Pretty English Villages of Somerset & Exmoor National Park
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- In this video we visit some beautiful towns and villages of Somerset England. This area around Exmoor National Park is beautiful. Join us as we explore the villages’ fascinating architecture, lovely old churches, iconic red phone boxes and post boxes, magenta flowers… and meet some birds! We stop in Porlock, Allerford, Luccombe, Bossington and Selworthy. We also enjoy lunch at the National Trust-owned Hunter’s Inn in the Heddon Valley. Last but not least, I’ve included a mini cheese-tasting of some local cheeses!
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#somerset #england #porlock #allerford #bossington #luccombe #exmoor #england
We have some beautiful little and quaint old villages all over Great Britain. I think we are so fortunate. I love to visit them through your eyes. Thank you both xx
Thanks, Sarah! You ARE very fortunate! I forget how varied the little villages are in the different areas of the country. I enjoy seeing them through Ian's eyes... and now sharing that with viewers makes it even MORE fun!
The endearing English countryside filmed and exquisitely portrayed by an equally endearing American couple.
Awwww, thanks so much! Today we enjoyed the lovely countryside of Devon and Cornwall!! On a wee holiday from our flat in Cheltenham. Cheers! Dara
I like the brook lovely cottage and stone bridge
Yes I loved them too... so picturesque! Thanks for watching 💖 Dara
Somerset is DIVINE, Dara...the sweet little pathways and cozy homes and shops are truly iconic Britain. Thank you for the recommendation!!
It is! And Devon is heaven! I love visiting these two adjacent counties 💕
The small villages are where I would want to be. So pretty and peaceful.
Exactly! They are "my happy place" :-)
Wow , i like of architecture building !
Yes, the architecture was so interesting and beautiful! Thanks for watching.
Hi Dara & Ian.
Somerset is renowned as where the cider comes from. Our cider is fermented and is quite alcoholic and not like the spicy apple juice I tried in the US. Locally farm brewed cider is very cloudy and called “Scrumpy”. Scrumping is also the word we use for pinching apples off someone else's trees. The gnarled old tree in the church yard is probably a yew tree. They are very slow growing and often live for a very long time, some in the UK are about a 1,000 year old. They were often planted in church yards as the leaves were poisonous. Also the wood is very supple and strong and was used for the best longbows, there were requirements for all villages to grow some yews to keep the nation armed. However, as the tree is so slow growing the grain of the timber is really beautiful. My brother lives in Bala in N. Wales and is a professional wood turner and he has turned a few very good pieces from yew.
Herefordshire, where my mum lives, is also well-know for cider. Unfortunately, neither Dara and I drink so I haven't had the pleasure of trying it. Bala look like it's in a beautiful location. I've really enjoyed visits to Snowdonia, though I know it's a large area and there's a lot I haven't seen.
How fascinating that your brother is a professional wood turner! I have heard a lot about cider, but since I don't drink alcohol, I haven't tasted it personally. I do like the non-alcoholic kind we have here in the autumn warmed with a cinnamon stick in it 😋
I should have known the was a yew tree! I have seen some lovely famous ones in Stow and Painswick. They are fascinating ancient trees!!
Cornish cider is much better
That amazing drone photography of the beautiful Somerset countryside made me really homesick for England!
Well, that comment made me both really happy and really sad!!
Somerset is an amazing country its got rolling hills, Somerset levels, exmore national park the city of Bath and some beautiful villages, cheddar gorge, canels, cheese, cider, and rugby and a drogon on its flag ✔️
Dragon
@@waverunner3911 if you like dragons on flags? Are you a fan of Wales as well?❤️🏴
We love Somerset! I did a video about a few other villages we visited on that trip, which had some interesting discussion of local architectural vernacular in it. I will try to link it below. Also, I just did a series of videos about Cheddar Gorge and other places around it in Somerset From our visit last summer!
Our visit to Cheddar: ua-cam.com/video/9-jh7jg_zzY/v-deo.html
@@MagentaOtterTravels my doughter lives in Tonyrefell we have been to some nice places while visiting Wales has some nice places except the princapalty when you beat us at rugby 😂😂😂, I love the dragon on the union Jack
Thank you so much for posting this video which made me feel quite emotional as I was born and raised in the village of Luccombe and my Mum and Dad both lay in the cemetery there and I have fond memories of growing up in the area
It’s been great watching you enjoying our lovely country which we take for granted
Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to leave me this lovely comment! My UA-cam channel is a labour of love, because I adore Britain... but the hours of editing are long and tedious (and the monetary reward is neglible) so reading comments like yours are the thing that keeps me going! I hope you subscribe and watch some other videos. I did several in Somerset (Dunster is a fun one!) and other parts in the West Country last year. This year we've started doing videos of our summer travels, but I still have LOTS more of those to edit and publish. I hope you check out yesterday's Gloucester Cathedral video. It's one of my new favourites ;-) Cheers! XX Dara
I remember the Kingdoms. We lived up the road in School House next to Mr. Stadden.
Porlock is a lovely little village….visit it frequently. Thats yew tree, they grow weirdly sometimes. Piggy in the Middle is a high end chip shop these days but it used to be a stunning restaurant…same owners and chef still but they decided to change style. Those cave aged cheddars are wonderful….you can smell them if you go in the caves too. Black bomber is pretty good too. Allerford I remember seeing a large lorry (semi-rig I think) that tried that ford and got stuck…..actually it looks like you were in this region about a week or two after my wife and I were there.
