Porlock Weir Harbor
She Said:
A short but historically interesting walk today.
We started at Porlock Weir, on the Bristol Channel. Nice to be down at waters' edge, but a bit chilly and windy.
Porlock Weir is a very tiny fishing village that also caters to the tourists who want to see a very tiny Exmoor fishing village. There are 3 inns, 5-6 shops, a one-room Maritime Museum and a one-room Natural History exhibit.
The fishing boats are small - day trippers, mostly. The larger sailboats docked at the harbor are pleasure boats (7-8).
The fishing is mainly for bass, cod and plaice (flounder or "flat fish").
At the harbor, there is a WWII pillbox a bit askew from 75 years of tides and a WWII mine, originally set in the Bristol Channel bit now used as a collection spot for widows and children of those lost at sea. Quite optimistic as a collection box, as it is easily the size of a small Smart Car.
Our path followed the South West Coast Path (100+ miles of which we have walked on other England trips).
Up we climbed to Culbone Church, supposedly the smallest church in England.
On the way up, we passed through the grounds (and some ruins) of the former Lovelace Estate - Worthy.
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was the only legitimate (ha!) daughter of Lord Byron, and a renowned mathematician. She worked on Charles Babbage's early mechanical computer and produced the first algorithm intended to be carried out by a machine and, as a result, is regarded as the first computer programmer.
Go, Ada!
The tunnels at Worthy, a few of which we walked through, were built so that visiting tradesman would not be seen from the mansion, and so that Ada Lovelace could make her way to a private beach in her bathing suit without being seen.
So, two things-
I thought that in the 1800s, bathing suits completely covered everything anyway,
And...
I can't imagine that it ever got warm enough at Porlock Weir to go bathing in the Channel.
Well, whatever.
The climb was horrendous, but again, a worthwhile reward.
Before we hit the church, we saw two more WWII reminders - a tag-along trailer and a jeep. The trailer was off the side of the path and overgrown with vines, but the jeep was garaged and looked to be still in use. Remarkable.
The Culbone Church is the Saint Beuno Church.
Claims to Fame:
*Mentioned in the Domesday Book
*Guinness Book of World Records (smallest parish church in England)
*1000 years old
*two tower bells, one from the 14th c
*1280 - chaplain of Saint Beuno's killed Albert of Ash with a hatchet to the head
*charcoal burners, vagrants and lepers used to be regular parishioners
*the written record of Rectors lists from 1329
Worth the hike.
We checked out Porlock Weir (took about 10 minutes), ate our packed lunches on a turned-over rowboat (beside a pier building to block the wind), checked out the small Natural History exhibit (picked up a flyer on how to make a Bug Hotel) and were ready for an early pick-up by our driver.
Back in Dunster, R climbed to Conygar Tower and I schmooped around in the shops.
Tomorrow we leave Dunster for London.
It has been a heavenly week here in Exmoor.
Total Mileage:
5.45 (Porlock Weir, Culbone Church)
Total Flights Climbed:
53
He said:
This was our last walking day in Exmoor, and in the countryside, we are off to London tomorrow. We are always sad that our days of long walks must come to and end, but at the same time, we walked only about 5 miles today, so I guess we were not that keen. We did not feel like another 10 mile day, we felt like a hike before lunch, and drinks later while we relaxed.
I must say that I've enjoyed Exmoor, it's out there, it's like the very old days, which is good and bad. But for being in and around the land as it has been for hundreds or thousands of years, this area is the best. Having Exmoor as a national park since the 50's or 60's, and with the hilly terrain and slow roads, the place remains isolated and pristine. The villages are small, and the communities close. Half the town is in a pub at night.
Our walk from Porlock Weir to Culbone Church and back was first up, and then down. This small church at Culbone started in the 14th century. The recorded human history here goes back a long way, and that in itself is interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment