Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Short Break in Talaton

Thursday 7th June 2012 

We set off from home on Thu 7th June at 11:00 am and headed south on the M5.  Our 75 mile journey to Talaton was to take one and a half hours, leaving the M5 at junction 28 with the final 10 miles being on narrow country lanes.


On the northbound M5, all 3 lanes were extremely busy and for many miles the traffic was stationary.  It seemed that, in view of the bad weather, people had decided to cut their holiday short and head for home early.  Fortunately, the southbound M5 was fairly clear and our progress was only impeded by the poor visibility caused by the driving rain storm.  All was going well until one of those large illuminated motorway road signs informed us that there had been an accident between junctions 26 and 27.  We left the motorway at junction 26 and proceeded slowly on the narrow Devon country lanes.  It was inconvenient but we passed through several beautiful Devon villages.  One that particularly caught our attention was Broadhembury .  All of the cottages that we saw had thatched roofs.  Kirsty Allsop has a home here.  Thanks to the Satnav we arrived at Talaton at around 1:00 pm,  after a two hour journey and found our way to Miller's Farm which was to be our home for the next three days.  We were greeted by Annette, who took us to the caravan and showed us round.


























Annette told us that the nearby Talaton Inn served good food in the evenings and there was also the Five Bells at Clyst Hydon just three miles away.  She also mentioned that they had a lamb, nicknamed 'Houdini', who was always escaping from it's field and not to be surprised if it turned up by our caravan.  In fact, he did turn up every day.
































Annette had thoughtfully provided some scones and tea. She left a note informing us that jam and clotted cream were in the fridge.  We unpacked and sat down to a lovely cream tea.  After tea, we set off for Tesco at Honiton, as we needed to buy some food for evening meals.  With the shopping done, we drove round Honiton to see what it was like and decided that it had no appeal for us.

In the evening we drove to Clyst Hydon and luckily spotted the small sign pointing the way to the Three Bells.  We parked in the car park and went in.





We went to the bar and ordered some drinks.  They sold draft San Miguel and Thatchers Gold, our usual drinks back home so we ordered these.  I didn't feel inspired to try the local brews, made by the Otter Brewery.  We were asked if we would be eating and confirmed that we would like to, so the bar man offered to open a tab for us.  They are very trusting here, as no swipe of a debit/credit card was required unlike back home in Bristol.  We browsed the menu, and the choice was easy for me, they did a steak, ale and mushroom pie.  Sue went for the fish pie.  There were three potato options, so I chose chips and the meals were accompanied with vegetables.


The steak pie was made in a pie dish with a thin shortcrust pastry topping, glazed, presumably, with beaten egg.  The sauce was thinner and less flavoursome than some I have had, but the beef was good quality and tender.  The chips were good, although nothing special, and the veg (broccoli, carrots and red cabbage) was nicely cooked.  Sue was very impressed with her fish pie.  It was made with cod, salmon, prawns, smoked fish and boiled egg in a sauce with a mashed potato and cheese topping.

Friday 8th June 2012 


We have spent many holidays at Ladram Bay, and it was only eleven miles from Talaton, albeit with much of the route being on narrow lanes with passing places, so after breakfast we drove there.  On arrival, we paid the very reasonable £2 parking fee and parked in the car park.  For just £2, you can park there all day, and have access to the beach, shop, cafe, takeaway, and the Three Rocks complex with restaurant, bars and evening entertainment.  We wandered round the extensive shop/gift shop which sells everything imagineable and then made our way to Pebbles restaurant where had a coffee while sitting looking out of the large windows onto the bay.



















In the evening, we thought we would try the Talaton Inn.  We ordered two halves while deciding if we would like to eat there.
































We decided to move on so we drove to the Thirsty Farmer pub at Whimple.  This appeared to be a modern pub and we were not keen on the atmosphere.