Oh, I love that you know the area! We spent most of our time in Devon and Cornwall, but I am SO glad that we got to explore some new areas of Somerset as well. Such a lovely place with fascinating architecture and fun shops to visit. And yes, the CHEESE was a big favourite of mine! haha
@@MagentaOtterTravels Its a favourite of ours. I introduced my wife to the west Somerset/Exmoor area on our first holiday together when we were still jut dating. From there we have also found a favoured base in North Cornwall near Bude thats now a regular vacation destination. Add to that, my parents moved to just north of Exeter when they retired and live on the Exe valley at Tiverton now and it’s definitely an area we visit.
Those are definitely primo holiday destinations, all of them!
I love to see beatiful places like that. I was going to travel to England and others but... But, You know. At least I can vicariously travel with you and your fam. Aloha
And I will vicariously enjoy Hawaii from your videos! 🏝
So glad you visited this beautiful area, brought back some happy memories for me when I visited it a long time ago. Loved the Video.
Thanks! It was a super fun day in Somerset. I think we did a good job seeing A LOT of cool places on that holiday without being around other people... don't you think? I realised when I did the Dunster Castle video that it was literally the ONLY "indoor" thing we did!
This is so beautiful if only I could find a cottage in such a small village......desperately seeking 😫 Nothing would hold me back here!!
You need a cottage in Bossington with a tree that produces cooking apples! Maybe as Mayor I can pull some strings and find you a place! 😉😂
It looks so lovely there, keep on vlogging! Stay safe, stay connected
Thanks for visiting
This looks absolutely wonderful, on our list! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
Beautiful. Absolute beautiful! 😍
Thanks. I'm really looking forward to doing some more exploring this summer.
@@ians3586 You’re going to see so much!!!
It was such a dreamy, lovely area!
Mull is a lovely island to visit if you get to make your visit to Scotland. The cheese is so much better when you buy and eat it there with a dram of Tobermory whisky. They also make gin there and if you need any additional incentive there are puffins on nearby islands in the Spring.
Well, I don't drink whisky or gin, but I WANT TO GO TO MULL!!! For the PUFFINS and the OTTERS! And now for the CHEESE as well! Don't think that will happen this year... but sometime. This year I'm hoping to get to Edinburgh at least.
For many years I had wanted to visit the Inner Hebrides after watching a TV programme that featured an island that was owned by Paul McCartney (a relation perhaps?) and hearing his song Mull of Kintyre. In 2012 we finally made it, and it truly is lovely. On Mull we stayed at a self catering cottage near Calgary Beach. When we fly out of Heathrow, if the weather is clear, I like to sit in a window seat and try to identify what I'm seeing below as we fly North. As we've made the trip many times, I've noted that the flight path usually leaves the British Isles somewhere over the Hebrides. That year I'm pretty sure I was able to identify the beautiful, clear, and relatively shallow water of Calgary Bay on that cloudless day.
@@ians3586 Calgary Beach is a great place to be. I have been asked so often if I have a connection to Sir P McC that I advise I only answer on payment of £1 or $1. Let's just say whatever relationship there may be in the deep past, it was never close enough for either of us to have helped the other out financially.
@@MagentaOtterTravels mull of kintyre is on the mainland near Campbelltown
What a great opening shot , the English countryside is really beautiful
I agree! It truly IS my happy place!!! Can't wait to get back! Thanks for the comment. I hope you are well ❤
Village of Oare. Evidently you can rent out the manor for a week at a time.
@@ians3586 I bet that is pricey!!
@@MagentaOtterTravels I had a look ( as you'd expect ) and the minimum price for one couple for six nights is WOW ! ( Warning Please Sit Down ) from a mere 🥁🥁🥁
£4500 / $6200, better win the lottery
@@wencireone No problem! I spend that per month on cheese! LOL 🤑
Beautiful villages, great footage, commentary, and cheese. What more could a viewer want :) Another fantastic video, cheers.
Thanks so much, John! I sure enjoyed all the villages and cheese... I'm glad that some viewers can too! Hopefully you can have some cheese as well, not just watch me eat all the yummy stuff. See if you can find Isle of Mull or Wookey Hole near you!
@@MagentaOtterTravels Glad yous had a really good time. And yes, i'll keep an eye out for those cheeses. I'm a big fan of the stuff myself. Happily, more shops are being allowed to open from next week. They're likely too specialist for the supermarket, but i know of a couple of cheese shops who may stock them.
And hotels can reopen from next month. Maybe I'll pop down that way, would be a very welcome break after our travel ban. It's been too long since i was down Somerset way. I'm due a staycation, that and i'm a bit skittish about getting on planes just yet. Foreign travel still seems a bit of a pipe dream at the mo. Each country (particularly in Europe) having a myriad of rules and regs re entry, etc. Then there's the return, and the prospect of facing a government quarantine and an enforced, huge, bill for that too
Was this the last of the trips vids, or are there more to come?
@@jfergs.3302 we have 2 more travel vlogs coming up and that’s it for last year’s trip! Then I’ll be doing some cooking videos where I attempt to make favourite British foods here in Texas... for the first time! 😬
I understand your concern about air travel! And I am very dismayed to see how badly the infection rate is increasing on the continent right now!
