Our French son wanted to go to a real pubby pub for lunch so we decided to go over Exmoor - always a pleasure - to The Royal Oak at Withypool. It's important to name the village as there are many Royal Oaks in this area. The heather was hiding in the dark - but it's there.
Exmoor ponies with their lovely curvaceous bottoms remind me of Thelwell ponies.
Can you just make out the Bristol Channel - left above the heather?
We always stop for horses.
And locals - having a chat.
Too warm for the usual roaring fire. We had seared salmon, liver and bacon and steak and kidney pie folloed by Bailey's Creme brulee and sticky toffee pudding. We drove back a twisty pretty way through Winsford happy that another successful mission had been accomplished.
20 comments:
Lovely West Country Light. And lovely West Country bitter as well I should imagine.
I had a drive out at the weekend and made the mistake of heading to the Cornish south coast. It was packed. Wish I'd gone north instead.
Sx
All beautiful movie scenes to me:)
Beautiful photos, and food sounds nice. Wrapped in family, I'm sure the whole day was perfect.
Cheers.
Terriffic photos! I want Liver and Bacon!!
Rog: that is of the greatest import to the men in my family. The beer I mean:)
Scarlet: Cornwall has got a bit too chi chi I think. The Devon countryside was always more attractive. Cornish coast great - inland not so great.
Let me know if you ever come in spitting distance.
Granny Annie; it's very close to Lorna Doone country - just over the hill.
Randall: it certainly did himself and me a power of good.
John.G: would that be lamb's liver sir?
What wonderful and super fun area you live in.
Today both you and Weaver Of Grass posted beautiful days out. My tourist radar is tingling !
cheers, parsnip
A beautiful part of the country. Love the first heather shot most of all.
I had a run in with a woman on a horse recently. She hit my car with her whip. :D
I'm missing my dog walks or something, because I haven't seen any heather around here yet..
Shiz, first sighting of heather on an English blog...
Any liver!
I love your pub posts, Pat, but you can keep the liver and kidney whatever. Bleurgh! My mum loved that stuff, and I grew up eating it, but have never liked it.
The heather is gorgeous! And yes, the ponies do have curvaceous bottoms, don't they!? All good ponies should. ;-)
Parsnip: thanks for the heads up. I'll look up Weaver of Grass - but not tonight.
LL Cool Joe: that must have been infuriating.
Macy: my Scottish BIL thought we were crazy to leave Yorkshire for here - until he saw the heather on Exmoor.
John.G: oooh you are offal!
Ponita: in a weak moment I had lambs liver a few years ago. It was OFFAL!
Bailey's creme brulee?
BE STILL my heart!!
Soooo very Beautiful there, Pat...I so wish I could join you all for a Pub Lunch in one of these wonderful beautiful places....Lunch sounds lovely and I love the pictures of EVERYTHING---The Horses---So Very Sweet!
Judy: it was new to me too. Luverly!
Naomi: if only.
Oh boy, oh boy, such a difficult mission, it must be hard to drive through that beautiful place, Pat
:-D
Is that how the moor looks in the book, A Secret Garden?
oh, pat, how absolutely breathtakingly beautiful those fields of heather - i've dreamed of them - walked in them - smelled them somewhere - sometime - i know i have! and right out of a colorful book of marc prints those wonderful voluptuous creatures! what a day you all had - thanks so much for sharing it with us!
GG: difficult but somebody has to do it. I'm not sure where 'The Secret Garden' is set but Exmoor is much less bleak than say the Yorkshire moors. It gets wilder as you go westwards.
Gypsywoman: maybe you lived in Scotland in another life. I can see you wandering through a misty heather fell.
gg:
What beautiful photographs, they make me want to go west again. Berkshire and Oxfordshite have very cute villages and rolling hillsides, but Devonshire moors are fabulous. Thanks for sharing
Wendy
Wendy: did you really mean Oxfordshite?
MTL was at Oxford but the county and Berkshire I hardly know at all. My boys always say they have to change gear when they come down.
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