daplight Loc: Kansas

My wife and I want to trace our ancestral roots, (Somerset County) and James Herriot country. Questions for our UK friends: What is weather like in October (off-season), rail pass a good buy, and, any other advice in touring the UK? Plan to spend about two weeks, flying into London I assume. Thanks for any tips.

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

Asking about weather is UK is impossible because you can four seasons in a week but early October is usually good with temperatures about 65c. The west country can be a bit wet but warm.
Try to get a few days in Cornwall, really beautiful and not far from Somerset. Check Devon as well.
Make some time for London one of the world's greatest cities and, if in any doubt, ask.English people will go out of their way to help an American.

Chris F. Loc: San Francisco

Yikes.....sounds warm! :)

Chris.

[quote=viscountdriver]Asking about weather is UK is impossible because you can four seasons in a week but early October is usually good with temperatures about 65c. The west country can be a bit wet but warm.
Try to get a few days in Cornwall, really beautiful and not far from Somerset. Check Devon as well.
Make some time for London one of the world's greatest cities and, if in any doubt, ask.English people will go out of their way to help an American.[/ :)

Spindrift62 Loc: Dorset, England. U.K.

Early October is not bad but can be unpredictable so go prepared. As for a rail pass, I would skip this in favour of a hire car. Niether Yorkshire or Somerset are well served by local rail services and you will need your own transport to get to the best and most scenic locations of which there are many. I'd start in Yorkshire and work my way South as the weather tends to be worse in the North and better in the South. as the year progresses. I don't know if you get T.V. shows like Heartbeat and Last of the Summer Wine in the States but these two were both filmed in North Yorkshire (Grosmont and Holmfirth villages). Any of the Southern Counties including Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall will afford a host of photographic opportunities. If you are receiving the T.V. shows 'The Fall' and 'Broadchurch' these were shot in West Bay, Dorset and this is also worth a visit. Lastly beware of beers with names like 'The Bishops Finger' and 'Old Thumper' and stay away from anything that is allegedly 'Old Somerset Scrumpy Cider' as they all have a 'Falling down' ingredient that sneaks up on the unwary. Have a great trip.

viscountdriver Loc: East Kent UK

Bishops Finger is made in Kent in the country's oldest brewery and if you do fall over you will do it with a smile on your face.That temperature should have been 65f but I I assumed you guessed that.

Chris F. Loc: San Francisco

I couldn't resist a little fun...no offense, just my usual silly type of humor as 65c is the equivalent of around 150f. I enjoy your posts too! Have a nice day!

Chris

NeilL Loc: British-born Canadian

Simple remedy for all those falling-down drinks, "Stay seated". They are well-worth the risk of vertigo. Try any beer designated "real ale". Nectar of the Gods.

Spindrift62 Loc: Dorset, England. U.K.

The falling down part is easy, it's the resounding headache and stomach churning the following day that is the downer! Sitting down just makes the distance to the floor less

daplight Loc: Kansas

I truly appreciate the tips and 'warnings,' and will take special care.

I also wanted to mention that wife's ancestors are the ones who discovered 'Cox Caverns,' now called 'Gough' I believe. I've viewed YouTube videos on this area, which looks great too. My family, we originally thought, centered around Chard Parish. Now, research may indicate Lincolnshire, or Lancanshire? Counties. Name is Staple(s). More research to do, suggestions are always welcome.

Spindrift62 Loc: Dorset, England. U.K.

Staple i believe is old English and was a name given to anyone living near a boundary marker or post, so you have a lot of choice of area! There is a Staple Fitzpain in 'zummerzet' and also a Chard. If it helps the first recorded listing for Staple was for a De Staple in 1270'ish so you could be French. If so please accept my deepest sympathy!!

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I'd go along with earlier advice and do the Northern part, Yorkshire first. This should include Lancashire (West) and Lincolnshire (South) but both adjacent to Yorkshire. Kansas is a lot more expansive than even the more remote parts of England so a train / coach might be favourable depending on how much you like driving. Roadworks / queuing is more frequent here. Unfortunately I can't comment on fares but there are a no. of websites that advise. Here's a couple that might help;

http://www.thetrainline.com/
http://www.stagecoachbus.com/default.aspx

Traffic likely to be quieter outside of the main towns so you might want to consider car hire at local points.

Weather can be anywhere between Indian Summer to downright atrocious but it won't be cold. A good light caguole (loads at R.E.I.) would supplement a fleece nicely.

As for the beer, we don't freeze the life out of it and around 8°c is a good temp. (lagers colder). Eating out is expensive compared to the U.S. but many pubs do reasonable food, some from outside suppliers some with their own in house chef (more expensive). I recommend FULLERS pubs as a good standby but they're a bit thin on the ground in your proposed destinations.

http://www.fullers.co.uk/

Other than that, enjoy your stay and if you feel I can be of more assistance to you just pm me.

daplight Loc: Kansas

Thanks John, plan to PM you on specifics later. Yes, it is 'expansive' out here in Kansas. I've been to Scotland, now looking forward to visiting England.

johneccles Loc: Leyland UK

You are receiving lots of excellent tips about your trip. I would add though, don't waste money on a rail card they are expensive and you have buy a lot of train tickets to make it pay. I would advise you hire a car at the airport to get around to Somerset and Yorkshire BUT don't drive into London use public transport. The traffic can be bad in the UK but as a rule of thumb the farther you get away from London the better the traffic will be. One final bit of advice is if possible avoid trains as here in the UK we have the most expensive fares in Europe.
Anyway,
have a good trip.

lemontart Loc: uk

English Weather - pack jumpers and t shirts and thermals along with wet weather gear and should be fine.

Crwiwy Loc: Devon UK

Trains are expensive and may well not go anywhere near where you want to so check out Bus Season Ticket instead.
You can get a 7 day ticket for £15 or family ticket for £30.
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/devon_cornwall/tickets/somerset_dorset/7day.php

Somerset Network map;
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/devon_cornwall/assets/pdfs/journey_planning/maps/somerset/Somerset_route_map_2014.pdf