Exmoor – “Walking and Sightseeing” V

The last day – guess what – there was a problem with my packed lunch! The bag holding it collapsed and there were no blueberry bars so they replaced it with a peanut bar (which I wouldn’t accept – I hate peanuts). The manager was there for once and he got a new bag but they left out my trail mix when they put stuff back….

We got the minibus to Withypool – although I nearly missed it because of the excitement of hearing that Boris had resigned (been pushed?). Didn’t think he would ever resign – not that he has actually gone…. On reaching Withypool we had a short walk along the road before following a path down to the River Barle.

Looking back at Withypool from the path
The river with stepping stones we didn’t cross on!

Parts of the path down were quite steep and it was slippery in one place. The rest of the walk was along the river which was pleasant – except that some of the path was very uneven and some people found it difficult in places. After the path became easier we crossed the river on a bridge which said no more than 3 (I think) people at a time – but it seemed sturdy enough. We did obey the instruction though.

Bridge we used to cross the river

A bit further along we came to a structure that looked almost like a bridge – but wasn’t.

Not a bridge
Explanation

We went along further and reached Tarr Steps – a clapper bridge.

Tarr Steps

We had lunch by the bridge and there was a flock of chaffinches ready to eat any crumbs we left. They were very bold and came very close so were obviously used to people feeding them. While we were there a car went through the ford – don’t think I would have tried it – the bed of the river was very rocky.

From Tarr Steps we got into the minibus and had a long ride to Knightshayes Court, a National Trust property. Most of us walked straight to the house, which was originally designed in a gothic revival style.

Knightshayes Court

The owners didn’t like the interior design and got another architect to finish it. They didn’t like that either and adapted it for use. We could only visit the downstairs, which mostly had been restored to the original plan. Can’t say I blame the owners for not being keen – it was not at all “homely”. The best part was the golf room where there was information about and trophies won by the owners wife, who was a renowned golfer, in her time. The gardens and grounds were supposed to be “exceptional” and were the reason the National Trust took it on.

Formal garden and parkland from the terrace

It was much too hot and too big to explore much of it. It is supposed to have a “comprehensive plant collection”, but much of what I saw looked very much the same and uninteresting – but I am no plant expert!

Back of the house and formal garden

I explored some parts that were in shade but was not terribly impressed by the “garden in the wood” although I did quite like the pool garden.

Pool garden from the wood above

I went and sat in the shady part of it for a while as it was quite restful.

In the pool garden

After that it was time to head back to the stables that contained the shop and important things like toilets, before getting on the minibus for the long drive back to the hotel.

The stables – also gothic revival style.

The dinner in the evening was very slow and my salmon – which I had been looking forward to – was served with an egg, probably potatoes, a few frozen beans and olives(!?). It was also lukewarm, so when the manager – who was around for once – asked if it was ok, I said no. He offered to have it heated up – but I had eaten most of it by then so I couldn’t see the point. I had ordered strawberry ice-cream for dessert but it seems they had run out of both strawberry and chocolate ice-cream…. Eventually they produced a strawberry ice-cream the chef had made – which was lovely! Pity it was 9.00 by then, dinner having started at 7.00. I didn’t bother with the music quiz – I don’t know any music and it was too late.

So? Not the most satisfactory of days, although some of the bits by the river were lovely.

And the holiday overall? Again not exactly the best. I usually expect high standards from hf and this didn’t reach them. Some of the “sightseeing” was not very interesting – or was closed because the planning was poor. And the meals are usually excellent, but the packed lunches kept being a bit of a problem and several of the dinners were poor (or really bad!) with very few vegetables (except on the Sunday) which was a disappointment, to say the least. I did send an email of complaint – but await a detailed reply…..

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