Ian and I are due to get our second vaccine jab tomorrow. So we will not be getting on a plane until we are fully vaccinated for several weeks.
I’m hoping that the restrictions will ease up in Britain soon as well as an increase in vaccinations so that everyone can stay safe this summer!
I know it has been very hard for y’all with so many months of lockdowns this past year!
@@MagentaOtterTravels good to hear re the vids. can't wait for the cooking shows.
aye fingers crossed re virus restrictions, i'm due my second mid May. I'll feel a bit better after that. Re the UK, we're on track with the current plan. 2 stages to go, but if we keep to it, we should be restriction free on 21st June, but watch this space.
enjoy your vaccines tomorrow. another step towards normalcy, and extra piece of mind :)
@@jfergs.3302 Yes, I am incredibly grateful that around here we only have to wait three weeks before between injection one and injection two. I know y’all are usually having to wait 12 weeks...
Those round chimneys are certainly unique! Nice to venture off the beaten track too. So picturesque.
Thanks, I agree! Ian definitely found some gems!
What a beautiful historic house beside the babbling brook! (I love "babbling brook!")
BABBLING BROOKS ARE THE BEST!!!
THAT HOUSE LOOKS LIKE IT WILL ALWAYS, BE THERE.
Wookey Hole is a large cave system in the Mendip hills, it inspired the Poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which features the line “where Where Alph the sacred river ran Through caverns measureless to man, down to a sunless sea”. He says he wrote the whole thing in one go until he was interrupted by “a person from Porlock” The cheese is aged inside the cave.
Oh my goodness! That is fascinating information. Thanks so much for sharing the context. I love it! Cheers! Dara
Love this video! I know all those places! We are definitely spoilt for idyllic villages here 😊 I imagine they seem quite surreal to tourists if they’ve never seen them in real life before, like being on a film set
You are absolutely 100% correct! I'll let you in on a secret. Some Britons get offended when Americans call little villages or red phone boxes or post boxes "cute" or "quaint". They think we are being condescending. I've stopped doing that to avoid people getting their knickers in a knot. But honestly, it is not condescending AT ALL. We are a rather expressive people, shown by the fact we say "AWESOME!" all the time. We are just not as reserved as Britons. So when we walk 'round a village of thatched wee cottages, something we have NEVER seen in our lives in the US, only in storybooks, we feel like a kid walking into a storybook. We say cute because it is captivating and magical. OK, rant over. I'm now stepping off my soap box! LOL
@@MagentaOtterTravels Oh, don’t worry at all! I don’t think most of us find it even remotely offensive. I certainly don’t! I’ve seen responses like those in the comments section before and I actually think those people who are acting “offended” are being pretentious. They are definitely in the minority and give the rest of us a bad name!
Such a lovely video and tribute to Somerset! The ending makes me want to each some gourmet cheese asap!
Me too! That video really made me want to have cheese!
Wow this is beautiful!
No, YOU are! Thanks for watching ❤
Love the bridge over the brook! Can’t believe how close you were to that peacock!
I wanted to stay in that village all day... it was too small to have a tea shop in it, but that would have been perfect! And as the for peacock, I think he is so used to people he couldn't be bothered, haha!
Peacocks are just such spectacular creatures! I know a zoo in the area here where they can walk around as they please, and I always love going there and watching them. :) The bed (headboard) (at around 14:45 min) looked quite stunning, too!
Yes, I love peacocks! Have you seen the ones that are all white? They look really lacy. The open tail looks like a doily 🤍
The headboard was at our B&B in Lynton that had the delicious breakfast! What an awesome place! North Walk House 🏠
I have been to beer in Somerset and chard lovely countryside and seaside
Yes, so many beautiful places in Somerset!
A few points. They are indeed ovens, bread ovens in fact. The chimneys are not only round, but very tall. This is because there is less chance of burning embers that emerge from the chimneys setting fire to the thatched roof. The yellow colouring of the houses denote that they are on National Trust property. Throughout Britain NT property is painted in this pale yellow paint.
Thanks for those great insights! Interesting to know about pale yellow being on NT property.
And totally makes sense why the tall chimneys were used!
Have you seen my Dunster or Cheddar Gorge videos? Some nice drone footage in both.
Cheers! Dara
Tree in the churchyard was a Yew.
Yes, thanks! I published this video a while back, and I have been schooled about yew trees in churchyards since then! Now I look for them all the time ❤️.
Watch my Miserden video to see a really remarkable one! It was kind of a tunnel. Cheers! XX Dara
Beautiful video! When you said “post” I immediately thought “social media”🤣. We love how you take us to places we’d never would have thought of going! Ian thanks for sharing your expertise on architecture, very interesting! Never heard of butter & cheese together. Must try! Great video! Drone shots were amazing! ~Cara
Thanks, luv! Brits say "post a letter" more often than "mail a letter" so I've been trying to adapt ;-)
I'm glad you enjoyed our little tour. Ian is a huge fan of architecture and I loved hearing his observations!
Thank you. I was winging it a bit and expect to hear some corrections.
Don't you put butter on bread or biscuits/crackers before putting the cheese on?
