Photo supplied by www.magicfingers.co.uk

DUNSTER BY CANDLELIGHT 2010

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 3rd & 4th
DECEMBER 2009

Friday 3rd from 5pm to 9.00
Saturday 4th from 4pm to 9.00

p"Please note new information on Park and Rideppppp

Ro RCOLLECTIONS MADE IN AID OF
ST MARGARET’S SOMERSET HOSPICE


 

Dunster by Candlelight takes place every year on the first Friday and Saturday in December when this remarkably preserved medieval village turns its back on the present and lights its streets with candles.

To mark the beginning of the festival on Friday at 5.30pm, there is the Lantern Lighting Procession that starts on the Steep and continues through the village until all the lanterns in the streets have been lit. The procession of children and their families is accompanied by colourful (and tall!) Stiltwalkers in fantastic costumes who put up the lanterns.

 

Photo by Steve Guscott
 
 

Photo by Steve Guscott
 
During both evenings there are a variety of street entertainers who include Carol Singers, Morris Dancers, Hand Bell Ringers, a Brass Band, a large Fairground Organ and Choirs in the Parish Church. The atmosphere is both traditional and exciting, truly an event for all ages.
 


Photo by Steve Guscott

Most of Dunster’s wide variety of shops are open throughout the two evenings for Christmas shopping and a range of restaurants and their street stalls offer a variety of foods.

Please give generously to the street collectors and entertainers during your stay. Collections are to support St Margaret’s Somerset Hospice.
 

Programmes cost £1.00 and are on sale from mid October in the Dunster shops. At Candlelight they are on Sale in the Exmoor Visitor Centre at the top of the steps as you get off the Park and Ride bus.

Programmes can also be obtained by post. You will need to send 3 x First Class Stamps and an A5 Stamped addressed Envelope to Mrs Bradshaw, 1 Kilbury, Northfield Road, Minehead TA24 5QQ 01643 706355. e-mail info@withycombefair.co.uk mark the subject as Dunster by Candlelight.

If you are coming to visit Dunster during the day on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it is business as usual and you can park, walk and shop without the crowds. You can park in The Steep Car Park in Dunster up to 3pm. There is a Steward on the entrance who will give you a card explaining that everyone without a special Car Pass must be out of the car park by 3pm and go to Minehead to catch the Park and Ride. Follow the A A signs to park for the Park and Ride. The special Car Passes are for the village residents and Hotel guests who would normally park in the Dunster Streets.

Many people choose to see Dunster during the day and then come back again in the evening for the occasion. Why not try it too !

 


West Somerset Morris Men


Photo by Norman Stanley


You’d like to come and experience Dunster by Candlelight ? Great, we’d be very pleased to see you but wherever you are coming from please follow the signs for Park and Ride which is outside Dunster at Minehead, Wheddon Cross and Watchet.

Parking~~ There is NO parking in Dunster. Very few residents in Dunster have parking so they have to be looked after and it is their cars that fill the Car Parks. They have special Car Passes to enable them to do this.

Park and Ride has had to change this year so please read the information below, carefully, noting Wheddon Cross and Watchet as new Park and Ride services. Also note the new bus prices and the different timings.

Park and Ride (Free Parking). Minehead Park and Ride is £2.50 return. Watchet and Wheddon Cross is £3 return irrespective of where you board the bus. Accompanied children under 14 travel free.

Minehead ~ Park and Ride will run from new areas of Minehead. Follow the AA signs. Parking is mainly opposite the entrance to Butlins. Buses will pick up from both ends of the Butlins road. It will also pick up at the West Somerset Railway Station. Only the Minehead Park and Ride Buses will run continuosly from 3pm. with the last bus going back to Minehead from Dunster at 10.45pm.

Disabled Parking~follow the AA signs to Minehead and turn right at the seafront roundabout by Butlins. On Friday night it will be in a coned area on the sea front Car Park opposite Butlins. The bus stop is close by. On Saturday night it will be in the Minehead Golf Club Car Park which is at the end of the Butlins road. The First Company Buses will run from 3pm both days and the final bus will leave Dunster at 10.45pm. Some of the these buses have low steps. There will also be an Accessible Transport bus that will take a wheel chair but that bus will only run from 5pm on Friday and 4pm on Saturday at approximately half hour intervals until approximately 10pm

Wheddon Cross. ~ Park and Ride. for the first time buses will run from Wheddon Cross through Timberscombe to the far end of West Street in Dunster. Parking which will be signed is in the Webbers auction field. This bus will start at 5pm and run every half an hour until the last one leaves Dunster at 10pm. (Free Parking) Bus tickets on this route will be £3 return for each adult irrespective of where you board the bus. Accompanied children under 14 travel free.

