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LOCALLY OWNED, LOCALLY PRODUCED...
www.exmoormagazine.co.uk
ISSUE No. 86 Spring 2019 £3.20
EXMOOR
FOR ALL THOSE WHO LOVE EXMOOR, NORTH DEVON & THE QUANTOCKS
Lorna Doone special
150th Anniversary Events
The Real Badgworthy
River of the Doones
In conversation with...
Gordon Pickard Short
Exmoor’s Young Farmers
The Peaky Climbers
Dogs Trust Ilfracombe
Rupert White
Discovering
Dunster Castle Gardens
Snowdrop Valley
Brendon Hills Walking
Kestrels School
Wild Orchids
Astrophotography
Hoar Oak Publishing Ltd
RECIPES STEAM ENGINES SPRING DIARY BOOKS UPSTREAM THINKING
The West Country is Stags Country
stags.co.uk
C ORNWALL
DEVON
SOMERSET
D ORSET
LONDON
PORLOCK 2.3 Acres
An 8 bedroom former hunting lodge
set in extensive private grounds
enjoying a convenient yet private
position on the edge of the village.
Direct access to walking and riding.
Garage, parking, gardens and
woodland. 2.3 acres in total.
Income potential.
EPC Band G. Web find: 93137
Guide Price: £850,000
Dulverton Office 01398 323174
EAST ANSTEY
4.1 Acres
A well-maintained 4 bedroom farmhouse in a rural yet accessible location
with good equestrian facilities. Enjoying a southerly aspect with views over
surrounding countryside. Stables, paddocks and field shelter. Large
workshop/garage with separate access. Garden store.
EPC Band D. Web find: 95358
Guide Price: £595,000 Dulverton Office 01398 323174
TIMBERSCOMBE
15.1 Acres
A 4 bedroom character equestrian property with pasture and woodland
enjoying spectacular rural views. American barn, stables, manege and
direct access to bridleways providing miles of fantastic riding country.
Further 5.6 acres available by separate negotiation.
EPC Band E. Web find: 52768
Guide Price: £765,000 Dulverton Office 01398 323174
SIMONSBATH
A spacious 3 bedroom semi-detached character cottage with lovely views
in the heart of the village. Unusually large garden with a pond and
vegetable plot. Spacious parking in front of two big outbuildings. Excellent
location for walking and country pursuits.
EPC Band G. Web find: 93001
Guide Price: £340,000 Dulverton Office 01398 323174
RURAL DULVERTON
An impressive and comfortable 4 bedroom detached stone barn conversion
enjoying a wonderful semi-rural position, with stunning far-reaching rural
views. Beautiful landscaped gardens with pond and sheltered seating
areas. Enclosed parking for several cars.
EPC Band D. Web find: 94606
Guide Price: £495,000 Dulverton Office 01398 323174
@StagsProperty
Bampton £585,000
A detached, contemporary home
situated on the edge of Bampton,
with secluded gardens and beautiful
southerly views over the Exe Valley.
Superb kitchen/ dining room with
bi-folding doors, 2 reception rooms,
utility, 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, large
gardens and garage. EPC Rating C.
Bampton 01398 332006
Bampton £650,000
A rare opportunity to own a superb 4
bedroom chalet bungalow set in a
beautifully secluded and tranquil position
within gardens and grounds of 2.3 acres
with river frontage and fishing. Outbuildings,
substantial garage/ workshop and ample
parking. EPC Rating C.
Bampton 01398 332006
Sold - similar properties required
Bridgetown £525,000
An immaculate detached 3 bedroom
family home, set in landscaped gardens
in the heart of the Exmoor National Park.
The property has lovely views over the
beautiful Exe Valley, yet it is just 5 miles
from the town of Dulverton with all local
amenities. EPC Rating D.
Dulverton 01398 324488
Sold
Sold
Sold
Sold
Dulverton £275,000
A charming 2 double bedroom semi
detached stone cottage, situated in a
quiet lane in the centre of Dulverton,
with the benefit of an easily maintained
rear garden. EPC Rating F.
Dulverton 01398 324488
Sales, Lettings & Mortgages: Bampton | Cullompton | Dulverton | Tiverton | London
seddons.com
in association with
Homes from Webbers
Fine & Country Somerset Taunton, Minehead, Fine & Dulverton,Wellington Country Local expertise, & Wiveliscombe National presence, Offices International audience
An inspiring
COASTAL place to TOWN live
SUBSTANTIAL COUNTRY HOUSE
ON THE EDGE OF POPULAR
The Beacon brief was enjoys simple. a prestigious Create a design
location tour-de-force. on North Use Hill space, in Minehead use light,
located created in elegance a “no through” with the road focus on onthe
edge quality, of not the cost. Exmoor Use National state of the Parkart
with
environmental
wonderful
technology
inland and coastal
but retain
views
practicality.The
and standing
result
proudly
was “The
in over
five
Observatory”
acres of gardens,
a stunning
grounds and
contemporary home.
woodland. The property, which offers
extensive gas centrally heated
Located in a prestigious location and
accommodation over three floors
positioned to take full advantage of
typifies the elegant Edwardian period
the coastal views, this stylish modern
from its grand staircase with
eco-friendly home was traditionally
magnificent
built in 2007
stained
and has
and
predominantly
leaded glass
window
hardwood
to
timber
the generous
clad exteriors
rooms with
with
high
extensive
ceilings,
and
bay
versatile
windows and open
fireplaces. accommodation of over 3350 square
The feet property, arranged over which three is currently levels.The run
by accommodation a Christian charity includes; for young a superb
top floor living space with bespoke
fitted kitchen designed by Discovery
Channel presenter Mark Selwood
people who was is equally commission suitable by as the a large owner
family to create home a functional or guest house kitchen and with offers a
great “wow” potential factor that for the would successful benefit the
purchaser property, to an improve impressive and atrium decorate to
their
entrance
own
hall,
individual
library
taste.
area,
Within
media/TV
the
grounds
room, family
there
room,
is a detached
five bedrooms
one
bedroom
(two en-suite),
cottage
bathroom,
which requires
shower and
sauna, three person lift, surrounding
refurbishment and the property
gardens and terrace, double garage
stands in lovely surrounding formal
and parking.
gardens with a heated swimming pool.
The land rises up into woodland with
Designed to minimise environment
pathways leading to its own moorland
impact the property utilizes a
style
range
gardens
of new
where
technologies
there are
to
views
over
include
fields
heat
towards
replacement
the Bristol
system,
Channel
rainwater
with
harvesting,
the Welsh
underfloor
coastline in
the heating, distance. Sarnaveret Green Roof
system, integrated vacuum, state of
EPC the art rating insulation. tbc Lexcon and
Home Network wiring audio,
phone or data.
FREE VALUATIONS - NO SALE - NO FEE -
GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!
MINEHEAD
£875,000
4 MINEHEAD receptions, conservatory,
£695,000
kitchen & breakfast
room, Detached office, home, 8 bedrooms coastal views, all en-suite, open former plan upper one
bed floor annexe living cottage, space, 5 garage bedrooms & parking, (2 en-suite), heated
swimming 2 reception pool, rooms, gardens shower and woodlands sauna, bathroom, in all
5.027 utility, acres. life, double garage and gardens.
Tel: 01643 700210 706917
kevin.prescott@webbers.co.uk
Kevin Prescott, Minehead
Dulverton Office 01398 324818
Minehead Office 01643 700210
Barnstaple/Lynton Office 01271 347861
Ilfracombe Office 01271 863091
South Molton Office 01769 575797
fineandcountry.com
Minehead - £849,950
An opportunity to acquire a home together with an income provided by the four
holiday letting suites situated in a fine location directly on the sea front with panoramic
views over Minehead Bay, This substantial detached residence offers spacious and
beautifully presented accommodation arranged over three floors, along with
immaculate level gardens.
Minehead, North Hill - £475,000
A well maintained three bedroom detached split level bungalow residence occupying
a fine position on the lower slopes of North Hill, and enjoys stunning panoramic views
over the town to the surrounding hills including Hopcott, Grabbist, Periton, Conygar
Tower and along the coast to the sea and The Quantocks.
Minehead - £540,000
An interesting and unique well maintained individual residence of character occupying
an outstanding position on the edge of Minehead, enjoying magnificent sweeping
views over the town to the Bristol Channel, North Hill along the West Somerset Coast
and over adjoining gently sloping fields.
Minehead - £479,500
An exciting and individual spacious detached barn conversion residence situated in a pleasant
area on the edge of the town close to some of the very best moorland and woodland
countryside at Periton and Hopcott yet within approximately half a mile of Minehead town
centre and all its amenities. The property is Grade II Listed as being of architectural and historical
interest and has considerable history having been originally an agriculture barn/outbuildings
to the original Periton Farm and in more recent years housing a renowned local Pottery.
Minehead - £675,000
A beautifully presented and extended virtually detached cottage with annexe believed
to date from the 16th Century, along with detached studio annex, attractive gardens,
ample car parking, garage and range of outbuildings, occupying an outstanding
position just off the sea front and adjoining the Golf Course.
Minehead - £500,000
An individual detached three/four bedroom house situated on a large site in a favoured
residential area on the edge of the town and enjoying outstanding views from the rear
towards North Hill and from the first floor at the front to open fields.
Minehead 01643 706666 | South Molton 01769 574500
Taunton 01823 277121 | Tiverton 01884 243000
Williton 01984 632167 | chaninandthomas.co.uk | gth.net
61 45
Exmoor Magazine is independently
owned and run on Exmoor by Naomi
Marley, Elaine Pearce and Heather Holt.
We are not part of a chain and we are
stocked in local shops across Exmoor,
the Quantocks and North Devon,
along with Co-ops, Waitrose and M&S.
