Walking on Exmoor and the Quantock Hills

Walking on Exmoor and the Quantock Hills

My name is Stan Lester, I live in Staplegrove on the edge of Taunton (previously in Dulverton), and I have walked on Exmoor and the surrounding area on and off for over 30 years. Apart from walking I have a love of ‘places’, photography and maps, which have contributed to this site, and historic gardens, sailing and motorcycling, which haven’t. I still work but only when I’m not out in the countryside.

Contact me at: editor<at>exmoorwalker.uk

Special mentions go to my late father, S. G. F. Lester, who was responsible for my love of the countryside and introduced me to walking on Exmoor, and my partner Philippa, who helped with the recces for many of the walks (and came up with the ideas for some of them). Philippa is also the author of an excellent and highly informative web site about local places, themes, personalities and curiosities, ‘Off the Beaten Track in Somerset’. It is updated with a new topic monthly.

Almost all the mileage described here has been clocked up in Altberg Tethera boots, sturdy and waterproof, and worn with merino wool socks I’ve not had so much as a sore foot or blister. Lowa Renegades also make an appearance in hot, dry weather and for slippery rock where the hard-soled Altbergs lack grip. In wet or cold weather I wear a reliably waterproof Rohan Guardian or Ventus coat, or a lighter and more packable Rab Downpour Plus for summer rain. I have a collection of Tracklogs OS 1:25000 digital maps (sadly no longer available) on which most of the planning was done, and I'm currently using Memory Map in the field as a replacement for the discontinued Viewranger. Where they are available I also use the superb Croydecycle maps; apart from the clarity and annotations, they are compact and waterproof. The walk directions were recorded on an Olympus mini voice recorder, cheap and efficient. Finally, the photos were taken variously with a Panasonic DMC-LX5/LX15 compact, Olympus OMD-EM10 ‘micro-4/3’, Pentax K5IIs or K10D DSLR, and one or two with a Pentax ME-Super film SLR.

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