@@jillhobson6128 Brits put butter on their sandwiches more than Americans, I’ve discovered. We do mayonnaise and mustard usually. And just plain cheese on crackers. But as I stated in my marmite video ... I believe butter makes everything BETTER! Haha 🧈❤️
@@MagentaOtterTravels in the early 90’s I was in London on a business trip. I ordered a ham & cheese sandwich...it was white bread, butter, one slice of ham & one slice of cheese. I didn’t know what to think! 😊~Cara
Love the bed head at the hotel!
I agree, it was a lovely hotel! Now I have to talk to you about terminology... are you from Britain? Is that "headboard" called a bed head? In the states if you said to someone you liked their bedhead, they would think you were making fun of them for having messy hair that looks like they just woke up and got out of bed! LOL
I only came across your podcast a couple of weeks ago, and wish I’d known about you then and you were so close to where I live.
I can’t believe you went to Selworthy Church and didn’t walk down the lane into the village! Not many people passing even know it’s there. I would have taken you to the Periwinkle tea shop for a lovely cream tea.
Wookey Hole is a village with caves, museum and a watermill where you can buy parchment paper made from cotton rags. Wells Cathedral and Vicars Close - there’s so much still to see in Somerset. I hope you can make it back some day.
Oh, I will meet you for a yummy cream tea any day!! Ian just looked up the Periwinkle Tea Shop. It is a gorgeous thatched place!
Yes, I definitely would love to spend more time in Somerset. It was a relatively quick stop, and I was surprised at how much I fell in love with it! When a cheese-obsessed friend from the states comes to visit me, we will definitely go visit Wookey Hole and get some cave cheese! And Wells Cathedral is another must do! Now you know why we plan to spend EVERY summer in Britain (my American friends think I'm nuts). Because it takes a lifetime to see all the great places one needs to see... and then I find I need to go back and spend more time at my favourites ❤
You must have some British in you because you have a lovely sense of humour also Wensleydale cheese from the north of England just ask Wallace he loves it ...doesn't he Grommet
Yes, those characters know their cheese and I love Wensleydale too! But then again, I have met very few cheese I did not like! haha
Thanks for watching and leaving lovely comments. I actually do have a good bit of British lineage! Not as much as my dear hubby Ian, though! Hopefully next summer we can vlog some visits to villages where his ancestors lived 300 years ago!
Hey Dara & Ian, it's good to be back. I'll be catching up with the last few videos of yours, that i've missed shortly. Lovely drone footage again Ian. Those lovely quiet little Hamlets are gorgeous too. I must admit, we used to like driving around the countryside with no destination in mind. It was just like a mystery tour. When we arrived somewhere that looked picturesque, pretty, or interesting, we'd park up and have a wander around, then we'd visit a local pub for a carvery lunch. Then continue on our drive, and visit other places. And at the end of the day, we'd simply set the sat-nav for the return journey. That way you don't have to remember the way home... 😉 The cheese tasting looked good, i'm a cheese lover too. My personal favourite is a Cornish Davidstow Vintage Cheddar... 😋 It's a multi award winner, and they also have a Royal Warrant to Her Majesty The Queen. It's really delicious. Cheers guys. 😉
I like that idea. There's nothing like the beauty of the British countryside. I've found you can't go wrong if an area is on the map is marked green as an AONB or National Park. I'm grateful for the foresight of the people who made these designations that preserved these areas for us and future generations. There's still so many we've yet to explore. Dara will have to comment on the cheese since she's the true "cheesehead".
Good to hear from you Rick! I was thinking about you the other day and hoping you were OK ❤
Yes, having a leisurely wander round the countryside is delightful. And when your hubby has found a few especially beautiful villages, AND a yummy place to eat... even better! Thanks for the cheese recommendation. Must try the Davidstow Vintage Cheddar as well as Cornish Cruncher this summer!!
@@MagentaOtterTravels Yeah... i had to take some time away from the computer for a few weeks. Not a total break, i just needed to get my sleep patterns back to something resembling normal. So i was using the computer a lot less than i normally would have. Plus a UA-camr i had been subscribed to for years, sadly he passed away suddenly last month from heart failure, just before his 40th birthday... His name was Moses McCormick... AKA Laoshu505000 on UA-cam... He had over a million subscribers, and was an American Polyglot, simply put, he was one of the most intelligent and talented people in the world... He could speak more than 50, languages, but he could also read and write in all those languages too... He would use a secret camera to record his interactions with native speakers in restaurants... stores... markets... festivals etc. he was a unique human being with a heart of gold... If you'd like to see some of his interactions, i'll put a UA-cam clip in the reply below.
@@rickb3645 I took a look. What a shame. Having studied two languages, Afrikaans and German, I know how difficult it is to pick them up and those are languages that are related to English, whereas he's conversing in ones that have no connection. Truly amazing.
@@ians3586 Yes Ian, he was truly a one of a kind. I had heard that he'd suffered from a mild heart attack back in 2015... but he was tall and skinny at 6'-7" and not someone you would have thought had a heart condition. He's survived by his three young daughters. I can't quite believe we'll never get another notification for his latest uploaded UA-cam video. 😢
Another most delightful video. Have you ever watched Kirsten & Joerg on utube. They are a German couple who live here in England. And travel around the UK filming the British countryside ,and various other bits. They remind me of you and Ian.
