Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.

Selworthy and Bossington Hill

Selworthy is possibly our favourite place in Somerset, the village being owned by The Holnicote Estate. All the houses are thatched and uniformally decorated in a very pale yellow. It it like stepping back in time as there are no roads past the houses and the way in is through a kissing gate next to the imposing All Saints Church. All houses were immaculately maintained.

Pride of place went to The Periwinkle Tearooms which sat in an elevated position near the top of the village. The view from the garden was far-reaching, looking across to Dunkerly Beacon (the highest point of Exmoor) on the distant horizon. Coffee was had followed by a customary visit to the gift shop which stocked a full range of random gifts which you would normally never dream of buying. I was amazed that Sal resisted the temptation to buy but she did.

We might normally have walked up from the car park, through the woods to Selworthy Beacon but, due to my condition, that was out of the question. After consulting my map, I found a road coming out of Minehead which took us within walking distance of Bossington Hill and, a bit farther on, Selworthy Beacon. Sal had always wanted to visit the Beacon so we walked the short distance to Bossinton Hill and then Sal strode off to The Beacon.

Even though we cheated a bit, it was fantastic to be up high. The view down the Somerset/Devon coast was stunning and I'm pretty sure getting up to Selworthy Beacon was one of the highlights of Sal's holiday.

Horse Riders at Selworthy

Selworthy

Periwinkle Tearooms

Selworthy

All Saints Church, Selworthy

Exmoor

Cow Parsley, Selworthy

Exmoor

Bossington Hill

Porlock Bay

Wild Garlic Time

A day later and a return to Middleton Woods in Ilkley, this time it was to see the wild garlic which is situated in the far right of the woods. This section of the wood is called Hudson wood but it is know by all and sundry as Middleton Wood.

You can smell the garlic long before you actually come across it. I think that, and the anticipation is part of the pleasure of visiting them. I reckon I was maybe a week or so too early in my visit though as the flowers weren't fully out. I still managed to get some nice photos and the still flowering bluebells did add an extra dimension and splash of contrasting colour to the scene.

Bluebells and wild garlic, Hudson Wood

Wild Garlic

Bluebells and wild garlic, Hudson Wood

Wild garlic, Hudson Wood

Bluebells and wild garlic, Hudson Wood

Wild garlic, Hudson Wood

Bluebell in Middleton Woods

My yearly visit to Middleton Wood on the outskirts of Ilkley to see the bluebells. The colour really seems to be popping this year, maybe because we have had a pretty mild spring. Also it had rained a few days prior to my visit so they'd had a good watering.

I was joined on this visit by Sal and we both agreed that there was a magical feel to these woods at this time of year.