At the beginning of October, we spent a few extremely pleasant days with Mary's sister and her husband at their place in North Devon. It was a bit damp on the drive down and the following day was bit on the windy side due to Storm Amy. Fortunately for us, though not for others, the strongest winds and highest rainfalls were further north, particularly Northern Ireland and Scotland with wind speeds up to 90 mph. The Davis Weather Station in our back garden recorded a highest wind speed of 51 kph (32 mph) around 11 o'clock on the 4th October.
During our visit we managed to visit 3 National Trust properties ...
Knightshayes
A spectacular Gothic Revival house designed by William Burges who also worked on Cardiff Castle.
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| Photo 1: Ornate Interiors |
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| Photo 2: And Ceilings |
The house was built for the
Heathcoat-Amory family, who made their money from
lace manufacture, in second half of the 19
th Century. Knightshayes was located on the opposite side of the
Exe valley to the
factory so that the family could keep a watchful, if distant, eye on the factory (
Photo 3).
The extensive gardens are well worth a stroll ...
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| Photo 4: Long Vistas, Knightshayes (6th October 2025) |
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| Photo 5: Fine Topiary, Knightshayes (6th October 2025) |
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| Photo 6: Ancient and Modern Guttering, Knightshayes (6th October 2025) |
As it is autumn, there is plenty of fungi about ...
We had called in briefly on our way to Devon (toilet break!) but didn't have enough time to explore. So we decided to revisit on the journey home. Dunster Castle is built on a
tor and hence is a prominent feature in the landscape (
Photo 9).
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| Photo 9: Approaching Dunster Castle |
Its position perched on a tor also means its gardens are fairly compact albeit with a few ups and downs.
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| Photo 10: National Trust Map of Dunster Castle |
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| Photo 11: Entrance to Dunster Castle with the Coat of Arms |
There are many fine views form the elevated position of Dunster Castle such as this one looking north over the Bridgewater Bay & the Bristol Channel towards Wales. The islands of
Flat Holm and
Steep Holm can be seen in the distance. On occasions you will hear, or even see, the steam trains on the
West Somerset Railway.
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| Photo 12: View from the Castle Looking Northwards towards Wales |
The paths through the gardens are very accessible ...
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| Photo 13: Winding Down the Gardens at Dunster Castle |
... and may lead you to the Watermill that still produces flour ...
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| Photo 14: Dunster Castle Watermill |
From certain vantage points, the
Conygar Tower, a folly, can be seen. This tower has no connection to the
Leaning Tower of Pisa; it is just the photograph taken at a funny angle!
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| Photo 15: Conygar Tower Folly, Dunster Castle |
The village of
Dunster is right next to the castle and well worth a visit.
Our final stop on the journey home was
Tintern Abbey, founded by Cistercian monks in 1131. Much of the Abbey is undergoing conservation work and is currently out of bounds and heavily scaffolded ...
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| Photo 16: Scaffolding at Tintern Abbey (October 2025) |
There is no denying this would have been an imposing and domineering building while it was in use ...
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| Photo 17: Tintern Abbey (October 2025) |
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| Photo 18: Tintern Abbey (October 2025) |
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| Photo 19: Tintern Abbey (October 2025) |
The trees surrounding Tintern are just beginning to turn as we enter Autumn ...
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| Photo 20: Wooded Hillsides Surrounding Tintern Abbey |
Another hour's drive and we were back home.
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