Thanks so much! No I haven’t yet, we will have to check them out! Ian loves Germany and speaking German 😉
So you like Star Wars, so I have found your Disney link 🐭😉🤣
I do, but not as much as I love cheese, I'm afraid. I would watch a series called Cheddar, but I haven't watched Mandalorian! 😂
Such beautiful little places off the beaten path. Ooh, cheese.....we love cheese here! 🥰
Yes, we definitely like the same things! 😉
@Ian S as always your drone footage is amazing and stunning!!
Thank you!
Yes, I appreciate him "elevating" my cheesy video! LOL
@@MagentaOtterTravels yes, he takes it to a whole new level 😆
Very interesting I'll have to check out more of your vids. That's a lovely part of the country.. There are caves you can visit at Wookey Hole.
I really want to visit Wookey Hole! Too many things to do and places to visit…. Because we want to do it all! Yes I hope you check out more vids… I have a Somerset vlog, and my Devon vlog is a personal favourite 🤗
Butter on a digestive...with cheese!?? Surely you don't get the true taste of the cheese...?
Thank you for another fascinating tour enhanced with such interesting background detail. Interesting that you started your tour of the beautiful Somerset villages at Porlock, which has the dubious honour of hosting the steepest hill (1 in 4) on an A-road anywhere in Britain - on the infamous, slow, winding A39. The village museum features photographs of many an incident on that awful hill, which almost defeated my first ever vehicle back in 1969!
BTW: Great to see you both presenting to camera.
Thank you so much! Ian hates being on camera, but he is brilliant with geography, history and architecture, especially compared to me! Therefore it’s a necessity! Poor dear, the things he’s subjected to because of having a wife who’s a UA-camr! That does sound like a very dangerous hill to cycle down!😬
@@MagentaOtterTravels Keep encouraging Ian on camera. He comes across very well.
@@RichardWells1 thank you! I agree, and will try my best 😉👍
Wow! A digestive biscuit with butter on!!
I know you are vegetarian, but are you vegan? I hope not... so you can try some Kerrygold butter and Isle of Mull on a digestive!
We currently live near Croyde in North Devon and are considering a move to either Porlock, Dunster or Dulverton later this year.
Oh wow, I don't know Dulverton but the other two places are delightful! Have you seen my Dunster video yet? I loved that place!!
@@MagentaOtterTravels
Yes, I've been binge watching your content.
Dulverton is really nice, right in the heart of Exmoor.
It's got good eateries and other shops, as well as the famous 'Woods Bar'
@@jacketrussell Well it sounds like I’ll have to visit Dulverton next time I’m in the area!
Thanks so much for watching my little videos 💕
Hello again Dara and Ian ,now I know Ian likes architecture why not try some of Fred Dibnah's video's their wonderful. 👏
Thanks for the reco!
He was definitely an extraordinary man. My fear of heights makes me appreciate people who do what Fred did even more.
that checkered stonework is so unique! and that tree!
wookey hole 🤣🤣🤣
“beware of slow cats and ducks...” 😂 this video is cracking us up!
you’re not bossy, you’re a BOSS! (but seriously, screw that sexist bull. I got it, too, as did many of my favorite women. no wonder i like you so much!)
soon as we saw the chickens, Stephen goes, “uh oh! they better run!” 🤣
yessssssss!!! you picked the wookie hole cheese!
Beautiful footage taken by BOTH of you!! Even as the cloudiness arrived, still, so gorgeous. The cheese bonus had me starving, of course -- but that's OK! And Dara, I know you've clarified this before, but I've forgotten: What IS a digestive, in American-talk? I know a biscuit is a cookie, but what stateside cookie would be sort of the same as a Brit digestive?
I believe they are similar to Grahams crackers - sorry, I can't confirm that as I'm a Brit and never had a Grahams cracker! They're not identical but I believe that is the nearest you would get.
Thank you, Andyrjs!!
Yes, digestives are a cousin to the graham cracker (like Andy said)... just imagine it being smoother and crispier. World Market in Crystal Lake might have McVities Digestives. If you are ever going to be in that area, call ahead and see if they are in stock. Then you can try for yourself ;-)
I think they're right but I'd say graham crackers are a little bit sweeter.
Every year in Sidmouth, Devon they have a ceilidh (folk dance) in the ford during the folk festival week! :¬D Or at least they always used to. I presume that still goes on.
I had never really seen fords before, but we got to include 3 of them in our vlogs. I find them fascinating. How funny that you mention Sidmouth, because for about 10 years I told Ian I wanted to retire there!!! His grandparents (his grandpa was Welsh!) used to live near there. But I ended up choosing Cheltenham as our "retirement" home because it's more practical for us. But I do have a sweet spot in my heart for Sidmouth!
Well at least you're getting some proper cheddars, now just need the Branston 😋👍
Good point. Nothing like a picnic with cheddar and Branston on fresh granary bread.
@@ians3586 sounds like a Ploughman's 😋👍
@@wencireone yes, one of our favourite things to eat at a pub.
@@ians3586 well going the right way here at the moment, you can go and sit outside of a pub from 12th of April
I had the Branston during the quarantine in our flat. It didn't make it on our road trip... but I did enjoy trying the cheese + butter combo... very decadent and delicious!
Maybe you should apply for the function of mayor in Bossington, I am sure you would rock this village😜 💪🏻
As her husband I'd have to agree with you on that!
