B2B Day 7 Rest, Railway Rides, and Tea

This morning Sara had what she had long been waiting for: a breakfast of hot buttered crumpets at Myrtle Cottage B & B in Porlock! She was not disappointed, and was glad to partake of the delicious crumpets again, a rare treat.

We had several options for our rest day, but decided to ride the West Somerset Railway from Minehead to Crowcombe Heathfield. Nigel kindly dropped us at the station as he was going to Minehead to shop.

This particular train line is run by volunteers, and the stations and trains have a vintage look. All of the stations look amazing, and you can tell that keeping the stations and trains looking great is a labour of love. When we walked past a compartment car with sliding doors, like you see in films and shows covering the periods from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, it felt like we had stepped back in time.

They run steam trains and diesel trains. We caught a steam train and rode to Blue Anchor.

Ken on our train to the Blue Anchor

The Blue Anchor station was beautiful, and we thought we would walk on the beach there. It was cold and windy.

A windblown Sara at Blue Anchor

Feeling a bit too cold, we walked back to the station and admired the beautiful gardens, and went inside the station waiting room. They had various snacks, including Starburst candy for sale for 50p, and Twix for 75p. Ken hadn't had Starburst for years, so he got one, and Sara got a Twix. The Starburst flavours were a bit different from what we were used to, and included blackcurrant.

We resumed our ride by getting onto a diesel train from 1960. We got off at Crowcombe Heathfield, our favourite station for two reasons: first, we had seen the station when we rode the same train in 2015 on a trip with Sara's Dad and thought it was beautiful; second, a musician that Ken likes named Keith Chesterton recorded one of his songs at that station, "Travel Safely, Sing Sweetly."

The beautiful Crowcombe Heathfield station

We looked at the beautiful gardens and were let into the station waiting room. We knew there probably wouldn't be lunch there, as it was a small station, but we asked for tea and a slice of lemon cake each. The woman who served us was really nice, and she got us a little table and our tea and cake (the tea was in Crowcombe Heathfield station mugs). We all chatted together about walking and travel, and she told us she and her husband had taken the train from Vancouver to Jasper.

Tea at Crowcombe Heathfield station

We didn't get the woman's name until after we were waiting for the train, and we called across the tracks to learn that her name was Gina. Being able to meet people and talk with them makes a trip special and unique.

We then got on a steam train for our return trip to Minehead. After that, we waited for a mini-bus (16 passengers) to take us to Allerford Turn. The bus was a bit late, and at a later stop we saw why. The driver knew everybody, and when a man was getting on the bus, the driver asked him what the password was! She (the driver) also chatted with him about some photos she wanted to get to him somehow, through email or printing them off. I think he realized that their conversation was holding up the whole bus, so he came in and sat down. We knew that another woman was getting off at our stop, so we just watched her and then disembarked at the same time.

Ken had to take a picture of Allerford Bridge, even though he had taken some before in 2013.

Allerford Bridge

We knew that we were going to have a cream tea at Kitnors in Bossington, so we walked a short distance on the road and arrived at Bossington.

Kitnors Tea Room

The tea as a whole was lovely, but the clotted cream was outstanding--so thick that the spoon stood up in it. We each had a scone and a half, with cream and jam. It was satisfying, especially because we never really had lunch.

Tea at Kitnors

There was an adorable robin perched on a tree near us. Sara loved watching it.

Waiting for crumbs

After tea, we walked back to Porlock, about 1.5 miles. Near Bossington Street, we saw a field which was full of bunnies along one side--you could just see ears sticking up in a lot of places, or silhouettes of bunnies further away.

Once in Porlock, we picked up a sandwich to share for dinner, and then rested in our B & B before heading out to a local lecture on "An Exmoor Farmer's Wife" held in the Village Hall. We got to the hall (only a few minutes away), and there were people with dogs sitting outside. We walked into the hall, approached a lady sitting at a table who looked like she was collecting the money, and said we were here for the lecture. She looked puzzled, and said that it was always a dog management class on Tuesday nights. (Ken said to Sara that would explain why we saw so many people with dogs!) We looked at the meeting room in the lower hall, which was closed, and the lady supposed we must have got the wrong evening. We saw a poster on the way back to our B&B, which said that the lecture was Wednesday night--but a calendar at our B&B (which must have been what Sara had seen) said the lecture was Tuesday night. We were a bit disappointed.

Sara took some photos of our B & B, Myrtle Cottage, instead. It has a newly thatched roof which still looks golden.

Ken and the seals in our bedroom at Myrtle Cottage