NT trip to Devon & Somerset, Sept 2023

The NT travelling group at Zaventem met
to discover Devon and Somerset.
We flow to Heathrow by British Air
and then in the couches we took our chair.
They brought us to Bristol our meal to eat.
We were all happy each other to meet.
Then on to Exeter where we arrived quite late.
But to see the rest of the program we just couldn’t wait.

So, the next morning to Castel Drogo we went
an impressive building, and that was meant.
It was built in the thirties by a man newly rich
a bit medieval but also a little bit kitsch
The afternoon Cotehele a real castle from 1353
where after long walks we had cream tea.

The next morning at eight o’clock
we drew down to Dartmouth dock
to take a ferry to Agatha Christie’s property
a large block of land going down to the sea
so after a tour of the house and the land
the bus took us to a house so grand
A lady was singing in the large living-room
and a stream winding down between flowers in bloom
and luxurious vegetation down to the sea
a magnificent setting I must agree.

The next day Knightshayes was our first visiting-place
built by a family making their money on lace
A gothic building from 1869
with a well filled library and a nice room to dine.
Dunster castle is set on a fortified hill
and down at the bottom an old watermill
from up top a beautiful view
and along the river tropical plants they grow.

On the Friday we three places saw
a medieval house, a beautiful garden and an Elizabethan manor
with an old Flemish tapestry cleaned by Belgian ardor.

The last day we went to see the cathedral in Wells
where we saw the clock’s figures mow and heard the bells
and finally a farewell lunch at the Swan
and now the trip is over, but the memories are not gone.

by Bo Dahlqvist