The magazine is also available direct.
To subscribe please call 0345 224 1203
or go to www.exmoormagazine.co.uk.
Published by: Hoar Oak Publishing Ltd.
Exmoor Magazine, PO Box 117, Ilfracombe,
Devon EX34 4AS. T. 0345 224 1203
Website: www.exmoormagazine.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/exmoormagazine
Twitter: twitter.com/ExmoorMagazine
Instagram: @exmoormagazine
#exmoormagazine
Subscriptions & Office: Bryan Cath
E: office@exmoormagazine.co.uk
T: 0345 224 1203
Editor & Designer: Naomi Marley
editor@exmoormagazine.co.uk
Editorial Director: Elaine Pearce
hoaroak.publishing@googlemail.com
Assistant Editor: Katy Charge
Associate Editor: John Dunscombe
Colour Management & Associate Designer:
Colin Matthews
Website: Mike Bishop & Naomi Marley
Advertising Sales: Grant Harrison
(Zara Media) T: 01392 201227;
email: info@zaramedia.co.uk
Printing: Warner Midlands PLC, Bourne
IMPORTANT NOTICE
We do our best to ensure that all
advertisements and articles appear correctly.
We cannot accept responsibility for any loss
or damage caused directly or indirectly by
this publication. Opinions expressed are not
necessarily those of the publisher or editor.
Copyright © Hoar Oak Publishing Ltd. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in
part is prohibited without written permission.
Contents
8 NEWS
18 FARMING
Exmoor's Ambition
Michelle Werrett
23 PROFILE
Full Steam Ahead:
Mike White
Tony James
29 ACTIVE
The Peaky Climbers
Lucy Large
Spring 2019
33 DOWN MEMORY LANE
Gordon Pickard Short:
Going with the Grain
Tony James
39 RECIPES
A Jubilee Inn Twist on
the Cookbook, Nourish
Recipes from Christine Bailey
PRIVACY POLICY
We do not share or sell names, addresses,
phone numbers or email addresses under any
circumstances.
Cover: Waterfall on Hoar Oak Water
by Craig Joiner.
6 Exmoor Spring 2019
88 112
45 LANDSCAPES
The Real Badgworthy
Rob Wilson-North
50 NATURE DIARY
River of the Doones
Julian Gurney
53 ENVIRONMENT PART I
Natural Flood Management
on the Holnicote Estate
Ben Bryant
56 ENVIRONMENT PART II
Upstream Thinking
Morag Angus and Heather Harley
61 THE DANDELION
AND THE BEE
Jane A. Mares
65 PHOTOGRAPHY
Astrophotographer Will Gater
Mel Roach
71 GARDENS
Telling Stories: Plants and
Gardens at Dunster Castle
Rosemary FitzGerald
76 WALKING
Brendon Hill Iron Miners
and Nettlecombe's Great Park
Sue Viccars
88 INTERIORS
Benshayes
Rupert White
92 CROSSWORD
Bryan Cath
93 BOOKS
96 PAST TIMES
Kestrels School
Michele Romaine
101 WILD GARDENS
Orchids
Peter Marren
85 PROPERTY
Exmoor Living
David Lethaby, GTH,
Chanin & Thomas
87 PLANNING LAW
Listed Buildings
Amy Cater, Tozers
104 CHILDREN'S PICTURE QUIZ
Uncle Willow & Ginger Tigger
in Snowdrop Valley
Endymion Beer
107 SPRING DIARY
Compiled by Katy Charge
112 FINAL PAWS
Dogs Trust Ilfracombe:
A Canine Carer's Day
Kayla Maryon
96
71
Exmoor Spring 2019 7
Editor's Letter
HERITAGE
Lorna Doone 150th Anniversary
Welcome to the spring issue! I
usually write this in 'winter', but
as I look out of the window, on
8 January, I see compost everywhere, as
a yet-unidentified culprit wreaks horrid
havoc with my already confused bulbs,
which have all come up!
Meanwhile, my humane mouse trap is
sitting there (please don't laugh), waiting
to be washed, as it's been fully deployed
of late following the greedy assault by
my spare-bedroom mice, 'Gloria' and
'Edwardo', on my Christmas presents.
Apparently, food was so scarce, despite
the crazily mild weather, that they had
to resort to eating organic bath bombs,
socks and soap. Gloria looked like the
most glamorous Beatrix Potter mouse,
whereas the verdict among friends
was that Edwardo (rather plain) may
have been punching above his weight.
So it was without too much regret that
I rehomed them far apart, as I slotted
their respective releases in with journeys
to get out for some walks between proof
stages of this issue. Gloria now lives near
Wheddon Cross and Edwardo's release
took place en route to a walk on Grabbist
in the first week of January, a path
I haven't taken since I was a child.
In fact, it is a walk which I was going to
include as an extra in this issue following
the 170th anniversary in 2018 of the
hymn, 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' –
as many believe (it's a contested point)
that its 'purple-headed mountain' was
inspired by the hill. Bearing in mind the
very steep gradients, however, you may
be glad that Lorna Doone's anniversary
trumped this; as you will see, in this
issue we celebrate much that is Doone
country instead, at the start of the 150th
anniversary year of Blackmore's novel.
In addition to our Doone-packed
features, we interview members of the
Exmoor Hill Farming Network, the Peaky
Climbers (who would no doubt skip
up Grabbist), Gordon Pickard Short,
astrophotographer Will Gater and Rupert
White. We also visit Dunster Castle
Gardens, Dogs Trust Ilfracombe, Knapp
House (formerly Kestrels School) and
the Brendon Hills, for a stunning walk.
I hope that you enjoy all this and more
and that you have a fantastic spring and
Easter. Happy reading!
The 150th anniversary of the publication
of Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore in
2019 will be marked across Exmoor by
a series of themed events and activities
which celebrate the link between
the area and the novel, and highlight
our culture, landscape and heritage for
local communities and visitors alike.
The novel, first published in 1869, has
never been out of print since and has
inspired countless films, television
programmes, theatrical performances,
songs, a musical and even a biscuit! The
story includes wonderful descriptions
of the most remote and rugged parts of
Exmoor, events such as The Great Winter
and the Monmouth Rebellion, plus folk
traditions of the notorious Doones and
the highwayman Tom Faggus.
The focal point of the celebrations will
be a major exhibition at the Guildhall
Heritage Centre in Dulverton, running
from April to October, which will be
supported by a wide range of activities.
Dulverton Town Council and Dulverton
Traders are planning a packed, familyfocused
weekend on 29 and 30 June.
Taunton Garrison (top) will be re-enacting
events from the novel in period dress,
accompanied by a narrator. There will
be plenty of live music, children's
activities, a magic lantern show and
story-telling, as well as stalls from local
traders. On the Sunday, there will also
be a large banquet and a film showing
on the lawns.
Exmoor National Park's Learning and
Outreach Officer, Dave Gurnett, has
been running a school trip based on
the Lorna Doone story for over 30 years
and this year more schools are invited
to come and explore this special area
of Exmoor. ENPA will also be running
public events celebrating the landscape
that inspired the novel.
Outdoor groups such as the North
Devon Ramblers are including some
Lorna Doone-themed guided walks in
their programme and Exford-based
tourism business, Wild About Exmoor,
will be hosting themed experiences.
From May to August there will be
literature and art day schools in
Winsford, Exford and Tiverton, organised
by the Workers Educational Association
(WEA), and based upon the novel and
the landscape that inspired it.
The Pleasure Dome Theatre Company
will perform Lorna Doone at the Valley
of Rocks for a fortnight in August.
The Two Moors Festival, which has wide
cultural appeal and attracts thousands of
visitors from far and wide to events
during October, is also getting involved.
The festival's Artistic Director Penny Adie
has commissioned a brand-new work
based on the well-loved story.
The composition will be scored for solo
voices, choirs, instrumentalists and
a narrator and will be performed at All
Saints' Church, Dulverton, on 12 October
by professional musicians and students
from Blundell's School in Tiverton, where
Blackmore himself studied.
Jennette Baxter, Development Manager
for Visit Exmoor, says, "This is a wonderful
opportunity to celebrate our stunning
landscape and its links to this worldfamous
story. It will be a real draw for
visitors from around the world – the
Lorna Doone novel has fans as far afield
as Australia and America. The National
Park will be including a feature on the
festival in their Exmoor Visitor 2019
newspaper and we'll be publicising
the celebrations via our website,
www.visit-exmoor.co.uk. A printed guide
will also be available from the National
Park Centres."
See page 110 for more events.
Photo courtesy of Lycia Moore, Taunton Garrison
8 Exmoor Spring 2019
LETTERS
Remembering
Granny Yendell
Dear Naomi,
In September of 1975 I consulted
to British Kynoch Metals as an
exploration geophysicist from Toronto,
to help search for copper deposits near
Heasley Mill. I stayed for several weeks
at Crangs Heasley, and enjoyed the
farmhouse accommodation and
hospitality of Mary Yendell (later Moor)
and her mother, who was known to me
as Granny Yendell.
While searching through a scrapbook, doing research for my Memoirs, I found a
newspaper clipping from the South Molton Gazette dated Tuesday 2 September 1975,
entitled 'Hunt for Exmoor copper', with my picture on it. What wonderful memories
came flooding back. And so I went online to check out Crangs Heasley, thinking
perhaps I might visit there again. However, I was sad to find Mary Moor's obituary.