After our tour of the local pubs, we decided to to return to the Five Bells again this evening.   I enjoyed the steak pie so much last night, that I decided to have it again.  Sue chose the vegetable lasagne and on eating it commented that it seems impossible to get a bad meal here.  We gave dessert a miss tonight.  On visiting the toilet, instead of the customary hot air drier, or paper towels, there was a basket by the side of the wash basin containing several neatly folded small cotton hand towels, and nearby was another basket to deposit your towel after you had dried your hands.

Saturday 9th June 2012


In the afternoon, we drove the short distance to the Talaton Inn and parked in the pub car park and strolled round the village.


















There was a wedding in the village church which was just ending and the guests were driving/walking the short distance to the village hall for the reception.

Afterwards we drove to Sidmouth, parked in the Russell Street Car Park and wandered round the shops.  For several years we used to have an Easter break at Ladram Bay and always visited Sidmouth and roamed round the shops, so we are well accustomed to the retail opportunities here.  There are several shops in Sidmouth, which are full of items, all of which are completely unessential to human existence, but to which all females seem drawn by some inexplicable magnetism.

We went for a coffee in Sue's Pantry. We went here several years ago when we spent the Easter break at Ladram Bay with Claire, Pete, Josh and Charlie.  Sue had a tea and I had a cappuccino.  I was asked if I wanted a medium or large cappuccino and the waitress gestured to the two sizes of cup.  Their 'large' cup was smaller than Costa's medium, so I opted for the large one at £2.50. Now, I do like my coffee, and even with my entry level equipment at home, using Sainsbury's TTD coffee beans, I can make a nicer tasting cup of coffee than Costa or Starbucks.  I am not over analytical in my assessment of coffee e.g. hints of blackcurrant and citrus notes etc., but I know if it has a smooth, pleasant taste.  Sue's Pantry coffee was not at all pleasant tasting, and the milk foam was not a fine foam, but had large loose bubbles. There seems to be a belief in some cafes that all they have to do is serve up a brown liquid with some frothy milk on the top and it's OK to charge £2.50 for it.  Very often you find the coffee is not worth the money.  If you are charging £2.50 for a coffee, then you should be able to use good quality coffee beans and train the staff in the correct use of the equipment. i.e. grinding the coffee beans to the correct particle size and packing the coffee basket properly to achieve the optimum 25 second extraction.  Incidentally, this criticism even applies to the UK's favourite retailer, John Lewis, where the aftermath of drinking one of the acrid brews in their cafe remains in your mouth for some hours afterwards.  OK, rant over.

In the evening, we went back to the Five Bells yet again.  For the third time, I had the steak, ale and mushroom pie, and Sue had the cod and chips.  For dessert Sue chose the Chockabocka Glory and I just had two scoops of their excellent ice cream, chocolate and vanilla flavours.  Before the meals arrived, I had ordered more drinks and now, after eating, I sat there wondering how on earth I could manage to drink another pint of San Miguel.  

When we went to bed, the wedding evening party was in full swing in the nearby village hall and we could hear the music in our caravan.  I lay in bed awake, and from somewhere I came up with the idea of doing a day trip to Majorca to see a friend, Andres, who we have not seen for about 15 years.  His brother has a bar in Arenal just a few miles from Palma airport.  I researched the trip using the 3G internet on my Samsung phone.  There is a 6:00 am Easyjet flight from Bristol to Palma and a return flight at around 23:00, so it should be possible to do the return trip in a day.  Arenal is less than 5 miles from Palma airport and is reachable by bus.  Using Google Maps Street View I can even see the bar where I believe Andres is working.  I could also go back to visit the Orleans Garden Hotel in Can Pastilla where we spent a good holiday in the late 1990s.  One small aggravation is that one day's parking at Bristol Airport seems to cost £23.  They are having a laugh.  I woke the next morning still full of enthusiasm for the trip, possibly the wildest thing I will have done in my dull life.  We will see. 

