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Walking on
Exmoor and the Quantock Hills |
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News and updates (latest
first) Watermouth and the western Exmoor
coast Updates to Walking Dulverton and area
are here. Changes to the SW
Coast Path July 2024 Several sections of
the Coast Path have recently been re-signed, generally to use routes closer
to the coast (for instance the Rugged Coast Path between North Hill and
Bossington Hill, and the narrow path around Hurlstone Point). The details, with plans, are here (click on ‘Exmoor
and North Devon’, then the specific area).
They don’t affect the walks other than that sometimes where I refer to
the ‘Coast Path’, the route will now be a normal public path, while a
different path is now signed as the Coast Path. I will change the instructions when I
update the relevant walks. Path closure -
River Barle between Withypool and Tarr Steps May 2024 Exmoor NP is
re-routing the path along the River Barle to the western side between Great
Bradley and Hinds Pitt (just upstream of Watery Lane). While the work is going on – expected to be
June to the end of October – the paths on both sides of the river will be
closed. This affects walks 58 and
59. The paths affected, and suggested
alternatives, are shown here. Buses April 2024 There have been
some minor changes to bus timetables including the Exmoor Coaster (running
from the end of March to the end of September and no longer from Watchet),
route 25 from Taunton to Dulverton, and route 28 from Taunton to Minehead
which is slightly less frequent.
Please check the timetables from the bus operator or Traveline SW. Plans for 2024 April 2024 We moved from
Dulverton to Staplegrove, on the NW edge of Taunton, in March. Once we are settled in I’m aiming to add
some new walks north of Taunton and along the A358 corridor, e.g. in the
Bishops Lydeard and Tolland areas, to complement the Brendons and Quantocks
walks already on the site. We will
also spend some time walking on the Blackdowns and into Dorset and east
Devon, so while we will still be frequent visitors to Exmoor inevitably the
walks on the site won’t be updated as often. Tea room changes April 2024 –
changes in 2023 are below In Brushford
(near Dulverton, on walk 68), the Carnarvon Stores now has a small café which
opens from 7.30am (closed Sundays). Boevey’s in
Simonsbath is now open again
with new owners; closed on Sundays. The Rambler’s
Rest at County Gate has been experiencing staffing problems and has been
closed since July. Dulverton
information centre December 2023 The National Park
Authority have decided to move the information centre into Exmoor House in
October 2024. Exmoor House is the
large building next to the River Barle, at the back of the green along the
road from the Bridge Inn. Tea room changes 2023 On the Quantocks,
the Foxy Bean at Adscombe has now closed.
Planning permission has been granted to rebuild the burnt-out Pines
café as a house, so it is unlikely that a tearoom will reappear there any
time soon. In the west of the
region, in Combe Martin there is now a kiosk (Bobbie’s Bakes) with
outdoor tables overlooking the beach, next to the small car park directly off
the A399. In Ilfracombe, if you
start from the long-stay Hillsborough car park there is now a choice of two,
Larkstone Diner just down from the swimming pool and the Lime Kiln café
further along above the harbour. There is a tea room
again at County Gate – the Rambler’s Rest – very welcoming with
lunches as well as tea and cake – unfortunately closed temporarily in July
and August. Another reopening after a
long closure is the Horner Vale tea garden (so there are now two
refreshment options in Horner, as well as ice cream from the farm shop next
to the car park). The Parracombe
community shop and café has been open since 2022. There is limited parking, but enough room
to leave a car there for a walk. Bratton
Fleming community shop – again with a small car park, so viable as an
alternative start for walk 33 – also has a small café. Boeveys at
Simonsbath has been closed
throughout 2023, but is due to reopen in March 2024. Meanwhile try the Exmoor Forest Inn. Another tearoom affected by retirement is
the popular Bridge Cottage in Winsford which closed at the end of
2023. Porlock Pilgrim’s
Trail October 2023 This 29-mile trail
takes in nine churches and chapels in the north-eastern part of Exmoor, to
the south and west of Minehead. It
divides easily into three day walks.
You will need the trail guide: it is £8 but profits go to the
churches. More details here: https://www.porlockpilgrim.co.uk/
Exmoor
superlatives October 2023 I was involved in a
discussion recently about the highest church, village, inn etc. on
Exmoor. There are some surprising
(wrong) claims made, such as that Stoke Pero church is not only the highest
on Exmoor but in England! Here’s a
page with the results of my research: highest.pdf
Walk 67 Dulverton
and Ansteys – bridge now repaired May 2023 The bridge and steps
at Beer Cottages just west of Streamcombe have now been repaired. The approach to the bridge can still be
quite muddy. North Devon parking
charges April 2023 All-day parking
in many North Devon car parks has increased to £10-15, particularly between
March and November (and all year in Lynton and Lynmouth) – please check
parking charges here before
planning to use a particular car park.
This is more than a three-fold increase for some car parks, e.g.
Mortehoe which has gone from £4.40 for a day in 2022 to £15 in 2023 (with no
long-stay alternative). You may like
to use alternatives where they are available, such as starting from County
Gate, Woody Bay or Hillsford Bridge, or using the bus connections where they
exist. If you are put off doing a walk
by the parking charges please complain to North Devon Council. When I revise North Devon walks I will aim
to point out alternative parking where possible, e.g. walk 15 (Lyn gorges)
can now be started from the National Trust car park at Hillsford Bridge. Dulverton walking
book March 2023 Walking
Dulverton and area is no longer available online. Exmoor National Park Authority will
continue to sell the book through the Dulverton information centre. The updates can be downloaded here. New web site February
2023 Walking on Exmoor
and the Quantocks is now hosted at https://devmts.org.uk/weq/
rather than on emyspot. The old site
just has a note with this address on, and http://exmoorwalker.uk now
redirects here. You can bookmark
either exmoorwalker.uk (it directs to the homepage)
or a specific page on this site, but please update any links to the old
emyspot site. If you notice any
problems with this site, please send me an email. All text, photographs and maps © Stan Lester 2024 |