the picturesque station at Crowcombe. Travelling on this piece of transport history completing this last leg of our journey as night befell us conjured the atmosphere of a bygone time. There was a lovely illuminated Merry Christmas sign to greet us at our final stop of Bishops Lydeard (arriving at 17:22).

Please find below a video I shot of our outing today.

Large screen: Standard Def -:- High Def

I think it fair to say Mum and I thoroughly enjoyed our little excursion today. One of the most calming and relaxing ways possible to spend a day. I somehow doubt the car will ever match this quality of rail travel.

The photos from previous excursions of ours on West Somerset Railway can be found in 23a Summer 2006 - West Somerset Railway and 188 West Somerset Railway and Dunster Castle (NT) photo sets of mine on Flickr.

P.S. Has this whetted your appetite for the world of steam? Want to immerse yourself from the comfort of your armchair in smoke, soot and steam? If so, I’ve just discovered that the there is a collection of full-length BBC TV programmes compiled as Steam Railways in BBC 4 Collections. Apparently “… the channel's Service Licence has [from February 2011] been amended to allow it to curate and publish archive content permanently online, alongside and complementing its broadcast output.” (from: Archiving the Army with BBC Four [by Roly Keating, Friday 16 September 2011]). What this means is that: “The BBC for the first time has a clear, defined remit to start building a 'permanent collection' of some of its best programmes for free online access by anyone in the UK.” (BBC 4 Collections). So, sit back and enjoy a selection from this sample, and then, if you wish to experience the real thing, take a ride on the West Somerset Railway.

Trip Statistics (Bishops Lydeard to Minehead):

Total Distance: 20.0 miles
Moving Time: 1hrs 15min
Maximum Speed: 27mph
Average Speed: 15mph
Total Number of Stations: 10

Train: West Somerset Railway – (Day Rover tickets: Adult: £17.00 / Senior: £15.40)

19 December 2013 - Trip: Killerton (NT) at Christmas

Synopsis: A trip to Killerton (NT), decorated for Christmas, for Mum, Christine and me. A quick pasta bake lunch at Mum’s before driving out to Killerton. A lovely way to get into the festive spirit.

Photo Set – Flickr -:- (Thumbnails)

 

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

My sister-in-law Christine joined Mum and I for lunch at Mum’s before driving out on this rainy afternoon to Killerton (NT). A number of National Trust properties are decorated for Christmas and opened throughout December, Killerton being the nearest to where we live. The rain was falling heavily on arriving at the property but luckily a small electric vehicle was providing a shuttle service between the reception area and the house, and this conveniently dropped us dry and effortlessly at the door to the house.

Killerton (NT) at Christmas - glittering snow alights the banister

I’ll keep this post brief, as the photos speak louder than words. Considerable effort had been put into decorating the house, and this had been elegantly accomplished. Garlands surrounded the fireplaces and Christmas trees decorated with baubles, tinsel and lights were to be found in room corners. Particularly appealing was the snowy scene that festooned the hall. What a charming night time passage to bed, one that might warm the cockles of anyone’s heart, even Scrooge’s.

Killerton (NT) at Christmas - Ebenezer Scrooge's gravestone

I mention Scrooge, as the theme behind parts of the Christmas decoration was A Christmas Carol by Dickens. The ghost of Christmas Future is to be found lurking in one of the rooms, and in another, the looming grave of Christmas Past, should Scrooge not mend his way. There was even Scrooge’s bed to be found in one of the rooms.

All the stewards were most welcoming, helping to make this a quietly relaxing and gentle way to slip into the festive spirit. We concluded our little visit in the only way possible for civilised people, over tea and cake in the little café that is to be found in the stables.

07 December 2013 - Trip: Weston Super Mare and Seaquarium

Synopsis: The impetus for today’s trip out with Mum was the fact that I had some Tesco Clubcard vouchers that would soon expire and these could be used at Seaquarium.

Photo Set – Flickr -:- (Thumbnails)

 

(selection of photos from Flickr photo set – use link above to view album)

The predicted journey time to Weston Super Mare from Exeter is about 1 hour, but it took Mum and I 2 hours to reach our destination. The reason for this was largely due to the fact that I thought I’d take the old A38 rather than the M5 motorway. One other minor factor was a ‘comfort’ stop at a Tesco store in Taunton. The journey up along the A38 was certainly much more pleasant than driving the motorway, but it did add considerable time to the journey. Mum and I were playing a game of spotting all the places that in the past we’d queued in traffic in the days prior to the building of the motorway. This would have been our route to Bristol, more often than not to visit the zoo. This was always a major day out for us back then. When was that? Well, it must be a little more than forty years ago. Does that sound a long time? probably it does.

Driving to Weston Super Mare we passed through some very murky weather, weather that I’m sure was worse than had been forecast. There were bright spells between the murkiness, but generally this was going to prove to be very much a wintry December day out.

I actually parked by the roadside on the seafront, something I didn’t expect to be able to do. We were less than half a mile from Seaquarium, which seemed a quite reasonable distance to walk. There was a brisk chill wind blowing in from the sea as we walked along the seafront. The visibility was particularly good. A little island, I later discovered to be called Steep Holm, was clearly visible just off shore. And the coast of Wales was very clearly visible just across the Bristol Channel.

Weston Super Mare - Winston's Fish Bar

It was about 12:50 when we arrived in Weston Super Mare and hence we were ready for some lunch. A little searching on the Internet prior to setting off had led me to discover Winston’s Fish Bar conveniently situated on the seafront a little distance from Seaquarium. We were soon tucking into a very nice fish ‘n’ chip meal in pleasant cosy surroundings. Not sure if we should be eating fish before visiting an aquarium, but hey ho!

 

 

 

Weston Super Mare - ornate shelters along the promenade

 

 

The weather had closed in on us during our lunch. On leafing the fish bar we were greeted with a chill drizzle blowing into our faces. The only sensible thing to do was head for Seaquarium as quickly as we could. On our way we passed these splendidly ornate shelters dotted along the promenade, although on this day a less than inviting place of repose.

Weston Super Mare - Seaquarium

There is something very soothing about watching fish. There are numerous displays of interesting fish, lizards, and amphibians to be seen at Seaquarium. The staff were very welcoming, chatting about the food that they were feeding the fish, and open to any questions we might have.

Weston Super Mare - Seaquarium

 

 

 

A particularly interesting display is a tunnel that you walk through which places you in the heart of a tank. The fish swim both beside and overhead. We got a really close-up look at the sharks in this display.

Weston Super Mare - The Victorian Café on the seafront

 

After our visit to Seaquarium we attempted to visit the Grand Pier but this was closing just as we got to it. The weather was decidedly inclement, so we weren’t that disappointed. We’d passed an inviting looking café on our way and simply backtracked to it whereupon we purchased tea and cakes. I settled for a delicious bakewell tart, which Mum told me was a great favourite of her mother’s, something I hadn’t known. I guess my liking these cakes must be in my genes.

Weston Super Mare - The Victorian Café on the seafront

 

I told Mum to wait in the café whilst I went for the car. Once I’d picked Mum up from the café we set off immediately for home. This time I followed the signs for the M5 as we were now tired and keen to get home as quickly as possible.

 

 

Although the weather today might have been a tad kinder, our little trip still made for a nice outing. Seaquarium proved a nice way to spend a winter’s day. And what we saw of Weston Super Mare was very pleasing. Prompting us to think that on a nicer day it would be very pleasant to walk along the promenade. Mum and I made a mental note that we would return.