Escaping to North Devon and Exmoor - Day Six

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 Day six: we visit Watchet

Aching muscles, jelly legs. Yesterday tested us! It’s time for some lazy sightseeing and so we head into Watchet via Blue Anchor. Watchet has two designated motorhome parking spaces down at the station car park. Two! Of course, they are occupied, its peak August during the nation’s staycation!

We beat a retreat to the long stay car park where we find six possible bays that will take a vehicle length of 6m+. The parking signage makes it clear that if you can’t fit in the designated bay, you will incur penalty charges and tickets! None of the bays are big enough but these six are in places where your overhang won’t cause disruption to the rest of the car park and so we decide to risk it! (The bays are three alongside a garage wall on the right as you go in and then three right at the very back where there is a massive turning space, by the way.)

Watchet is one of the most heavily silted marinas in the country – fun fact for you! Along the seafront is a small market – food and craft stalls, sustainable produce and gifts. We grab coffees and the papers for a news catch up and stroll the town. Free museums, a station halt on the Somerset railway.

After all this excitement, we go for an exploratory drive up to Dunkery Beacon and a stroll across purple heather clad moors. Despite the mizzle and brisk winds, the views along the coast and over Exmoor are excellent and it strikes me that with all round views of the sky, I have found a perfect star gazing destination for the winter. Throw in some bronze age burial chambers to explore as well. Great stuff.

We arrive back to discover that the water pump has broken again. Our trick of turning the taps on and off rapidly and driving it over the rough ground at the site don’t work this time. It’s broken for good. You can hear it running but no water is forthcoming. I’ve decided it will be worth investing in an external caravan type whale pump and a plastic 25 litre water container, so that we can still have an external supply. Although Bryony is going into the dealer tomorrow for the water tank to be dropped and a new pump fitted under warranty work, I have lost faith in the Whale pump range (although their marine pump range is world beating in terms of engineering, construction and reliability – I have a small electric one in the boat and it is a brilliant bit of kit). The various motorhome forums all tell me to fit an external ‘shurflo’ pump instead and I guess this is something we will look into if this new pump ends up going the same way!

 

Halse Farm

Summary of our six days jaunt to North Devon

Sites stopped at:

Halse Farm, Winsford and Mullacott Farm Ilfracombe – total cost for grass pitch and EHU: £66 for three nights at each location - £132

Fuel costs - £ 60

Expenditure on car parking - £12.50

Eating out - £25

Entrance fees – none

Total cost for six days peak August - £229.50 (average daily costs: £38.25).

 

Postscript:

The new pump is fitted. The mechanic claims the impellor at the bottom of it had fractured and broken into pieces. I am a little sceptical about this, but the new pump is working, water is flowing and so we will see how this one fairs.