I remember Mary well and how she worried about me like a mother while I stayed
at the farm. Our survey lines went across the hills and through the hedges all around
the farm and I would come back with tears and scratches from climbing through the
hedges and woods in the area. In no uncertain terms Mary on several occasions told
me not to be so shy and drop my trousers so she could dab the antiseptic onto my
leg wounds. And the meals at Crangs Heasley were so welcome after a long day of
surveying. On rainy days, when we stayed close to the farm kitchen, Granny Yendell
and I would spend hours playing Scrabble, and laughing out loud when we would
each use some well-known, four-letter words in an attempt to glean every possible
point. To this day I still have a copy of the Devon W.I. Cookery Book 3rd Edition given
to me by Granny, dedicated to me in her beautiful hand, "Best Wishes from Granny
Yendell, Happy Memories of the Scrabble "words".
One of my favourite pictures of those days is Granny smiling at me in her garden,
straw hat, gloves and garden skirts ready for work (top).
How bittersweet for me to discover Exmoor Magazine's Facebook page and to remember
those fabulous days. I so wish I had had the opportunity to tell Mary before she passed
how much I enjoyed my brief time with her on that farm so long ago.
Jim Haynes
Toronto, Canada (3jays@sympatico.ca)
Thank you so much to Jim for emailing from Canada and taking the time to get his
old Kodachrome slides processed so that we could include two of them here. Of the
image below Jim writes, "Here we were doing Induced Polarization Surveys. I took the
photo so I am not in it and I don't remember the names of the crew members or
exactly where this was, but none of it was very far from Crangs Heasley." Maybe
a reader can identify the local gentleman who is standing? The gentleman with the
notepad was the IP operator (who Jim thinks worked for BKM).
AONB
Nature and Wellbeing
Somerset's Nature and Wellbeing
Project is an initiative focused on three
AONB – the Quantock Hills, the
Mendip Hills and the Blackdowns – which
suppports people who may experience
barriers to access these rich, diverse
landscapes in different ways. The project
provides supported visits, volunteering
opportunities, monitoring and evaluation
and it is funded by Somerset Public Health.
Nature and Wellbeing Officer, Kristen
Lambert, says: "We continue to work with
health and wellbeing partners across the
three areas to ensure more people can
access the various benefits of natural
landscapes."
One of the regular Quantock Hills groups,
'Working Well Volunteers', meet on
a monthly basis. They are a friendly,
supportive practical-task-based group.
There is never any pressure to finish tasks
and the aim is for people to enjoy being
involved in a positive activity, in a
beautiful, varied, natural environment.
Hot drinks and biscuits will be provided,
but volunteers are asked to bring a packed
lunch. Ranger Andy Stevens leads the
groups, with support from volunteer
rangers.
The tasks at the 20 February, 20 March
and 17 April sessions will involve physical
activity and are all outside; instructions,
tools and working gloves will be provided
but sturdy, flat shoes and warm clothes
are required (please contact the organisers
if you need support sourcing these).
For more information, please contact
Dave Topham, Mind in Somerset,
E: david.topham@mindinsomerset.org.
uk or T: 01823 334906.
Photo by Rich Wiltshire courtesy of Quantock Hills AONB
Alternatively, contact Kristen Lambert,
Nature and Wellbeing Officer based
within the Quantock Hills AONB team,
by email: klambert@somerset.gov.uk.
You can also read more online at
www.quantockhills.com/projects.
Exmoor Spring 2019 9
The Punchbowl by Craig Joiner
ENPA
A Landmark Year for National Parks
by Ailsa Stevens, ENPA Communications Officer
In 1949, in the wake of the end of the
Second World War, the reforming
Government that created our National
Health Service and Welfare State also
created National Parks and Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
in England and Wales. It was a truly
landmark moment in British history,
born out of a decades-long campaign
to make enjoyment of the nation's most
celebrated beauty spots the right of
every citizen.
Faced with widespread industrialisation,
the expansion of towns and cities, and
the fencing off of vast swathes of open
countryside for farming and sport,
people had become deeply concerned
that the landscapes they knew and loved
were being taken off the map.
Thus a fight for the countryside had
begun, culminating in the 1932 mass
trespass of Kinder Scout, during which
hundreds of protesters proceeded to the
Peak District's highest point. They faced
harsh resistance from gamekeepers,
resulting in violent scuffles and five men
receiving prison sentences. Although, for
many, it must have felt like something of
a victory, it took 17 more years and the
horror of another World War – along
with the mass disruption to acres of
countryside that comes with intense
conflict – for those efforts to translate
into meaningful change.
The breakthrough came in 1947, when
a Government committee headed by Sir
Arthur Hobhouse proposed a framework
for National Parks. Two years later, in
1949, this vision was enshrined in law
as the 'National Parks and Access to the
Countryside Act' and from that Act ten
National Parks were created throughout
England and Wales. They were referred
to by Hobhouse as a "recreational gift
to Britain's returning Second World War
service men and women".
The Peak District was the first to be
designated in 1951 and Exmoor became
a National Park three years later, making
it 65 years old this year. The Hobhouse
Report remarked on Exmoor's "spectacular
coastline, fine heather, bracken and grass
moorland, beautiful wooded valleys,
antiquities in great profusion… including
stone circles, barrows, hut circles as well
as earthworks… notable wildlife… and its
first rate country for motoring, and for
walking and riding." And, for the most
part, those same qualities are what make
Exmoor special to this day.
That same founding legislation also gave
rise to Areas of Outstanding Natural
Beauty (AONB), including the Quantocks,
designated in 1956, and the North Devon
Coast, in 1959.
Now, 70 years on from the creation of
the National Parks and AONB and in
the midst of one of the biggest political
upheavals the country has ever seen,
the Government has commissioned
a new independent review of this
founding legislation to see if it is fit for
the twenty-first century. A panel, headed
up by writer Julian Glover, has been
touring the nation's protected landscapes
to absorb and analyse all that these
special places mean to the nation.
Our National Parks will also be part of
the Government's Year of Green Action
in 2019, aimed at connecting more
people with nature, in celebration of all
that has been achieved to protect these
iconic landscapes in the 70 years since
their founding. This special programme
of events will be launched during
Discover National Parks Fortnight,
which takes place from 6-21 April.
HERITAGE
Historic Gardens Saved
The restoration of one of England's most
important historic gardens, the unique
Hestercombe Gardens near Taunton,
is one step closer thanks to a
£1.5 million grant from the National
Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF).
The grant has enabled the Hestercombe
Gardens Trust to acquire land totalling
320 acres, reuniting the world-class,
Grade I registered landscape, gardens
and buildings for future generations and
returning Hestercombe to its full size.
What makes Hestercombe so important
is that it combines four complete period
gardens spanning four centuries of
garden design. The newly acquired
land includes the site of a rare, earlyseventeenth-century
Water Garden,
which there are plans to restore,
together with other historic features
within the park. Planted to its original
design, Hestercombe's Formal Garden
is considered the finest example of the
famous collaboration between garden
designer Gertrude Jekyll and architect
Edwin Lutyens.
The move also allows for the possibility
of extending the current contemporary
art gallery in the house to include
outside display spaces. This will affirm
the Trust's ambition to become a
National Centre for Arts & Landscape.
Hestercombe Gardens Trust chairman,
Sir Andrew Burns KCMG, said, "This is
a tremendous vote of confidence in
Hestercombe, recognising Somerset's
leading heritage garden as a site of
outstanding national importance. We
are enormously grateful to the National
Heritage Memorial Fund and our other
funders for their most generous and
timely assistance in securing the future
of Hestercombe for public enjoyment."
Sir Peter Luff, Chair of NHMF, said: "On a
par with Stourhead, Castle Howard and
Blenheim, Hestercombe is an exquisite
landscape with such an important story
to tell in the history of English garden
design. This was a once-in-a-generation
opportunity to restore it in full and one
that the NHMF felt had to be seized."
FIND OUT MORE
www.hestercombe.com
10 Exmoor Spring 2019
In the heart of the beautiful Exmoor town of Dulverton lies
the Tantivy, a traditional, family-run Shop, Café and Deli,
steeped in the heritage of this gateway to Exmoor National Park.
The large shop offers a range of gifts, deli
items and now a range of luxury frozen
meals prepared within Dulverton by the
renowned Croft & Cottage. We also now
stock an extensive range of delicious infused
olive oils and balsamic vinegars which we fill
in store and can be refilled when used.
The Café offers year-round speciality teas
and Barista Coffees and a menu offering
quality, locally sourced ingredients.
Along with the delightful outdoor courtyard
area, there are ample, relaxed indoor seating
areas for everyone to enjoy our delicious
menu.
In the shop as well as the newsagency,
extensive confectionary ranges and Styles
ice-cream by the scoop, there is a wonderful
array of products and gifts, many local
including:
Wines, Ciders, Exmoor Ales, Exmoor Gins,
Preserves, Honey, Fudge, Biscuits,
Traditional sweet jars, soft drinks, Local
books, OS Maps, walking guides, and an
array of luxury gifts, including Wrendale.
The Tantivy team look forward to
welcoming you to our Shop, Café and deli.
Open 7 days per week
Free Wi-Fi. Fully Licensed
Fore Street, Dulverton,
Exmoor, TA22 9EX
T: 01398 323465
Please check out our brand new website
www.tantivyexmoor.co.uk
Follow us: www.facebook/thetantivy
Exmoor Spring 2019 11
News
COAST
A Gig for Goose
HERITAGE
Lights
for Longbridge
Photo by Andrew Hobbs
There's a swell of activity and excitement building down at Porlock Weir with talk of
gigs, giglets and the 'Goose'! Since its launch in September last year, Porlock Weir Pilot
Gig Club (PWPGC) has gone from strength to strength and its members are very proud
and excited to be the first gig rowing club based within Exmoor National Park.
The sport of pilot gig rowing stretches back hundreds of years, with gig boats being
used to take the pilot out to sailing ships. Some say the construction of the gigs is a
mix of carpentry, boat building and wizardry! The sport has certainly cast a spell over
Porlock Weir!
