Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.

Dunster and England's Tallest Tree

We went to Dunster the last time we were in Somerset but mainly spent our time exploring the castle and its gardens. This wasn't an option this time as the gardens were open but the castle was closed to visitors. Instead, we had a more detailed look around the old medieval town and discovered a couple of its hidden gems.

First things first though. Before any sort of exploration is commenced, a good strong coffee is needed and this was provided by Tessa's Tea Shop situated on the High Street. As all the tables were outside, it was the perfect place to just sit, relax and watch the world go by, something that I think a lot of people have missed this past year.

We then had wander along the High Street looking at all the interesting shops, many of which sold local produce. One of the things which caught our eye was Whortleberry Jam, but the romance of the name disappeared when it we found out that whortleberry is just a local name for bilberry or bleaberry.

Sal wanted to visit an old packhorse bridge called Gallox Bridge so we headed through the town in search of it. On our way we came across a local community garden which had been designed as a quiet place to give both locals and tourists a means of escaping the hustle and bustle of the busy town centre. Dunster can get a bit hectic as one of the few major roads of the area going directly through it. We spent a fair amount of time in there, photographing the many flowers the locals had planted and just enjoying the peace and quiet.

And so on to Gallox Bridge. In the Middle Ages Dunster flourished as a market and port for wool, with fleeces being brought down from the moors to be sold there. Many of them were carried by packhorse across the river Avill via Gallox Bridge, which was the main route into Dunster from the south.

It is referred to as Gallox Bridge in a variety of spellings such as Gallocksbrigge, Gallox Bridge or Gallocks Bridge. The name derives from the gallows that stood on a hill outside the town which were a symbol of the authority of the lords of Dunster Castle, who had the right to try and hang any thief caught within the area of their jurisdiction.

Alongside the bridge was an ancient ford – probably older than the bridge – for wheeled traffic. The bridge and ford functioned together: pedestrians and packhorses (with their wool fleeces) using the bridge, and carts driving through the ford. This area must be the oldest part of the town and it is still surrounded by beautiful thatched cottages.

It was then a pleasant stroll back through the village to the pasty shop where we bought a couple for our lunches.

A few days earlier we had been diverted on to a side road when we were heading for The Royal Oak in Luxborough. On this back road there was a signpost for 'The Tallest Tree in England' so, as it was only a few miles down the road, we decided today was the day to investigate.

It was a Douglas Fir tree and was situated in a woodland called Nutcombe Bottom. In 2009, the Guinness Book of Records recorded it as being 198ft high, weighing 50 tonnes and having a diameter of 6ft. It was certainly an impressive size.

We finished our day off having lunch in one of the forest clearings, with great views of Exmoor on one side of us and The Bristol Channel on the other. The only thing missing was mushy peas with a dash of Hendo's!

The Yarn Market

Dunster Main Street

Ironmongers, Dunster Main Street

Cafe, Dunster Main Street

Refreshments

Dunster Main Street

Wobbly Window, Dunster Main Street

Dunster Community Garden

Priory Church of St George

Postbox Freak

Thatched Cottage, Dunster

Gallox Bridge, Dunster

Priory Church of St George

Tallest tree in England, Nutcombe Bottom

Tarr Steps, Somerset

Before going to Tarr Steps, we called in Dulverton for a stroll around the town and hopefully have a coffee. We struck lucky and found a lovely little coffee shop called the Copper Kettle where we sat out in the secluded garden and had a cappuccino each. We killed two birds with one stone and bought a couple of takeaway sarnies to eat later in the day. It really was a welcoming little place, everyone just seems to be so happy at having people using their businesses once again.

Tarr Steps is a 55m (180ft) long clapper bridge across the River Barle just west of Liscombe village, in the southern region of Exmoor National Park. The bridge is built with 17 large stone slabs laid end to end and supported on stone pilings. The pilings, in turn, are buttressed by 'raking stones' to protect against the force of the water. The bridge ends in a causeway, or raised bank, and those daft enough, can use this part of the river as a ford. A Range Rover did drive through, but I wouldn't like to risk driving through in a normal car.

It was certainly in existence by early medieval times, and it seems likely that it has been built and rebuilt for thousands of years before then. The most extreme estimate is that the first bridge was erected around 1000 BC, making it approximately 3000 years old. The 'Tarr' part of the bridge name may come from the ancient Celtic word 'Tochar', meaning a causeway. If true, this would suggest that the bridge indeed has an ancient origin.

The Nature Reserve takes in 33 hectares of woodland surrounding the river and the bridge itself, and provides habitat for woodland creatures such as dormice and the rare barbastelle bat, also otters can be found along its river banks.

We had a nice walk along the banks of the River Barle but turned round when a fellow walker said that there was no bridge across to get on to the return path. Once we got back to Watchet, I got my map out, checked on the internet and there was in fact a bridge only another half mile up the river. Thanks for that one mate!

I thought the whole area was so beautiful, and the steps were so much more impressive than I had imagined from the photos I'd seen. To top the day off, we parked high up on the Exmoor hills to have our butties and the decision to buy them at the café had been a good one! They even threw in some crisps, also we caught our first sighting of some Exmoor Ponies.

The bridge at Dulverton

River Barle, Dulverton

Path to Tarr Steps

Tarr Steps Woodland Nature Reserve

Tarr Steps

Tarr Steps Woodland Nature Reserve

Somerset Memories

We had waited two years for this holiday as last year's was cancelled due to the pandemic. The only thing which was missing was the opening of the pubs, as we both like to just call for a pint on the way home on our daily travels. They were allowed to open with outdoor drinking only, but the vast majority in Somerset seemed to be waiting for the next phase of lockdown easing when they would be allowed to have customers inside as well as out.

We did manage to sniff one out, The Royal Oak in Luxborough and called in there one day, but it was closed the next time we passed so maybe it hadn't been worth their while to open. It wasn't the end of the world and didn't spoil our holiday in any shape or form.

We visited our usual places and, as we stayed for two weeks, we managed to unearth some more little, and not so little gems. Old favourites Selworthy, Allerford, Porlock, Lynmouth, Cleeve, Dunster and Dulverton were re-visited and Wells, Glastonbury, Tarr Steps, Watersmeet, Valley of Rocks and Bossington were added.

All in all, a damned fine holiday. Watchet, and Somerset in general, seem to have been bypassed by the holiday hoards heading for Devon and Cornwall and long may that continue. These are just random photos from the holiday, I will be blogging about the new places we visited in more detail once I get round to it!