@@ians3586 you could always go North East a bit to Bosstown, Wisconsin
I already feel like the Mayor of Bossington! LOL
Eric, have you been Googling "places in the US that begin with Boss"?
@@ians3586 you could become "first hubby of the village" 😹
Yes that was a Yew tree in the churchyard. Most old churchyards will have a Yew. There are a few theories why, one is the pagan significance of the Yew where the Church was built on an ancient religious site, another is the Yew is poisonous so it stopped commoners grazing their cattle in the churchyard. Yet another is a source of wood for Longbows, so take your pick :-) Whatever the reason, those trees are often hundreds and hundreds of years old.
Thanks Nick! I really should have known better, because I've photographed the yews by the church door in Stow-on-the-Wold AND taken lots of photos of the 99 yews by the church in Painswick! I guess my lack of botanical knowledge is as embarrassing as my lack of knowledge about history and geography! But thank you so much for sharing the theories... that was very interesting! I first learned about yew trees in an Agatha Christie novel.... where the poisonous plant was the murder weapon ;-)
@@MagentaOtterTravels I've tried to post a link to a BBC program on UA-cam but I think UA-cam are deleting it. Anyway, the video is called "South Downs Englands Mountains Green" if you get a chance to see it, skip to 25.10 and there is a section about an ancient Yew forest and the Yew pollen clouds. The whole thing is worth watching, as the Southdowns are beautiful. The presenter is one of our local vicars and a bit of a character with an alternative style.
@@Nick_r Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know about that! Yes, posting links is quite tricky and things do get suppressed. We might be visiting the South downs later this year...
@@MagentaOtterTravels Oh in that case, you ought to watch the program as it gives a good idea of what the Downs are like. I live at the foot of the Downs at the Eastbourne end. If you can’t find the video let me know and I’ll try to get the link to you another way.
The Yew tree at Porlock Church is believed to be over a thousand years old ( thanks G ) 🙂👍
Fascinating! Perhaps this UA-cam creator should do more research about the places she is visiting! LOL
@@MagentaOtterTravels you can't put me out of work 😉🤣👍
Dara tells me she doesn't like researching history and so I guess it's up to you to fill that part in. Thanks for sharing that. It's amazing how old those Yew trees get and interesting to see that they seem ubiquitous to British medieval churches. It's almost as if, way back then, they were thinking ahead and saying we want the church and landscaping to be appreciated by people 1000 years from now.
@@ians3586 apparently yew trees go back as far as history it self and seems to be linked with everything from Druids and Pagans too long bows and cattle grazing, a definite read on G 👍
@@wencireone I truly do appreciate the information that you, and the other subscribers, add! I usually try to do a bit of research, but it is overwhelming to me. Doing the video of Lewtrenchard just about did me in! 😆😬
I love Wensleydale and Cranberry cheese. but I limit myself to only eating it in December, as I always associate Cranberry's with Christmas.
I adore cranberries. We eat dried cranberries on salad all the time, and drink cranberry juice nearly every day ;-)
@@MagentaOtterTravels The Cranberries, Linger 😉, but seriously cranberries are a good healthy food, I had to drink the juice for medical reasons some years ago, but not my favourite flavour
@@wencireone Cranberries are like the blackcurrant of the US. We have a lot of cranberry things! If you go to a supermarket, there will be an array of cranberry juices mixed with other juices. When you mix it with raspberry, grape, pomegranate, etc. it definitely makes it taste better! And as for The Cranberries, we actually saw them in concert decades ago!
I'd been trying to think who your voice reminded me of, then you said Blacksmiths Shop, (Back to the Future III) and i realised it's Mary Steenburgen, you even look like her. Are you from the same area? You could be her stunt double. lol I guess other people have said it before.
Oh my, I AM an old lady if people are telling me I look like Mary Steenburgen. haha
She is a great actress. She was actually born in Arkansas... I've heard her interviewed and I think she has more of a Southern accent than I do. But of course we usually hear her playing characters, and I'm sure she loses the accent for most of those ;-)
@@MagentaOtterTravels lol, I mean you look and sound like her from the 1980s. In an interview she sounds like you, i can hear it sounds more southern now you said so. I'm going to stop before i unintentionally say something else worse.😆😂
@@Brookspirit no worries! I’m not offended! It’s all good 👍
This should be accompanied by the Exmoor Hunt Song!
Oh, I don't know that one... can you hum a few bars? haha
Thanks so much for your comment.
@@MagentaOtterTravels It's on YT. It has a lovely rocking rhythm and once it's in your head it'll be there all day!
It is a catchy tune! Rousing folk song 👍
Mmmmmmmmmm! Cheeeeeeeeese!!
Indeed! My thoughts exactly...
Beautiful trip. How many days you've spend in total for this trip?
In September 2020 we stayed 5 weeks. In summer 2021 we stayed 3 months! There’s dozens more vlogs coming so be sure to subscribe 😉
Beautiful bright, stable, colourful footage. What did you film it on and is it colour-corrected in post?
Thanks so much! Unfortunately, I am not that sophisticated! We have a DJI Mavic drone, I shoot most things on my iPhone, and I only occasionally use automatic colour correction... but I don’t know how to do the sophisticated level of customised colour correction! 🙄😬
@@MagentaOtterTravels it looks amazing! I can spot the difference between front and back camera - the selfie mode seems to have a slightly lower resolution. Which phone is it?
