Let’s face it, Clevedon is not all about a pier and Victorian buildings.
Somerset is a county sometimes overlooked though it certainly repaid our visit with a bucket load of glorious vistas.
Its name is derived from a ‘land of the summer people’. Somerset has heritage, myths and legends. Oh, did I mention the endless sunshine?
Somerset is a county made for walking, we were overwhelmed with the choices we had, one specific walk just involved the two of us, Cleo the dog and I. Most of the steps were far too steep for the Squire to contemplate walking. Our meanderings involved a few long trails around the cliff edge, a golf course, and reserves. A path or two that are more like a goat track, and others posher.
Part of our walk along the coast included a small bay called Ladye Bay, which is a sheltered cove of mostly small shingle with plenty of mud lower down the beach. The low cliffs are of sandstone and siltstone. We accessed this small beach by a flight of steps from the coastal path. Luckily for Cleo dogs are allowed at all times. It was a welcome break from walking as I watched Cleo bounce around on the stony beach.
This beach did not look like one I would pick as a swimming beach, in fact, it’s advised not to swim here due to the currents and cloudiness of the water. Having said that Ladye Bay is home to the annual “Long Swim” which covers about a mile down to Clevedon Pier.
South of Clevedon and North of Weston-super-mare is the peninsula of Sand Point, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a world away from the donkey rides and piers. To the south is Sand Bay while on the northern side is the little sand and shingle cove of Middle Hope.
All beaches along here are backed by farmland or reserves that face into the Bristol Channel with views across to Wales. On a good day, the Clifton Suspension Bridge can be sighted.
If you are a lover of a beautiful landscape, then Somerset is a “must”.
With no fewer than four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, one National Park, a Jurassic Coast and hundreds of reserves, it has almost every kind of habitat from meadow and moor to woods and wetland.
What are you waiting for?
You’ve been to more places in the UK than I have & I live here! That looks a lovely place & you describe it so well. Beautiful 😊
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Thanks Sam. The part we were in was quite lovely to stay in. Helps that we have housesat in various places around the UK 😊
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Brought back memories. 🙂
Indeed, you were lucky to have sunshine. Think I mentioned that I lived in Somerset for five and a half months of which about for a week it didn’t rain.
Driving back from Dorset and nearing Somerset in Reg, massive ominous black clouds always hovered just over Somerset and by the time we got into the county, it poured with rain.
All that aside, it’s a gorgeous region of the UK, with excellent cider and cheese! I love the history and mysticism there, and the walk up Glastonbury Tor is one of my favourites with beautiful views from the top. 😉
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Ciao Nilla, glad it brought back memories for ya 😊 Post coming soon about the odd Glastonbury 😳
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Look forward to reading that post. 😉
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You were lucky to have the weather with it changing this weekend! Sounds like you had a great time.
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Thanks Rachael it was fun. The weather is certainly changeable at the moment. I hope there’s enough rain to stop the drought.
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Such a lovely place to visit, you’ve certainly made the most of your time. We’ve been so lucky with the glorious sunshine and today we’ve actually had rain!! ! We leave soon too 🙁
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It was grand been there and we miss Cleo!! Weren’t we all lucky with the weather. So glad the rains come as it was so needed. Though not much of it has fallen yet. Safe travels home Deb and it was lovely meeting up. I am sure we would’ve chatted more about blogging if the boys hadn’t been with us 😀
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What a gorgeous area! I love that picture of Cleo on the beach.
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We left there today and are now missing that bundle of energy! It was a lovely place to visit.
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It is lovely to see such an area of outstanding and unspoilt beauty. I love all your photographs especially the first.
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Thanks Bridget, never ceases to surprise me how easy it is to feel like we were miles away from suburbia. Priceless.
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Looks like a lovely walk with wonderful scenery.
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It was an enjoyable housesit with many walks to get my heart rate up 😊
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I love Somerset! I’m heading there with the kids for a few days next month – we need our annual fix of scenery and sunshine 😁
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I am sure you will get both, Shelley. Enjoy 😊
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I think the endless sunshine bit is because we got stuck in hot and sunny mode for a couple of months. The last time I was in Somerset it rained, and the time before that. The good news is that it rained here last night and the night before.
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I am always full of optimism and it will have more sunshine than rain. 🙂 Who knows the weather patterns may start changing and the UK is set for more warmer summers! No rain here yet, though hopefully for the gardens and farming district it will be here soon 🙂
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Cleo looks so lovely!
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She is, has a lovely temperament 😊
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