Watchet.~Park and Ride will also run from Watchet through the villages of Washford, Bilbrook and Carhampton. Parking for this bus will be in the main Watchet Car Park and the Station Car park. This bus will start at 5pm and run every half an hour until the last one leaves Dunster at 10pm. (Free Parking). Bus tickets £3 for each adult return (irrespective of where you board the bus). Accompanied children under 14 travel free.

 

 

Information for Coach Operators
No Coaches or Mini-Buses are allowed into Dunster during Candlelight evenings. All coaches must follow the signs to Park & Ride in Minehead. Coaches will now be parked along the Sea Front and Passengers will need to catch the Park & Ride into Dunster. All Coaches and buses must still be booked into Candlelight in advance. Please telephone Penny Bale on 01643 821 425 for further information and vouchers for your passengers to use on Park & Ride.

West Somerset Railway - www.wsr.org.uk
Run special trains each evening from Bishop’s Lydeard to Minehead, stopping at Dunster. These are usually filled well in advance so book early. Details from WSR Information line 01643 704 996

Road Closure in Dunster
The Main Street through Dunster will be closed BOTH nights from 5pm to 10pm on Friday and 4pm to 10pm on Saturday. Diversions will be marked, look for the AA signs.


  Accommodation
If you wish to stay in Dunster for Candlelight it is advisable to book as early as possible, however it is often possible to find accommodation further away from Dunster at shorter notice.
 
Accommodation in Dunster
 
Buttercross, St George’s St 01643 821 413
Conygar House, The Ball
01643 821 872
Dunster Castle Hotel, High Street 01643 823030 01643 823030
Exmoor House Dunster, West Street
01643 821 268

 
Higher Orchard, St George’s St
01643 821 915
Luttrell Arms Hotel, High Street
01643 821 555
Old Priory, Priory Green
01643 821 540
Spears Cross Hotel, West Street
01643 821 439
Stags Head Hotel, West Street 01643 821229
Water Mill, Mill Lane
01643 821 759
Yarn Market Hotel, High Street 01643 821 425

00164301643

Minehead & Coastal Area

Northfield Hotel, Minehead 01643 705 155
Wellington Hotel, Minehead
01643 704 371
Beverleigh, Minehead
01643 708 450
Finial, Minehead
01643 703 945
The Packhorse, Allerford. Self Catering
01643 862 475www.thepackhorse.net 
Camelot Guest House, Blue Anchor
01643 821 118
Dragon House Hotel, Bilbrook 01984 640 215
Lower Rodhuish Farm, Withycombe 01984 640253
Riverside Cottage, Roadwater. Self Catering, Sleeps 4. Children & Pets Welcome 01984 640020
Bournestream, Bilbrook 01984 641 048
The Wayside B & B, Bilbrook 01984 641669 01984641669
The Langbury, Blue Anchor 01643 821375 www.langbury.co.uk
Exmoor
 
North Wheddon Farm, Wheddons Cross 01643 841 791
Ordway House, Felons Oak, Rodhuish 01984 641 330
   

 

Restaurants in Dunster
Advance bookings are advisable for meals during Candlelight

   
Castle Coffee House, High Street 01643 821 219
Cobblestones, High Street 01643 821 595
Squires Restaurant, Dunster Hotel, High Street 01643 823030
Foresters Arms, West Street 01643 821 313
Hathaways, West Street 01643 821 725
Luttrell Arms Hotel, High St 01643 821 555
Reeves Restaurant, 20-22 High street 01643 821 414
Yarn Market Hotel, High St 01643 821 425

For more information on accommodation in the area www.somerset-accommodation.co.uk

www.iknow-somerset.co.uk/west_somerset/dunster/

For further information regarding the organisation of Candlelight please contact info@withycombefair.co.uk

www.withycombefair.co.uk

Exmoor National Park Authority has kindly supported the creation of this site
www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk

Street collections during Dunster by Candlelight are to support the work of St Margaret’s Somerset Hospice, a local charity providing free care, advice and support to people in Somerset who have been diagnosed with an illness that is no longer responsive to curative treatment. www.somerset-hospice.org.uk