PWPGC really has captured the hearts and imaginations of the local community,
and has received incredible support and encouragement with very generous private
financial contributions and grant funding from Exmoor National Park Authority's
Partnership Fund and SASP (Somerset Active Sports Partnership). The club's continued
fundraising efforts and events such as regattas will be used to support charities close to
members' hearts, such as Cancer Research UK and the RNLI, as well as club members
participating in charitable events such as Surfers Against Sewage beach cleans.
With only temporary gig and equipment solutions, the focus has been fundraising to
allow for the purchase of their own 'pre-loved' gig and hopefully to commission a new
gig which the club intends to name Goose in memory of Robert 'Scuddy' Southey.
Scuddy, who grew up around Porlock, was a great athlete and an extremely popular
guy due to his fun-loving, infectious personality. At only 24 years old, he tragically lost
his battle with leukaemia. The club would love to honour his memory by naming
a boat after him and fundraising to support cancer charities.
The club is delighted to have been successful in their bid to purchase the gig Circe
(pronounced 'sir-sea') that was very kindly donated as a deed of gift to the sport's
governing body, the Cornish Pilot Gig Association (CPGA), by the reuniting of
Nankersey Rowing Club and Flushing & Mylor Pilot Gig Club.
PWPGC has raised most of the funds required for the purchase of Circe, but there is
still a way to go before the Goose can take flight, and the club is appealing for donations
and business sponsorships to help make this dream a reality. For sponsorship
packages and support routes, please visit www.facebook.com/porlockweirpilotgigs,
contact club chairman Ben Allerton on 07479 717197 or email porlockweir.pgc@
gmail.com. You could help the club set Goose's bow towards reaching the 2020
World Championships!
Barnstaple's historic Longbridge is now
all lit up with new lights which were
fitted in January.
North Devon Council secured funding
to make improvements to the pedestrian
links from Barnstaple train station to the
town, and has used some of the funds to
install new lights to illuminate the town's
historic bridge.
Barnstaple Longbridge is a thirteenthcentury
stone structure which has been
widened on three occasions to allow
for the changing transport needs of the
town. The lighting project, which has
the support of Historic England,
Barnstaple Town Council and the
Barnstaple Coastal Community Team,
was granted listed building consent
late last year. The work was carried out
by local contractors M&E Alarms, who
installed lights on each of the columns.
Local ward members for Barnstaple
Longbridge, Councillors Des Brailey and
Dick Jones, are pleased to see the new
lights installed. Councillor Jones says:
"It's one of the town’s most iconic
landmarks and we should do more to
show off the town's best features for
residents and visitors alike. The new
lights also complement the new
museum extension and draw more
focus to the Longbridge as the gateway
to the town."
COAST
New Watersports
Centre for Ilfracombe
Contractors with an interest in tendering for the new Watersports Centre in Ilfracombe were
invited to find out more at an information event in January, with a decision on the successful
tender now imminent (keep an eye on our website for news soon!)
Ilfracombe Watersports Centre will be a state-of-the-art marine leisure hub at Larkstone Cove,
boasting community facilities for local watersports clubs with storage for boats and a slipway
providing safe and easy access to the water, along with a commercial café, with stunning views
of the harbour. The project is being funded by the Big Lottery Coastal Communities Fund.
12 Exmoor Spring 2019
In the heart of Exmoor Country
Burrowhayes Farm Riding Stables
01643 862463
Gift
Vouchers
Available
Escorted rides on Dunkery, Ley Hill & Selworthy
Children’s ponies for parents to walk & lead
Licensed by W.S.D.C • Open from Easter to end of October
Also popular family camping site • Just 1 mile east of Porlock off A39
West Luccombe, Porlock, Minehead, Somerset TA24 8HT
www.burrowhayes.co.uk
OPEN DAY
start your
Adventure
here!
l Rock Climbing
l Mountain Biking
l Canoeing
l Archery
l Stand-Up Paddle Boarding
l Kayaking
l Coasteering
l Tree Climbing
07976 208279
info@exmooradventures.co.uk
www.exmooradventures.co.uk
LOVE
DARTMOOR?
Love Dartmoor
Magazine!
Subscriptions
(four issues a year)
from £10 digital
£18 print
enquiries@
dartmoormagazine.co.uk
Tel: (01647) 441174
www.dartmoormagazine.co.uk
Dartmoor Magazine is
Blackingstone Pub-
produced by
JOIN IN the Ultimate
lishing
Game & Countryside
Experience
Bringing all the fun and
excitement of field sports to
the Bath & West Showground.
Amazing have-a-go activities
and countryside displays
including a competition
clay shoot, BASC shotgun
coaching and gundog scurries.
SATURDAY 16TH & SUNDAY 17TH MARCH | 9AM – 5PM
ROYAL BATH & WEST SHOWGROUND, SOMERSET
01392 421500 - westofenglandgamefair.co.uk
BE PART OF THE TEAM
Saturday 27th April
10 am arrival
Please contact us to reserve your place
Co-educational day & borading: ages 13-18
telephone: 01823 328204
admissions@kings-taunton.co.uk
www.kings-taunton.co.uk
A Woodard School
Exmoor Spring 2019 13
Photo courtesy of John Bradley
FOOD & DRINK
CareMoor for Exmoor Dining Club Spring Dates
Top chefs are continuing to support the National Park by holding special dining events
showcasing their use of local produce and raising funds to help keep Exmoor special.
The CareMoor events are open to all and visitors who want to sample great locally
produced Exmoor food are in for a treat.
A series of meals under the CareMoor for Exmoor Dining Club banner will take place
at various locations around Greater Exmoor throughout 2019. Each event will have
its own unique menu created specifically to celebrate locally sourced produce. Whilst
highlighting their passion for local food, the chefs are also supporting the National
Park; the ticket price for each event includes a £5 contribution to the donation scheme
CareMoor for Exmoor – helping to keep Exmoor special.
ENPA
Commando Support
for Two Moors Way
Exmoor National Park Rangers recently
teamed up with the Commando
Helicopter Force to move 60 tonnes of
local stone needed for repair work along
the Two Moors Way, near Simonsbath,
in Exmoor National Park.
Two huge Merlin MK3 helicopters from
their 846 Naval Air Squadron collected
the crushed stone in underslung bags
from a nearby farm and delivered them
to an eroded section of path near Wheal
Eliza, which forms part of the Two Moors
Way passing through the starkly beautiful
Barle Valley.
Photos courtesy of Locanda on the Weir
SPRING DATES INCLUDE:
Friday 1 March
Beach Hotel, Minehead
Exmoor Taster Menu (with optional
gin tasting)
Presented by Head Chef Paul Ruttledge
and his team. Price: £28pp.
Add an optional gin tasting £15pp.
Call 01643 704765 to book.
www.thebeachhotel.org
Accommodation is also available.
Thursday 4 April
Dunkery Beacon Country House,
Wootton Courtenay
Flavours of Spring Tasting Menu
Join Head Chef and proprietor John
Bradley for a 'Flavours of Spring'
five-course Tasting Dinner in the
award-winning Coleridge Restaurant.
Price: £45pp.
Call 01643 841241 to book.
dunkerybeaconaccommodation.co.uk
Accommodation is also available.
Friday 3 May
Locanda on the Weir, Porlock Weir
Wonders of Exmoor: SPRING
Celebrate the May Bank Holiday with an
Italian twist. Foraged flavours from the
sea, forest, hills and the moors; savour
the new season's bounty. Price: £45pp.
Call 01643 863300 or email
czs@locandaontheweir.com to book.
www.locandaontheweir.co.uk
Accommodation is also available.
Thursday 30 May, Friday 31 May
and Saturday 1 June
Duende Restaurant, Wiveliscombe
Exmoor Taster Menu: Celebrate all things
local at this award-winning restaurant.
Head Chef and Proprietor Tim Zekki has
been working closely with Simon and
Alison of Wellhayes Vineyard near
Tiverton to produce a seven-course taster
menu with wine recommendations
in celebration of English Wine Week.
Price: £45pp. Call 01984 624650 to book.
www.duenderestaurant.co.uk
Dan Barnett, Exmoor National Park's
Access and Recreation Manager, said,
"The Two Moors Way is an iconic,
long-distance walking route and it's our
mission to make sure people of varying
ages and abilities can get out and enjoy it.
The path between Simonsbath and Wheal
Eliza is level, dry and easy to use, meaning
it's a great spot for those with young
families, or even Tramper mobility
scooters, to get off the beaten track and
explore this breath-taking landscape.
"It’s great that 846 Naval Air Squadron has
been able to help us get the job done as
part of their training exercise, as to get
the stone shifted over land would have
been considerably more challenging
and costly."
See www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/caremoor for current availability,
information and full details.
14 Exmoor Spring 2019
St. Margaret’s Hospice
volunteers needed in
West Somerset and
Exmoor
Volunteers are an essential part of the
fundraising team and we are always looking to
add new members to support us in their local
community.
You might want to use your professional skills,
develop new skills or simply get out and about
in the community for a good cause.
It’s important to us that our volunteers
feel their donated time and skills are used
properly, so you’ll know that if you volunteer
with us your donation of your time and
skills will be valued and we have flexible
volunteering roles to suit everybody.
Or perhaps you could join a Fundraising Group
to support the work of the St. Margaret’s
fundraising team in your village or town.
For more information please contact
Susan Bickle, Volunteer Coordinator,
on 01935 709182 or visit the website
and search ‘volunteering’.
www.st-margarets-hospice.org.uk
Registered charity number: 279473
Exmoor Spring 2019 15
QUANTOCKS
The Future
Halsway
Project
Over the last year exciting developments
have been taking place at Halsway
Manor, the National Centre for Folk Arts.
