On Sunday, Pentecost, Audrey and David Parkes went to Watchet to join Bishop Peter's Walk. This was a 7½
mile walk to Minehead along the coast via Blue Anchor and Dunster (the beach not the village). David brought
back these photographs, and his account of the day.
“We started at Watchet Harbour where we were joined by well-wishers from the local church, St Decuman.
After a short service led by the Vicar of Watchet St Decuman, and a short welcome address from the Bishop,
we set off up the hill to the church . We did not enter as the morning service was in progress but we did visit
the Holy Well.
St Decuman was a sixth century Welsh monk from Pembrokeshire who settled in Watchet where he lived as a
hermit. Unfortunately he had his head chopped off by an assassin while he was at prayer. According to legend,
the body picked up the head and carried it to what is now the Holy Well, which has never dried up and where
the water is supposed to have remarkable healing properties. We visited the well and then continued on our
way.
We crossed the line of the West Somerset Railway, which runs steam trains from Bishops Lydeard to
Minehead via Watchet.
Most of the walk was along the coast and it was a fantastic day of warmth and sunshine. The children, who
joined us at the start, finished at Blue Anchor as they were to have a special Pentecost service back at
Watchet in the afternoon. The rest of us went on to Minehead.
Audrey and I went on after reaching Dunster, without waiting for the others as we wished to catch the 3pm
steam train back to Watchet to recover our car. We took a wrong turn by a golf course (we should have gone
straight over the golf course!) and ended up at Dunster station, so we waited for the train there.
Our train was slightly delayed because a new steam engine called the Tornado was making a courtesy visit to
the railway and we had to wait for it to pass. The Tornado has been built over 8 years by volunteers. A
wonderful sight for enthusiasts!”
Click thumbnail to enlarge
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