@@PlanetImo You are very kind. I am really not that great of a photographer, but I am trying to learn! I got an 11 Pro because I wanted to have the different lenses. Anything to make the whole process more idiot proof! LOL
I do enjoy UA-cam, but I refuse to get a vlogging camera.. I just don’t want to lug it around! It’s bad enough hassling with the drone, gimbal, Microphones, and tripods! 😂
@@MagentaOtterTravels Yeah - mine is massive. The GoPro is nice and portable as is the Osmo pocket. Your phone footage is superb though. Your videos are incredible well made. Very impressive for a relatively small channel. I watch many bigger channels that don’t have your production quality. I have a feeling you will do very well. :-)
@@PlanetImo Thank you so much for saying that! You don’t know how much that means to me! Ian and I were just discussing that late last night, how production quality seems to have little to do with overall success on UA-cam and channel size. I spend an absolutely enormous amount of time editing! I am maniacal about taking out all the fluff from my videos and keeping them fast paced... I think that is really important for travel vlogs in particular.
But figuring out how to make the algorithm put my content in front of people is the hard part!
My paternal grandfather came from Luccombe.
Oh, I love that! We have visited small villages where Ian's ancestors lived in the early 1700's and it is so special! Wonderful to feel that connection to previous generations. If you haven't seen the video we did in Cornwall of Port Isaac and Veryan, I hope you check it out. Veryan is where Ian spent many a happy summer with his grandparents, and it is such a unique and lovely place! Here is the link to the vid: ua-cam.com/video/cq3y1B1DTIs/v-deo.html
Thanks so much for your comment! Cheers XX Dara
Wookey Hole is an extensive cave system in the village of Wookey near Wells in Somerset.
I can’t wait to go visit and sample some cheese!!! I’ve seen the signs advertising it, but I haven’t been able to make a visit yet.
WOOKEY IS SPOOKEY, LOOK OUT FOR THE WITCH
Hi dara & Ian. Lovely drone shots.
That “hump and trough” in Alford was the original village water pump from before the introduction of domestic water supplies. Surprisingly there are still quite a few about in many towns and villages and are often preserved although not all functional.
@@petersymonds4975 thanks for sharing that. I wasn't aware of that but now that we know we'll keep an eye out for other examples.
Oh that is fascinating about the water pump!
Wensleydale with cranberries is one of my most favourite cheeses! Bet it tastes great on a buttered digestive! 👍😀 Did you like the Cheddar or the Wensleydale the best on your digestive?
They were all so good! But because the digestive is a bit sweet, I think maybe the contrast of the tangy cheddar with butter was the best combination👍
Deferred consumption is a good way to describe some jam or butter etc. you take away from your breakfast or dinner plate in a restaurant or B & B. I've only dunked a Digestive my tea before, but I can see the biscuit/cheese combination would work well together.
I thought I was very clever coming up with that "deferred consumption" phrase ;-) You MUST try the cheese on digestive with butter combo... and report back please!
Why dunk a digestive? You just end up with a soggy mess in the bottom of your cup!!
@@jillhobson6128 you have to master the art of the precise length of time the biscuit or digestive can be dunked 😉
@@MagentaOtterTravels We'll have to agree to differ!
I hate soggy biscuits!!
@@jillhobson6128 soggy biscuits, cold toast... everyone has their own preferences 😉
i think i may have to pay another visit to the west country
Yes! Although during this summer's "staycations" I'm afraid it might be PACKED! Cornwall is going to be shoulder-to-shoulder with Brits who can't get to Spain...
Ian im sure could make a living ,doing that drone work ,im sure
He will need to upgrade his drone, but maybe he will give that a go... you never know! Very kind of you to say ❤
Not with the judder you see in the panning shots like the one at 11:02. I need to get that worked out.... may require a new drone ; -)
Yay Somerset! 😍
I will be interested to hear if you have been to any of these places!
So far I don't think I have! Love the little bridge! We are only in the next county so should explore a bit more locally!
@@MagentaOtterTravels have i told you a family member has a red phone box in their garden?!
Beautiful peacock! Glad he was following the directions of the arrow!
I've never had cheese on a digestive! I usually have crackers.
Cheese. If you get to North Yorkshire try and get to Wensleydale and try the cheese there, it's fantastic. If you get a chance watch one of Wallace & Grommit movies, they are so big Wensleydale cheese fans and it gets mentioned quite often, so often that it increased sales of the cheese.
I have watched Walllace & Grommit, but I need to watch more of it! With some Wensleydale on a plate in front of me next time!!
Wookey Hole is in the Cheddar Gorge and the Hole are some caves. One local cheese producer actually matures their Cheddar Cheese there as the cave has a static humidity and temperature.
Yes, I believe when we were over there recently, there was a television programme that talked about the rise of Wensleydale's prominence and how Wallace & Grommit factored into it.
I LOVE Wensleydale cheese. I find occasionally in our local markets.
@@ruthgoebel723 yes, it is one of those cheeses I can get at the Kroger a mile from my house!
So it's Ian's fault we only have fifty four lines of Kubla Khan....and Coleridge alone was disturbed by this drone...Tch! :-)
Yes, sorry, I did end up shattering the tranquility of sections of the English countryside last summer. Hopefully I haven't affected the work of upcoming genius poets.