A new project, 'Future Halsway', funded
by the Heritage Lottery Fund, has seen
Halsway throw its doors open to the
public for various events, all designed
to engage people living locally and to
explore the wider heritage of the manor.
Normally a centre for residential courses,
this project has been an opportunity to
let people explore this beautiful Grade II*
listed building. In September 2018, 200
people visited an open day for a chance
to investigate normally closed rooms,
explore the grounds and read about the
manor's history in newly designed
interpretation material.
There have also been exciting events out
in the community. In August last year
local families joined Halsway and
Quantocks AONB staff for a creative
folklore walk with storyteller Clare Viner.
Walking across the hills and through the
woods, pauses were made for local folk
tales, including the legendary Gurt Worm
of Shervage Wood.
Hundreds of local schoolchildren have
also been involved in the project.
Students at West Somerset College
worked with folk musicians Sam Kelly
and Archie Churchill Moss to learn and
arrange local Somerset tunes. Students at
Danesfield middle school worked on a
dance project with Laurel Swift, leading
to a school dance, and Crowcombe, St
Peter's Williton and Old Cleeve schools
worked on a creative writing project,
Crowcombe schoolchildren out in the woods.
starting with a visit to Halsway and
including a creative day out on the
Quantock Hills (below). They created
amazing stories that featured manors
which came alive and flew over the
hills, dragons, beautiful magical woods
and all manner of secret passageways
and portals!
There have also been creative projects,
from contemporary art commissions to a
poetry residency, with the brilliant poets
Amy Key and Rebecca Perry, who are
creating a new body of work inspired by
Halsway. There was also 'Ladies of the
Manor', an exhibition week about painter
Frances Gair Wilkinson and folklorist
Ruth Tongue.
The library has also been involved, with
a miniature travelling Halsway library
going on a tour of local West Somerset
libraries, to take the collection out to the
wider community.
Alice Maddicott, Creative Lead for the
project, said, "It has been a real privilege
to meet and work with so many people;
to welcome them here and to share the
wealth of Halsway's heritage with its
community.
"The project will continue until the end
of March, but its legacy will continue
beyond this. The final event will be a
community ceilidh on 23 March at the
Pavilion in Williton, to which all are
welcome – a real celebration for what
has been a brilliant and engaging year."
FIND OUT MORE: halswaymanor.org.uk
COMMUNITY
Improved Medical
Centre for South Molton
Work on the new GP surgery premises
in the middle of South Molton reached
an exciting stage at the end of 2018,
as a topping-out ceremony was held
after the roof of the lift was completed.
Dr Chris Gibb commented, "It is fantastic
to see real progress on the new premises
now. Remaining in occupation of the
building during the build has been tricky
but we hope that staff and patients will
excuse the disruption when they see our
exciting new extension open in 2019."
The extension will contain 12 additional
consulting and treatment rooms, as well
as supporting waiting areas. Once the
work is complete, the Medical Centre
will be moving into the new rooms and
the contractor will be refurbishing the
buildings on the street frontage.
It has been quite a challenge for the
contractor, Morgan Sindall Ltd, working
on such a restricted site and carrying out
the building in phases. "By developing
the existing site, the project has kept the
Medical Centre in the heart of the town
which was the favoured location for
patients," commented Ross Hunt of
David Wilson Partnership Architects.
The double-storey waiting-room will
be flooded with light from rooflights
and generous glazing and the highly
insulated building will be topped by
solar PV panels on a green roof.
Work continues during 2019, with
patients and staff moving between the
phases as they are completed.
"Almost doubling our floor space will
enable us to develop and expand the
services we offer patients in the future,
including our training practice role for
future GPs," said Dr Simon Chappell. "We
have already seen the benefits of coming
together as a single practice for the town,
and these new facilities will give us more
space and a working environment that
we can be proud of."
16 Exmoor Spring 2019
EXPERIENCE THE
BEST OF EXMOOR
AN AUTHENTIC 14TH CENTURY COUNTRY INN
T: 01984 641498
E: INFO@THEROYALOAKINNLUXBOROUGH.CO.UK
NEAR DUNSTER, LUXBOROUGH, TA23 0SH
WWW.THEROYALOAKINNLUXBOROUGH.CO.UK
Exmoor Spring 2019 17
FARMING
Exmoor's Ambition
WORDS by
Michelle Werrett
Michelle Werrett is a farm consultant
specialising in the integration of wildlife
conservation with commercial livestock
production. She advises on the design
and management of ponds, hedges and
woodland and on pasture management
for farm livestock or horses. She helps
with grant applications and all farm
paperwork.
Exmoor is a landscape to fall in love
with. Sweeping hills of heather
moorland, deep wooded valleys and
a network of fields and hedges combine
to create a land as beautiful as it is rich in
wildlife. It is a land that time has treated
kindly and in places where stones stand
proud among the moor grass, ancient
hedgebanks draw the pattern of early
field systems, or barrows swell on the
skyline, we can hear the voices of our
ancestors whispering in the wind.
The high land is the source of rivers
which are home to otters, dippers
and trout and the clear, bubbling
streams fill reservoirs supplying drinking
water to over half a million people.
These headwaters are destinations for
migrating salmon who run up from the
sea to spawn in the clean, pebbly beds.
The special qualities of Exmoor's landscape
and wildlife are the foundations for a
busy, multi-million pound tourist industry.
Freely available to everyone at any time,
Exmoor is a source of joy and inspiration,
whether you come to watch wildlife,
enjoy recreational activities or simply
to gaze upon all this beauty and just
breathe.
In our appreciation of all this, we must
never forget that most of the land
comprising Exmoor is farmland.
The benefits we all enjoy are really
by-products of livestock farming.
We are dependent upon farmers for the
maintenance and management of this
landscape which, for the most part, has
been created by and for agriculture. The
future of this land is inextricably bound to
the future of the livestock industry.
Farming in the uplands is hard. The soil
is poor, the climate harsh and much of
the land is too steep for cultivation. It has
been calculated that average hill farm
incomes are less than the average UK
wage. Farming that produces such low
returns is heavily dependent upon public
funding. This is a cost to the taxpayer
but, importantly, it gives a degree of
Government control over the direction of
land use and farming practice. In a place
where the landscape, wildlife and historic
importance of land can be more valuable
than farm produce, yet earns nothing,
this seems appropriate.
The decision by the UK to leave the
European Union has left farmers and their
families facing an uncertain future.
18 Exmoor Spring 2019
The State of Farming in Exmoor 2015
report shows that public funding for
Exmoor farms is 89% of farm business
income. This support currently comes
from the European Union but is due to
end in the next couple of years when
control of public funding for farmland will
revert to our own Government. Brexit is
an unknown destination for us all and for
agriculture, which has enjoyed substantial
support from Europe, the obscure future
means any long-term plans (and land
management is always long term) cannot
be made with any confidence.
In the face of such uncertainty, rather
than waiting to be informed of their fate,
as soon as the split from Europe was
announced, a group of Exmoor farmers
took the initiative to get themselves
together to consider what opportunities
this might present and how they might be
able to influence the outcome. Exmoor is
fortunate in having some very innovative
thinkers and dynamic people who
drive forward ideas and make things
happen.
In a joint initiative between the Exmoor
National Park Authority and the Exmoor
Hill Farming Network (EHFN), a project
was developed to explore a potential
solution. Beginning with a series of
farmhouse kitchen table discussions and
moving on to open meetings in village
halls, they established a broad consensus
from which they created a vision for
what they hoped future support for hill
farming might look like.
Katherine Williams, the Exmoor Hill
Farming Network Officer, was
instrumental in organising meetings and
bringing people together. "We had a
huge response!" She said. "Everyone was
Exmoor Hill Farming Network Officer,
Katherine Williams, and Chairman Dave
Knight (courtesy Western Morning News).
keen to get involved because the future
of farming on Exmoor is important to us
all. Older farmers with their experience
of past schemes wanted to steer future
ones to make things better for the next
generation. There was also a strong
representation from young farmers who
are concerned about their prospects.
Everyone recognised that this was their
one opportunity to influence the future
of hill-farming support."
After six months of discussions Rural
Focus consultant, Robert Deane, collated
the results into a professional report
with costed proposals. He said, "These
proposals aim to be transformative and
progressive, leaving Exmoor's landscapes
in better heart for the next generation.
They are designed to be simpler and less
bureaucratic to deliver, whilst doing more
to enhance Exmoor."
The next step was to get this proposal
seen by people who could have a real
influence on its implementation. Robin
Milton has farmed on Exmoor all his life
and is Chairman of the Exmoor National
Park Authority, as well as sitting on the
NFU Uplands Forum. He also happened
to go to college with Rebecca Pow, now
MP for Taunton Deane. So when he met
Ms Pow on a train recently, he took the
opportunity to show her the draft report.
Her interest was rapt.
"Can I keep this?" she asked. Robin
pointed out that it was only a draft but
her enthusiasm was undimmed. So he
let her have it, feeling fairly confident it
would be passed on to others in DEFRA.
The Exmoor Hill Farming Network
attended a Prince's Countryside Fund
meeting to promote their work, where
they met the Environment Secretary,
Michael Gove. They took the opportunity
to give him a copy of the report, with
the satisfaction of knowing he had a long
train journey home and would want
something to read.
Mr Gove's position as Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
put him in the driver's seat for future
agriculture policy and he was clearly
interested in the Exmoor's Ambition
proposals. In June 2018 he visited
Exmoor to find out more.
Dave Knight, chairman of the EHFN,
chaired a meeting in the shed at Cloggs
Farm where Mr Gove was introduced
to a dozen young Exmoor farmers, who
each had two minutes to make a point
to him. There was no one else present,
no advisors or Government officials, just
the young farmers. The mood was very
positive. No one moaned about the
shortcomings of past or present systems
but described how they would like the
future for upland farming to unfold.
