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Walking on
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News and updates (latest
first) Watermouth and the western Exmoor
coast Updates to Walking Dulverton and area
are here. Dulverton
information centre December 2023 The National Park
Authority have decided to move the information centre into Exmoor House at
some time next year as part of a need to save money. 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 Updated December
2023 I can’t promise to
keep track of all the changes in the area, but here are some that I have become
aware of: 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 now a tea
room again at County Gate – the Rambler’s Rest – very welcoming with
lunches as well as tea and cake.
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. At Simonsbath,
Boeveys is currently up for sale as the owners have now retired. It quickly became one of my favourites in
2022. Meanwhile try the Exmoor Forest
Inn. Another tearoom affected by
retirement is the popular Bridge Cottage in Winsford which will close
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
will still work for a few months but it won’t be updated and I’m planning to
take it down – apart from a redirection message on the main page – in June. 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 2023 |