We will try to not disturb too many people with our drone flying... but we do SO enjoy seeing the countryside from the air!
@@MagentaOtterTravels It was a far from serious comment addressed to persons from Porlock!
@@cogidubnus1953 I only hope that someone from Porlock watches my video!
I think that "oven" is probably a nook seating...and the red rock I would think is sandstone...
I really want to see inside one of those homes so I can see that nook! It looks very cosy!
Agree. The red stone is definitely sandstone. I wish I could find something definitive on the nooks.
Any cheese works on a digestive biscuit tbh. And McVities are the best biscuits (cookies) on the planet.
Yep, I love McVities. And I think a nice layer of butter on the biscuit before adding the cheese is even better! Yum!
I was surprised to see that some of the Wookey Hole cheese is aged in the caves.
Makes it even better, yes?! While I do love Isle of Mull now, I'm still a Wookey fan 😉❤
@@MagentaOtterTravels You must visit the Wookey Holes caves in the Cheddar Gorge. Fascinating.
@@jillhobson6128 I would love to! ❤️🧀
The Yew tree is just old, it is believed to be over a thousand years old.
Funny you should mention that. I was just telling some American kids yesterday about how British churchyards can have yew trees that are 1000 years old. They couldn't believe it!
Our England's quite nice, isn't it ?
Yes indeed! My favourite thing is driving along and discovering an amazing little village that we knew nothing about... and discovering how beautiful it is! Last week's discovery was Little Comberton!
@@MagentaOtterTravels
"discovering an amazing little village that we knew nothing about.."
Same here !
And _your_ 'discoveries' give us English so much pleasure, too, Lovely Lady - and I hope you continue to make them. England _alone_ is positively CRAMMED with all sorts of jewels and treasure, both great and small.
In addition, your use of modern drone technology is masterful !
I think you have found yourself a beautiful 'niche market' (The HIDDEN Riches of England/Britain, and all that) - one in which you will NEVER find yourself short of either attractive 'product' or appreciative 'consumers'.
Vaya con Dios, Honey !
How do you get on with those tiny, narrow roads?
Just set your sat nav onto shortest rout and enjoy if sometimes a scary drive .
I keep hoping that we will get used to the narrow roads... but after decades of driving them, we are still pretty nervous! Ian is a great driver, and VERY patient. Because in addition to navigating the roads he has to deal with me being SUPER motion sickness prone! Bless him. He is very cautious, and frequently lets faster cars overtake us by turning into a layby! The best bit is when we have American friends travel with us... they are always SO happy that Ian does the driving because it is so nerve racking for us!
@@terry9325 that's the problem I encountered on this trip. I would use Google maps to get from point A to point B and it would select the most direct route no matter how ridiculous the roads were. It ended up putting us on farm tracks that, based on the number of weeds growing through the pavement and how poorly the hedges were trimmed, are only being used by the occasional farmer. Scary stuff, especially after sunset.
My own fascination with holes ,goes on .
🧀
Oi - you behave yourself: there are Ladies present !!!!
If Texas is 3 Times as big as UK, does that mean Texas is 3 times more interesting than the UK ? Another great video of Exmoor, i never been but love to go.
No, definitely not! I spend all summer here every year and I feel like I will never get to visit all the places in the UK I want to see! I need to live to be 150! 😂
Cheers! Dara
ONLY YOU COULD ANSWER THAT.
"Furry feet" on a chicken? Must of been cross-bred with one of those slow cats! :-)
Hahaha... I think it was a Hobbit chicken!
Isle of Mull where my family come from 👍
YOU ARE SO LUCKY! I really need to go there…. Not just for the delicious cheese but for the OTTERS!!!💖🦦
@@MagentaOtterTravels ...try the Isle of Skye, my mum's side of the family for the best Otter views, but all through the West Islands there are Otters 👍💕
Definitely need more time there! And see some puffins in addition to otters!!
@@MagentaOtterTravels oh loads of Puffins in Scotland ...my grandma in North Wales lived close to Anglesey where there's an island called Puffin Island ...there uses to be a colony of 50,000 puffins on it, but a ship wreck in the early 1800's deposited brown rats on the island which totally devastated the population and it never really recovered , I think there's less than 50 now, but they are slowly coming back but it might take another 100 years 😔
More cheese Gromit?
Yes, ALWAYS more cheese!❤️🧀 And more W&G!
Some of those YEW trees are hundreds of years old.
Yes, aren't they incredible?! Was that a yew that I was videoing in front of the Porlock church?
Have you seen the ones in Stow and Painswick? So fascinating!
SOME ARE OVER 1000 YRS OLD
Aren't you lucky to be married to a Brit that knows small roads usually lead to somewhere interesting
I am VERY lucky indeed! He drives me around, flies the drone, and educates me about architecture and history!
Living in South Africa for two years also helped with the left-hand side driving. Back then I didn't have the luxury of being able to drive an automatic.
That video was really cheesy...... and, sorry, so is this comment.
Cheesy videos are the BEST videos!!! Thanks for your beautiful drone photography, which compensated for my excessive cheesiness!
Oh, Ian! 😆😆😆
@@MagentaOtterTravels I guess you've watched Monty Python 'The Cheese Shop'
@@wencireone Yes! After I did my British cheese tasting video someone suggested it and I watched it. Hilarious!