I talked to some of those who were
present.
Exmoor Spring 2019 19
Farming
Dave Knight's family have farmed at
Wydon for 120 years. Half the farm is
moorland on North Hill, a popular area
for walkers and tourists, which is a
designated SSSI (Site of Special Scientific
Interest) and is bisected by the
South West Coast Path. "Moorland
management is very costly, swaling needs
a lot of manpower and anything that
involves using a machine is expensive,"
Dave said. "We want to look after it but
we cannot afford to do it without support."
Sarah Eveleigh, West Ilkerton Farm.
Sarah Eveleigh of West Ilkerton Farm said,
"We want a system we can believe in, that
will encourage us to do something we
will be proud of." Sarah told me that she
came home from college with lots of new
ideas for the family farm. Her father and
mother were very supportive in letting
her try them out but, at the end of the
day, she realised that the traditional ways
worked best. "Grandfathers know what
they’re talking about!" she said. Their hill
farm really lends itself to a low-input,
low-output system with hardy native
breeds. That kind of system works best
for the land and best for the wildlife it
supports but it doesn't produce a large
income. It is, though, just the sort of
farming that creates the characteristic
Exmoor landscape that many of us would
like to see maintained. That makes it
worthy of support.
The basis of the Exmoor's Ambition
proposals is a simple funding scheme
of two components designed to
replace all the current farming and
land-management schemes. The first,
'Good Farming Measures', would be
offered to everyone actively managing
farmland and woodland to incentivise
systems that provide key public goods
and services. It would reverse the current
Basic Payment Scheme tenet of penalising
farmers for creating non-agricultural
habitats and features. Payment would
be offered at a higher rate for land of
higher environmental value.
The second component, 'Enhanced
Benefits Measures', would focus on
driving positive change through resultsbased
agreements. Funding would be
targeted to specific objectives such as
measures to improve wildlife habitats,
protect archaeological sites, invest in a
place-based quality assurance scheme
and support training and innovation.
The scheme should be designed around
the needs and opportunities of the area
and delivered by locally based farm
liaison officers to build trust through
personal contact and develop a sense
of ownership. Schemes work best when
farmers are enthusiastic advocates,
taking pride in what they are achieving.
It is envisaged that the scheme could
be rolled out to other areas of the
country, with local devolution for setting
objectives and delivering activities.
Bill and Matthew Geen, Combeshead
and Barton Pitts Farms.
Bill Geen, who farms with his son,
Matthew, at North Molton, has been an
enthusiastic contributor to this project
from the outset. He is full of praise for
those who have worked so hard to make
it happen. "We are lucky to have some
forward-thinking people on Exmoor,"
he said. "It's great to take the initiative.
There are so many defeatists throwing
their hands up."
Bill's concern is for a future that makes
farming viable for the next generation:
"We need to learn to produce more with
less impact on the environment. I think
there should be investment in research
to develop better techniques and make
farming more efficient. We need to
improve our care for the environment
and our care for people. This could
help us achieve that. Let's get on!
Move forward."
This scheme is innovative in taking a
whole-landscape approach, embracing
farmland, moorland and woodland.
It would recognise the full range of
environmental, social and economic
values of the countryside and support
systems of management that enable
better business planning. Driven by
results, not prescriptions, it would
encourage new thinking by involving
participants, especially the next
generation, in scheme design and
monitoring.
Blackmoor Gate Young Farmers' Club,
with virtually all its members under 18,
are keen to see opportunities for young
people such as themselves to work in
agriculture on Exmoor and they recognise
the importance of upland farming
support in securing that. Hannah Walters,
the secretary, said, "We really hope that
the Exmoor's Ambition proposals will
help achieve a strong future for young
farmers."
Exmoor's Ambition is well named – it is
ambitious – but its overriding quality
is one of optimism, which stems from the
fact that this is a young people's project,
driven by the farmers of tomorrow,
with a focus firmly on the future.
FIND OUT MORE
To read the proposal document, go to
www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk and
search 'Exmoor's Ambition'.
Photo by Dave Roberts.
Pages 18-19 landscape by Adam Burton.
20 Exmoor Spring 2019
HANDMADE
EXMOOR
by Annabelle
Rare Breed
Middle White Pork
Farmed on Exmoor a quality farm to fork product
Suppliers of Specialist Rare
Breed Pork to hotel,
catering & retail customers.
Also available whole pigs
supplied for hog roasts &
bbqs and half pigs supplied
at very competitive prices
cut to your own
requirements.
www.littleoakfarm.co.uk • Tel 01643 841160
Annabelle is a unique, dedicated
self-taught maker, inspired by a love
of Exmoor. She keeps a Jacob and
Closewool sheep and produces
woven, knitted and felted creations
of all kinds. She also sells an array of
lovely wools and wool tops.
Porlock High Street TA24 8PS
Facebook: search ‘Handmade Exmoor’
Telephone: 07929 600412
Commissions undertaken
Photos from Exmoor Magazine, Winter 2017, by Andrew Hobbs
Home
Reared
Free
Range
Pork,
Lamb &
Beef
Small Beef Box 7-8kgs
Half Pig incl Sausages 22kgs
Half Lamb Box 9-10kgs
Or try a mixed box
packaged ready for your
freezer.
Local delivery/collection.
t. 01643 851298
e. sales@kendlefarm.co.uk
Kendle Farm, Exton,
Dulverton TA22 9LA
A
family
run shop
with a
big
Exmoor
welcome!
Local produce, fine foods,
organic fruit & veg, organic
bread, cakes and pies.
Exmoor breakfast and breakfast
baguette, freshly prepared food
to take away.
Fresh meat, bacon, sausages &
ham supplied by Kendle Farm.
Open from 8.30am serving
breakfasts and coffee.
t. 01398 323878
5a Bridge Street,
Dulverton TA22 9HJ
FIND US OPPOSITE THE BRIDGE INN
Stained Glass by
Clare Maryan Green
Handmade Exmoor.indd 1 27/06/2018 15:00
claresbeautifulwindows.co.uk
07854 434 853
www.kiequinehealingsanctuaryandequestriancentre.co.uk
KiEquine
Healing
Sanctuary
&
Equestrian
Centre
Liz Loader
Blindwell Farm,
Rackenford,
Nr Tiverton,
EX16 8ER
•Accredited Professional Coach
•Experienced, Empathic, Intuitive Instructor
•Can Teach Private, Groups or Clubs
•Reiki Healing - Human & Horses
•Horse Communication
•Specialist Livery - Tuition, Knowledge,
Therapy, Problems
•Own facilities or can travel
Tel. 07817 746 112
“THE WATERING HOLE” FULLY LICENCED MOBILE
HORSE BOX BAR FOR HIRE. AVAILABLE FOR WEDDINGS,
PARTIES, FETES, FESTIVALS, AUCTIONS, PICNICS, ETC.
COVERING ALL OF NORTH DEVON.
CONTACT: SARAH PEARCE 07901 714614
www.thewateringhole.bar • Facebook The watering hole bar
Exmoor Spring 2019 21
] VW, AUDI, SKODA AND SEAT SPECIALISTS
] DEDICATED TO EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE
] SERVICING, MOTS AND REPAIRS ] DIAGNOSTICS
] TYRES AND EXHAUSTS ] AIR CONDITIONING
J M Autos, Unit 2,
Fideoak Mill, Bishops Hull,
Taunton TA4 1AF
www.jmautos.biz • 01823 337856
LBH
Electricals
Landlords’ Electrical Inspection
Reports undertaken
30 Staunton Road, Alcombe,
Minehead TA24 6DX
tel: 01643 709205
07875 720842
leehardick@yahoo.co.uk
G.J.STRONG LTD
ALL WORK FULLY GUARANTEED
Extensions • Renovations • Barn Conversions
Plumbing/Heating and Electrical Installations
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CONSTRUCTION
THE COMPLETE BUILDING SERVICE
Unit 1, Fourwinds, Shillingford,
Bampton, Devon
Telephone: 01398 331104
Fax: 01398 332177
Email: info@gjstrong.co.uk
22 Exmoor Spring 2019
PROFILE
Full Steam Ahead:
Mike White
WORDS by Tony James
PHOTOS by Andrew Hobbs
Exmoor Spring 2019 23
Profile
one crushed stone in the
Mozambique diamond mines,"
"That
Mike White says, nodding at a
mound of rusting metal in a nearby hedge.
"We really must get around to repairing
it before it gets any worse."
As a near-gale blows the rain in sheets
from the hills, gaunt skeletons of a golden
industrial age lie in the nettles or wait in the
deep shade of trees ready to have their glory
restored in what can only be described as a
convalescent home for venerable road-rollers
and traction-engines which have finally run
out of steam.
For the past 12 years, Mike White has been searching for survivors of the halcyon
days of steam traction and gathering them in the sheds and yards of the specialist
lead business he runs on the edge of the Exmoor village of Huish Champflower.
It's a stirring, yet somewhat surreal sight.
There can be as many as a dozen engines in various states of restoration, from
dismembered hulks to stately monsters nearing completion in the workshops,
gleaming with polished brass and slick new paint.
It's not surprising to learn that Mike, a relaxed and friendly chap, is hooked on
steam engines. He mortgaged his house to buy the finest in his fleet, an iconic
agricultural traction engine, at auction for £120,000 and spent another £50,000
on its restoration.
He has lugged them through heaps of permits and paperwork, brought them
in containers from Australia and Africa and on low-loaders from all corners of
Europe. Those that are pitiful shadows of their former selves rough it outside
while Mike searches for secondhand bits, or has them made by specialists at
eye-watering prices.
24 Exmoor Spring 2019
Profile
Just why he does it seems something of a mystery, even to Mike. "You only live
once," is the nearest he gets to an explanation. "I went to steam fairs as a lad with
my stepfather and things just snowballed from there.