Sunday 10th June 2012


Annette had told us that there was no one coming into the caravan after us, so there was no pressure to be out by 10:00 am. We could stay on and leave at our leisure, so we spent a relaxed day in the caravan.


We popped out for a short while just before midday to have a look round the village shop. Sue had a chat to the lady working in the shop, who told her that it is a Community Shop. They had some nice looking pies in the refrigerator. One was interestingly called Sheep Pie, containing a mixture of mutton and lamb. With my ever increasing weight, I resisted temptation.







 

We returned to the caravan and and relaxed for a while, watching the geese and sheep grazing outside.



Having discovered the excellent meals at the Five Bells, the food we had bought in Tesco remained in the fridge and freezer and we packed it up to take home.

At 6:00 pm, we left the caravan, said our goodbyes to Annette and took a steady drive home.  It rained continuously all the way.  On arriving home, we unloaded the car and went to the Baileys Court Inn for supper.

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Holidays 2012

This morning, I paid the full amount for our next holiday at Burnham on Sea in July. 

Having spent a hectic past few days visiting Dave and Jan in Wedmore and staying overnight at the Swan Inn and visiting the Wells Swans, visiting Suzanne and Howard for an evening with drinks and snacks, visiting Amelia for a meal, having Suzanne and Howard and Judith and Andrew round for a buffet and drinks while watching the Jubilee Concert, going to the Three Brooks for a meal and spending any remaining free time watching the Jubilee Celebrations, Sue felt in need of a quiet break.  As it's the school half term holidays and Jubilee Bank Holiday, there is very little accommodation available this week, but Sue managed to find a caravan free at Talaton (where?).  It is a fairly new caravan (2010) and is situated on a farm, in a field, on its own.  It is reasonably priced and so we have booked it for Thu, Fri and Sat nights, which means we will be coming back on Sunday, hopefully missing all the returning holiday traffic.  Just after the lady caravan owner put down the phone following Sue's enquiry she received another phone call querying availability, so we only just got it.  Talaton holiday Blog to follow soon.

The response on this Toshiba netbook on which I write this blog has been getting increasingly, annoyingly slower.  I have virus checked it with BitDefender, Malwarebytes, SUPERAntiSpyware and Microsoft Security Essentials and it's OK.  It must be down to the increasing amounts of software I have loaded.  All my data is backed up on my 25GB Skydrive, so I just need to back up my pictures to Skydrive as well.  Then all that remains to be done is to clear the Toshiba down and reload Windows 7, reload 2 years Windows 7 updates, Internet Explorer, Windows Live Mail, Microsoft Security Essentials, Open Office, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., I may well lose the will to live.      

Friday, 1 June 2012

Wedmore, Wells and Burnham

Sue's holiday from work started at midday Thursday.  On the evening, we are off to Wedmore to see Dave and Jan and to have a meal with them at the New Inn.  On Wednesday, Sue booked a night's B&B at the Swan Inn, so we won't have to drive home afterwards.  We set off for Wedmore at 3:00 pm and arrived at the Swan Inn 45 minutes later.

Swan Inn, Wedmore
The pub has recently been renovated to a very high spec and the restaurant has been awarded the Good Food Guide Readers' Restaurant of the Year, South West regional winner.

New Inn Restaurant

There was ample parking available in the car park, so we parked and were shown to our room, Room 1, where we unpacked and settled in.  The most unusual feature of the spacious bedroom was a large bath postioned right in front of the window, overlooking  the high street.  Thankfully, there were venetian style shutters at the window.  There was also the en suite room with a shower cubicle and power shower.  The bed was enormous, 6ft x 6ft 6 inches. There was tea and coffee making facilities with fresh ground coffee and two cafetierres.  There was also a jar of boiled sweets, but it would have been nice to have had some biscuits.  Free wifi was provided in the rooms.



Dave and Jan walked down to the Swan Inn to meet us. They arrived at 5:00 pm and showed us round the Wedmore shopping area, but we couldn't go into any shops as Wedmore closes down at 5:00pm.  We decided to return in the morning after breakfast.  During our walk, we found one of the Wells' Swans at the Borough Mall shopping precinct.


