Framedlight

On our last day in Somerset we thought we would climb Dunkery Beacon. At the massive height of 519m, it is an easy walk along a broad path. There were a number of families doing the same thing and we passed Exmoor ponies on the way down. We ended the day at Wimbleball Reservoir at the far eastern area of Exmoor, before driving to our night stop next to the canal by Tiverton. it was the end of our Somerset holiday and I had a wedding to photograph the next day.

We left Long Sutton and drove across country to Porlock on the north Somerset coast, where we were planning to stay for a couple of days over the late May bank holiday. We stopped on a campsite about 2 miles out of the town. It was large and busy, not surprising considering it was holiday time. Porlock has two 'beaches,' Porlock Weir which we visited in the evening. Here a river flows down into the sea, there are a few houses and a large pub. The beach is shingle and there is a little area where boats can moor up. The pub is a distinct advantage! A couple of snaps with monochrome conversions. Porlock beach lies in front of the town and we walked there from the campsite the next morning down a leafy lane. The  long beach (around 4 miles) is all shingle with a sea wall and an extensive piece of marshland behind it. We had to take it all very slowly as we had ancient dog Hettie with us. But she managed it with plenty of stops. Porlock was very quiet consideri...

While we were in Somerset we want to Muchelney Abbey, not far from Long Sutton.  The abbey lies on low land and was severely flooded in 2015. It had been founded in the 7th or 8th century, damaged by the Vikings, and then rebuilt in the 10th century. Extensions had taken place until it was dissolved in 1538 when the majority was demolished and used for local building stone. The Parish church of St peter and St Paul, next door, contains tiles and decorative features from the abbey. The main pieces left are the Abbot's house and a reredorter, an ancient privy block used by the monks. The Abbot's house is roofed and contains rooms and a staircase. The last picture in the series below is of the stairs leading up to the reredorter. All the photographs were taken using my Nikon D3200 which has been converted to take infrared shots. While we were there we also looked around the church and the grave yard. ...

We had camped in the village of Long Sutton. On the Sunday morning Alan left early to take part in a cycle sportive starting in Langport. I was going to spend the day idly walking and photographing. The morning the mist hung over the fields and it promised a fine day. The cattle slowly walked back over the field after milking and all was right with the world.

At the end of May we spent a week in Somerset as Alan had entered a cycle event in Langport. We camped  for a  few days in a field in Long Sutton at a site that I can highly recommend.  The first day we spent touring a little round the Levels and walking along the Glastonbury Canal, a very short stretch of water designed to take coal into Glastonbury. In late spring everything was verdant and fresh.