"When I first told my wife Rexy that I wanted to buy a steam engine, she said that
would be ok if I built her a riding arena so that she could run pony classes for the
disabled. So I did just that – and got my engine."
Until the 1950s, Exmoor was traction engine country and many farmers
nostalgically remember the autumn visits of a contractor's engine and portable
threshing machine, which beat the grain from straw that had been drying in ricks,
and fed it into bags.
Before tractors began to appear in numbers on Exmoor by the 1920s, steam was
used for haulage, heavy lifting and even ploughing. Powerful three-geared road
engines could shift loads of 120 tons and steam-rollers were seen on our roads
until the early 1960s.
Indeed, the first of a seemingly unending procession of archaic machinery to
arrive at Huish Champflower was a smallish Aveling and Porter steam-roller,
built in Kent in 1906. Mike found it in Switzerland, as you do, and today it stands
in the corner of his biggest shed, dwarfed by some of his later acquisitions,
but it still has a special place in his heart.
"It finished work in 1963 and an enthusiast rescued it from a scrapyard 30 years
later. We still take it to steam fairs. It's a lovely little engine. I can't see myself
parting with it, even though it's probably worth £50,000."
A recent arrival from Australia in dire need of some drastic TLC is a partially
dismantled traction engine built in Lincoln by Clayton & Shuttleworth in 1913
and one of four sent to Phillip Island off Melbourne, Australia, to grub up trees
during land clearance. "There was an awful lot of paperwork with that one,"
Mike remembers. "There's loads of abandoned engines out there but it's a hell
of a job to persuade them to let you have one."
Once rescued and safe from scrapyard blowtorches, the engines become part
of the family. In a nearby shed, piled high with rusty relics of yesteryear and
mysterious sheet-shrouded lumps of metal, we come across a sorry-looking
engine, minus its seven-foot back wheels, which Mike greets as an old friend.
It is introduced to us as an ultra-rare First World War German army gun
tractor – one of only three in existence – built in 1915 and used to haul guns
to the Western Front. It ended up in Italy after the war and was converted into
a steam-roller in 1920. "I have contacts in Italy who told me about it, and it was
brought back on a low-loader. We were held up in Dover for two days because
five illegal immigrants were found hiding under the engine. There's never
a dull moment!
"We hope to make a start on it soon. We've found some original wheels and
axles and mechanically it's pretty good, although it might not look it. We'll put it
back to its original blue-grey colour and we'll have a lovely engine.
"The boiler is in good condition, and that's very important. Sometimes it can
take years to find second-hand bits and pieces and if there are no drawings of an
engine it can be a real uphill battle. A major restoration can cost a fortune
because stuff has to be made by hand.
"You get some real bargains in Europe. In most countries they don't appreciate
steam engines like we do because they can't take them on the road. Only the UK,
New Zealand and parts of America allow that."
There's big money in steam. Iconic engines with an impressive provenance
have been known to make around £300,000 but, largely due to organisations
like the National Traction Engine Trust, what was once exclusively a rich man's
hobby is becoming more accessible, often because enthusiasts are pooling their
resources.
"I sold an engine the other day to three young chaps who have been saving
for years to buy one," Mike says. "Most people want something they can work
Exmoor Spring 2019 25
Profile
on – like that." He nods at a sad-looking green road-roller languishing under
a tree. "It's all about a challenge, I suppose."
Currently, Mike's major challenge involves a massive three-speed McLaren
road engine built in Leeds in 1910 but converted into a 23-ton steam-roller in
the 1920s which ended up in Ethiopia in 1937, where it helped to build a new
2,500-mile road system for the Italian dictator Mussolini. Mike bought it sight
unseen from a scrapyard in Tuscany. "I just saw a photograph and knew I had
to have it.
"Putting it back into its original form is a huge job and involves a complete
rebuild because it's absolutely knackered. The only serviceable part is the boiler
and pretty well everything else is being renewed, including the seven-foot rear
wheels and a complete set of gears. We're doing a lot of the work ourselves but
I've had to get specialists in."
Mike loves all his engines, but his unashamed favourite is Royal Chester, which
cost him £120,000 at a hard-fought auction in 2011. It is probably the bestknown
traction-engine in the country and that's because there are literally
thousands of model replicas made by companies like Matchbox and Yesterday's
Models, prized by generations of schoolboys and still sought by collectors today.
The original, in its pristine maroon and gold livery, has an aura of massive power
befitting one of the fastest and strongest traction engines ever built. It's also
one of the last of the line: by the time it was built by William Allchin Ltd in
Northampton in 1923, steam traction was finally losing out to petrol-driven
lorries and tractors.
"People are fascinated by Royal Chester," Mike says. "At steam fairs there are
always model engineers asking for technical details and taking photographs.
We had two guys at the last Great Dorset Steam Fair spending the whole week
measuring every inch of the engine. It's great that there's so much interest."
Royal Chester, like all Mike's restored engines, is no museum piece and it recently
made an epic ascent of Porlock Hill under its own steam. "I had wondered how
the old girl would cope with the steepest A-road in the country," Mike says.
"I needn't have worried. There were six of us with two engines and we made
a day of it. From here, we went to Ralegh's Cross and Sticklepath and then on to
Minehead and we stopped for some chips. At 8mph we caused a bit of gridlock
on the A39 and a few motorists got cross, but most people enjoy seeing an old
engine out on the road. We filled up with water in Porlock and steamed up the
hill with no problems. We came back on a low-loader. That was enough
excitement for one day.
"People are always telling me about more engines. I went after two in France
recently and missed them by a week. I try to convince myself that I've got
enough, but, to be honest, you can never have too many, can you?"
MIKE WHITE LEADWORKS
Mike White's engineering expertise extends beyond antique steam to
his day job as one of the country's top craftsmen in traditional lead and
copper-work, restoring roofs and decorations on churches and historic
buildings.
Recently, Mike and his team of five completed a massive restoration
programme at Exeter Cathedral and they have worked on numerous
Exmoor houses and churches, including at Treborough and Withypool.
The team's skills range from traditional lead casting to modern welding and
stainless steel, plus aluminium and zinc construction. Recent assignments
include replacing the copper roof of an obsolete lighthouse on Lundy
Island (now a holiday-let) and repairing Victorian statues.
For more information on Mike White Leadworks ring 01984 623198.
26 Exmoor Spring 2019
WEST COUNTRY GUNS
01984 623 829 www.wcgsporting.co.uk
9 The Square, Wiveliscombe, Somerset, TA4 2JT
Independent advisers and retailers of
new and used guns with a good range
of shooting accessories and cartridges.
The best selection of country clothing
and footwear in the area. We are able
to offer an extensive range for men,
ladies, and children.
A variety of country themed gifts.
Exmoor Spring 2019 27
Over the hills and come to stay
B&B AT B I C K L E I G H C A S T L E
Unique accommodation
set in cottages around
the Castle courtyard.
Spectacular views across
the Castle gardens.
Comfortable lounge, Sky
television and free Wi-Fi.
Tiverton, Devon, EX16 8RP
Tel: 01884 855363 Email: info@bickleighcastle.com
www.bickleighcastle.com
DUDDINGS COUNTRY COTTAGES
Thirteen 4-star holiday
cottages sleeping 2-18
set in a stunning location
in the Avill Valley.
Indoor pool, tennis
court, games room.
Richard Tilke, Duddings Country Cottages,
Timberscombe, Nr. Dunster, Minehead TA24 7TB
T. 01643 841123 E. Richard@duddings.co.uk
www.duddings.co.uk
GABLE LODGE GUEST HOUSE
Lovely licensed guest
house close to the centre
of Lynton. Double, twin
and family rooms available,
singles welcome. Evening
meals using local produce.
Car Park. Free WiFi.
35 Lee Road, Lynton, North Devon EX35 6BS
T. 01598 752367 E. gablelodge@btconnect.com
www.gablelodgelynton.co.uk
Photo by Andrew Hobbs
AWARD-WINNING COTTAGE IN DUNSTER
Comfortable & spacious
medieval cottage with all
mod cons. Sleeps six in
three bedrooms, two ensuite.
Wi-Fi, Netflix, dogs
welcome. Two reserved
parking spaces.
The Oval, West Street, Dunster TA24 6SN
www.theovaldunster.co.uk
info@exmoorcharactercottages.co.uk 07817 698366
THE OLD FARM BARNS
Come and stay in our
stylish self catering
cottages set amongst
rolling, lush farmland.
Dog and child friendly,
petting animals, WiFi.
The Old Farm Barns, Higher Elstone Farm,
Chulmleigh, Devon EX18 7AQ
T. 0773 4049914 E. theoldfarmbarns@gmail.com
www.theoldfarmbarns.co.uk
RALEGH’S CROSS INN
1300ft up,
stunning views,
B&B, DB&B.
Everyone welcome.
Discount with
EXMOORSPRING
www.raleghs-cross.co.uk
Brendon Hill, Exmoor, Somerset, TA23 0LN
T. 01984 640 343 E. raleghscrossuk@gmail.com
www.raleghs-cross.co.uk
STOCKHAM FARM
Two luxury holiday
cottages in an idyllic
position in the heart of
the Exmoor National
Park with views over the
Exe Valley. Sleeping 6
and 4. Open all year.
Stockham Farm, Dulverton, Somerset TA22 9JH
T. 07785 901017 E. stockhamfarm@gmail.com
www.stockhamfarmexmoor.co.uk
THE SWAN, BAMPTON
Spacious, comfortable
rooms in the oldest pub
in Bampton. Fresh, local
produce. Ensuite, WiFi,
TV, tea & coffee making
facilities. 6 miles from
Exmoor National Park.