Apparently, there are 60 swans dotted around Wells, to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Sue is very interested in visiting Wells to photograph the Wells' Swans.  Last year we spent a lot of time going round photographing all 60 of the Gorillas in Bristol and surrounding area.

We made our way back to Dave and Jan's house for tea and biscuits before going out to the New Inn (no web site) for dinner. 

New Inn, Wedmore
The table was booked for 7:30 pm.  We had a couple of pints of the local Thatcher's Gold cider and we all opted for the excellent fish and chips, with the fish having arrived fresh from the south coast that day.  The batter was light and crispy and the chips, soft with a beautiful golden crispy outside.  The fish and chips was accompanied by your choice of garden peas or mushy peas.  I went for the mushy peas, purely from an ease of handling point of view.  It was a fun evening and we left and headed back to the Swan Inn at 10:30.

We had a good night's sleep in the comfortable bed at the Swan Inn.  We had thought that we may have been bothered by traffic noise, as we were on a busy road junction but it was fine.

Breakfast was served between 7:30 and 11:30. This is quite an exceptional time span for a B&B to serve breakfast, but it is served in the pub bar, which is also open to non residents for breakfast, so that would explain it.  All breakfast items ranging from museli to a Swan Full English breakfast are listed on the menu.  Normally in B&Bs, there is a buffet table with fruit, cereals, and fruit juice etc. to help yourself before you have the main cooked breakfast.  There is no indication as to what you are allowed to have, but I had read a Tripadvisor review where the reviewer had requested more than one item from the list, so I ordered fruit, yogurt with granola and scambled eggs and tomatoes on toast for Sue and muesli and a full Swan English for me.  We were given orange juice with ice cubes without being given the option of ice or no ice.  I would have preferred no ice.  My full English consisted of two grilled tomato halves, two rashers of streaky bacon with rind still attached, one small sausage, some black pudding and scrambled egg on one slice of toast.  The tomato was a lovely sweet one, perfectly cooked, and the scrambled egg was as it should be.  I would have preferred back bacon, but  anyway, I carried on and removed the rind from the streaky bacon which was very dry, hard and unpleasant.  I imagine it had been cooked much earlier and kept hot.  The sausage was very small and I suspect, sourced from a local butcher, but it was not to my taste.  I had read on the  Tripadvisor review that scrambled egg was the default, which I decided to go with, but normally, if given the choice, which I wasn't, I would opt for poached.  The toast which the scrambled egg was sat upon had a crust so hard a hammer and chisel would have been more suited than a knife and fork.  I left the black pudding untouched.  I would not rush back here for breakfast.  Compared to the magnificent feast at the Three Brooks pub in Bradley Stoke, this was very poor and cost double the price.

After breakfast we checked out and headed for the shops which included a number of designer clothes shops, some quaint gift shops and an antique shop.  I found a beautiful food/general store called the Paper Shop in Church Street, which made such a welcome, refreshing change having grown accustomed to the dreadful Tesco Express stores which have sprung up everywhere around us back at home in Bristol. 

Later on, we drove to Wells, parked the car and paid and displayed for 2 hours.  We wandered around enjoying the sights.  Wells is a very beautiful city.  During our tour, we photographed many of the Swans.  The Swans have been sponsored by businesses, individuals and organisations and decorated by a team of talented artists and craftspeople, who have transformed them into beautiful works of contemporary art.  Here is a small sample.





We left Wells and headed back along the B3139 towards Burnham on Sea.  We have recently booked another week's holiday at the Burnham on Sea Holiday Village in July, so we thought we would pop in and look around again.  We walked around the fishing lakes, had a look at the caravan and went into the Mash and Barrel for a cream tea.

Sam was at home alone, so we drove back and the three of us went out to the Baileys for something to eat.