Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: Somerset Holiday

Another day of blue skies, the weather Gods were really looking after us on this holiday. Today me and Sal split up, but only for a short while. She rode her bike along the old Mineral Line from Watchet to Cleeve Abbey whilst I went and bought some cider from Torres Cider farm at Washford, grabbing a quick cappuccino in the process and then meeting up with her. She'd been enthusing about doing this ride for weeks and I'm just glad she got to do it in fine and sunny weather.

Cleeve Abbey is run by English Heritage so, at the ticket office, I was given the usual hard sell. They do the same at Lanercost Priory in Cumbria as well. Instead of just letting you buy a ticket, they have to try and pressurise you into becoming a member and if that fails they then offer you a discount and don't even get me started on their guide booklets etc selling. In the end I laughingly said he was worse than a double glazing salesman and I think, at that point, he got the message and just took my money and moved on to the next customer.

Most of the Abbey was intact and I did find it thoroughly enjoyable to walk around. The dormitory and cloister had both been restored and an annex had been added to house a large section of the original flooring. The buildings round the cloister were still roofed and habitable and many of the rooms retained their vaults. Among the most important preserved rooms was the chapter house and the refectory with its magnificent arch braced wooden vault. Lunchtime butties were then enthusiastically consumed in the car before moving on.

Below is a bit of background information about the Abbey :-

On 25 June 1198 a colony of 12 monks led by Abbot Ralph arrived at the site from Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire. The official name of the abbey was Vallis Florida, (Latin: 'Flowering Valley') but throughout its history it was generally known as Cleeve after the nearby village. The initial funding for the foundation was increased by land and money from the family of William de Mohun of Dunster, 1st Earl of Somerset and the Beckerolles family. In addition to various landholdings with produced rent for the abbey they held the Right of Wreck, which meant they could claim shipwrecks washed up on the shore of their lands. Cleeve Abbey, while never very large nor prosperous, survived without any major incidents until the abrupt closure in 1537, as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries instigated by Henry VIII. The abbey later saw use as a farm, but now most parts are, after relatively limited restorations, in the same condition as when the monks departed. The monastery was originally encircled by a moat, of which a few traces remain, including to the north, and the east, though most of this section was filled in when the West Somerset Mineral Railway was built through the Washford Valley in the 1850s. The abbey was founded by William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln.

Our next destination was another delightful Somerset village called Luxborough, one which Sal had also visited many years ago. On the OS map its called Kingsbridge but I think Luxborough sounds much more romantic and it is the name which seems to be generally used. It's another village littered with thatched cottages and has the infant Washford River, which runs in to The Bristol Channel at Watchet, meandering through it.

Pride of place though goes to The Royal Oak Inn which has been at the heart of the village for over 600 years and still retains some of the building's original features eg. original flagstone and cobblestone flooring, stone walls and open wooden beams. There is also a courtyard in the centre of the inn which is used as the beer garden. This looked very inviting but unfortunately we didn't discover it until we were about to leave.

We chose to sit outside the front entrance to soak up the relaxing and peaceful countryside atmosphere. All was going well until the local council's drain cleaning lorry turned up, causing absolute chaos because the lanes were far too narrow for it to manoeuvre properly. I'm sure it kept reversing down peoples driveways just to let other cars past or turn around. Still, it kept us entertained for a quarter of an hour or so.

Our final destination for the day was Minehead which I both liked and hated at the same time if that makes any sense. I liked the harbour area and the general feel of the place however I absolutely hated the Butlins monstrosity which seems to have taken over one half the town.

We had a nice stroll up to the harbour and then back along the prom before returning back to our childhoods by spending half an hour on the slots in one of the arcades. Poor Sal got the hump because she fed the money waterfall machines and then I went along and took out everything she'd put in. Needless to say, I didn't help the situation with all my gloating. We can be so mature at times!

We didn't spend too long in Minehead as parts of it weren't to our taste but we were both glad that we paid it a visit. On our way back to base we called in a pub I'd seen the previous day, the White Horse Inn at Washford which was yet another of Somerset's lovely Olde Worlde inns.

We sat out in the beer garden and planned our last full day in Somerset.