My visit to the West country last week was much like the typical curate's egg: good in parts.
Stayed in a couple of nice hotels, spent some time alone, reading, some time sightseeing, some time eating and drinking and chatting with friends and one's significant other. The great bit was the perfect weather when we visited Coleton Fishacre, a beautiful Art Deco house with stunning gardens. We walked down the steep gradient to the most dramatic views over a tiny cove, surrounded by sharp toothed rocks tumbled from vertiginous cliffs into a silver sea. It was so perfect and so memorable a day that even climbing back up the slopes was a pleasure, full of playful sparkling moments. The National Trust really made an effort: against the background of the D'Oily Carte's former residence, marvellous architecture and a playful approach to the displays, there was an atmosphere of delighted smugness which is rather fine in some circumstances. It made us feel flattered and cheerful; there was a pianist (did a bit of talking about matters musical) in the drawing room and a lovely cook offering scones with berry jam. The docents in the rooms were cheerful and chatty, friendly and responsive; the cafe had a nice selection of good food, the shop was full of rather interesting and varied merchandise. The rest of the four days was not so bright. The weather changed rapidly and the town of Taunton was not so inspiring. I visited the Willows and Wetlands Centre near Taunton, which impressed me for the reliance and determination of a family run firm, trying to keep their skilled workforce in employment, managing through a lot of famine interspersed with moments of frantic feast. The centre is very well worth visiting, with a museum, and a series of information spaces about the historical development of the area and the technical aspects of willow growing and working. You can do a tour of the works for a small fee though the rest of the centre is free to visit. I bought a rather clever bird feeding station that might discourage the squirrel and the crows... I was impressed particularly by the fact they make props for the movie industry (some torpedoes for War Horse) as well as the huge chess pieces in a recent horse jumping event; They also, apparently manufacture ALL the artists' charcoal that is sold all over the world. They export to countries as far away as canada and Australia and they had there the packaging of all art suppliers I can think of. Much less impressive was the visit to John Leach's pottery in Muchelney. His wife was on duty and after I had a look through the gallery I went up to her for a chat. There was nobody else anywhere on the premises, so she wasn't exactly rushed off her feet. When I told her that I was a potter from Derbyshire she could not have been less impressed. However, when I asked her whether she had had trouble with the floods, I got the long version, down to the insurance premium details and how many fridges had been lost, how many inches, the rant about the government... well, one does feel for people who are helpless in the face of natural disaster, of course. But the result nevertheless was that, instead of being tempted by the rather nice bottles with temmokku @ £350, one was merely tempted by the toasted coffee mug @ £14. After all, I am just as human as she is...
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