The Swan, Bampton, Tiverton, Devon EX16 9NG
T. 01398 332248 E. info@theswan.co
www.theswan.co
T R I M S TO N E M A N O R
Characterful Country
House Hotel, 3 miles from
Woolacombe & N. Devon
coast. Indoor Pool (Apr-Oct),
Gym, Games Room, Sauna,
Restaurant open Fri/Sat.
Also Holiday Cottages.
Trimstone, Nr Woolacombe, Ilfracombe, EX34 8NR
T. 01271 862841 E. info@trimstone.co.uk
www.trimstone.co.uk
WINSBERE HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST
Friendly B&B from £35
pppn with lovely
country views. 10 min
walk to Dulverton town
centre. Short drive to
Tarr Steps. Cycle Route
3 on doorstep. Free wi fi
Winsbere House, Dulverton TA22 9HU
T. 01398 323278 E. info@winsbere.co.uk
www.winsbere.co.uk
WO N H A M B A RTO N
Near Exmoor:
comfortable, friendly
self-catering on a working
farm overlooking the Exe
Valley. Conveniently
explore secretive Devon,
moors and coasts.
Anne McLean Williams, Wonham Barton, Bampton,
Tiverton, Devon, EX16 9JZ.
T./F. 01398 331312 E. enquiries.wonham@btconnect.com
www.wonham-country-holidays.co.uk
WO O L H A N G E R E S TAT E
Woolhanger holiday
cottages provide luxury
accommodation in the
peace and tranquillity of
the picturesque Exmoor
National Park.
Parracombe, Nr Lynton.
Contact Leah Streete 01598 763309
Email: holidaycottages@woolhanger.com
Website: www.exmoorcottageswoolhanger.co.uk
28 Exmoor Spring 2019
ACTIVE
The Peaky Climbers
WORDS by Lucy Large
In the summer of 2015 a group of
four friends from West Somerset
successfully completed the National
Three Peaks Challenge – an endurance
hike that requires competitors to climb
the highest peaks in Scotland, England
and Wales within 24 hours.
Justin Harris, Tom White, John Webber
and Richard Henson – with the essential
support of their driver Richard Parsons –
embarked on this adventure, walking a
distance of 23 miles (37km) and a total
ascent of 10,052 feet (3,064m), with a
driving distance of 462 miles to link Ben
Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. They
did this in memory of Justin's late wife,
Emma, who had lost her battle with
cancer earlier that year at the age of
just 29.
Although they were already long-standing
friends and regular team mates playing
for Minehead Barbarians Rugby Club,
Justin acknowledges that grief and
beginning to recover from it brought him
and his walking comrades closer together
and gave them a clear purpose – to
raise awareness and money for charities
that had directly helped him and Emma,
but also those offering support for others
facing crisis in the area.
That summer the conditions were
favourable and the team completed their
task in an impressive 19 hours,
57 minutes and 32 seconds! A seed
was also sewn as, buoyed up by their
success and the money raised, the 'Peaky
Climbers' decided to plan a bigger and
better challenge for the following year.
Thus 2016 saw the friends regroup, this
time to tackle the Brecon Beacons Ten
Peaks Challenge with Charlie Walker-Blair
replacing John Webber who had had to
withdraw from this venture. Once again
they were raising money for charity
and prepared with a rigorous training
Top: Three Peaks Challenge team, 2015.
Left to right: Justin Harris, Tom White,
John Webber and Richard Henson.
Above, from left: At the base of Scafell
Pike, Lake District; at the top of Mount
Snowdon; the team's driver, Richard
Parsons, helping with crucial refuelling;
Tom White, John Webber and Richard
Henson at the top of Ben Nevis in July
(Justin took the photo); at the base of Ben
Nevis after completing the first peak.
Exmoor Spring 2019 29
Active
sustenance and endless encouragement:
he also posted regular live updates on the
group's Facebook page so that their many
supporters could follow progress and
keep donating. That year saw many
experienced fell runners retire from
the Ten Peaks Challenge and the Peaky
Climbers were the only team that
managed to finish. Richard Parsons in
fact gave a lift to two runners who had
to withdraw. When these competitors
heard about the Peaky Climbers and their
reasons for competing they both exited
the race and made hefty donations to
the charities being supported.
Top: The Ten Peaks Challenge, 2016. Left to right: Tom White, Charlie Walker-Blair,
Richard Henson and Justin Harris.
Above, left and right, both on the Ten Peaks, 2016: Tom White and Charlie
Walker-Blair attend to their feet and food; Richard Parsons, Tom White, Justin Harris,
Charlie Walker-Blair and Richard Henson at the finish.
schedule that repeatedly took them up
and down Grabbist, the Quantocks and
North Hill above Minehead, in spite of
them all having full-time jobs and family
commitments. Nothing could have
prepared them for the reality of this
challenge, however. According to one
member, they 'went in blind' following
the success and relative ease with which
they had completed the Three Peaks.
For a start, the weather that summer was
brutal and this ultra-marathon requires
competitors to take in ten of the highest
peaks in the Brecon Beacons, covering
a distance of 89 kilometres with nearly
5,000 metres of ascent, all to be
completed within 24 hours.
Reflecting back on the event, two years
later, the team chuckled at their naivety
the night before the start of the race as
they tucked into venison steaks brought
along for the occasion by team member
Charlie – aware of the envious looks of
their surrounding competitors. The
challenge was gruelling, and each team
member knows they were pushed to their
limits – physically and emotionally – as
they trekked thought the pouring rain,
battling winds of 50-60mph in the final
leg. They acknowledge their strength as
a team, pointing out that as individuals
they would peak and trough at different
stages of the race – when one member
couldn't find the strength to keep going,
the others would rally and provide the
energy or motivation for them. As a band
of four they could also swap walking
companions to keep the team fresh and
able to face the next climb.
The team is particularly clear to point out
that the challenge could not have been
completed without the unfailing support
of their driver Richard Parsons – present
at every checkpoint with fresh socks,
Meeting this band of friends in an
Exmoor pub one autumn evening in
2018 to hear about their charitable
expeditions was a very life-affirming
encounter. An hour of banter and
affectionate teasing revealed a group
of men utterly committed to raising
money for charities that directly help the
isolated communities of Exmoor and its
surrounding area – in the last three years
they have raised in the region of £50,000.
Justin points out that he and others close
to him or within the community have
had experience of bereavement at a
relatively young age and he feels he and
his comrades are fit and able enough to
do something to help raise awareness
and much-needed funds.
After a brief rest in 2017, the lads signed
up in 2018 to face two new challenges:
the first being the Exmoor Perambulation,
a 31-mile trek across Exmoor. This task
saw Richard Parsons joining the walking
team for the first time, supported by the
others. He concedes it was an enormous
challenge and not one he would have
attempted without the encouragement
of his friends. The second challenge that
year would have been the Trailwalker
endurance challenge – 100km across the
South Downs. For this event, Tom White
was replaced at the last minute by Dave
Edwards as Tom was about to become a
father. The event was cancelled, however,
due to the heat.
But the Peaky Climbers don't like being
defeated, and they really don't like letting
supporters and sponsors down. With
very little time to arrange it, wing man
Richard Parsons was assigned the task of
organising an alternative route of similar
distance to ensure the charities relying on
the lads would not be disappointed.
Thus, they found themselves walking
along the coast from Braunton to
30 Exmoor Spring 2019
Active
Minehead in the extreme heat of July
2018. This route takes in some of the
most stunning scenery the South West
has to offer and also some of the steepest
climbs. Once again, these intrepid hikers
pushed themselves to their very limits.
Fortunately, friends and family were able
to meet them at checkpoints along the
way with gifts of hot food and words of
encouragement. Dave Edwards' father
joined them in the walk for some of
the route, as well as other friends and
well-wishers. It is clear that the incredible
support they get shown by those
following their adventures undoubtedly
contributes to the group's ability to
complete and excel at these challenges.
Here and below: In the blazing heat of summer 2018, the Peaky Climbers walked
the 64 miles from Braunton to Minehead in a time of 22 hours and 10 minutes.
Left to right in the image below left: Richard Parsons, Justin Harris,
Charlie Walker-Blair, Richard Henson and Dave Edwards (who, at the
last minute, replaced Tom White, who was about to become a father).
The team are in the same order in the image below right,
with Richard Parsons taking the photo.
Endurance walking has come to replace
the competitive sports this band of
friends have always enjoyed. It still
affords them the chance to work as a
team; they consider themselves a family
united by this pursuit. Each member
also stresses that the activity is as much a
mental challenge as it is a physical one –
no amount of training can prepare for
the emotional toll of endurance treks.
The commitment these men show to
raising money for charity and giving
back to organisations that have helped
them and their friends is humbling.
Strikingly, though, the commitment they
demonstrate is also overwhelmingly to
each other. Their message, through their
endeavours, is powerful and simple.
They support each other – in terms of
the grief some of them have experienced
first-hand and then explored through
the emotional and physical pain of
endurance challenges. On the occasions
when one member of the gang is unable
to take part in a challenge, another friend
is ready to step in without hesitation,
keeping the team intact. We hear more
these days being spoken about the value
of coming alongside others during times
of despair, depression or grief. This idea
describes the process of accompanying
others on emotionally challenging
journeys without attempting to 'fix' a
problem or distract from the feelings that
need to be felt. Each of the men who
has taken part in one or all of the Peaky
Climbers' challenges over the last three
years has demonstrated a willingness
to walk alongside a fellow traveller, both
literally and figuratively. In doing so they
remind us all that we are not alone in our
fear or doubt, our grief or despair. There
are others willing to journey with us.
POSTSCRIPT
Justin Harris recently received the Ambassador Award from the charity Hope For
Tomorrow, following a complete refit of its bus 'Bumble', which is used to carry
chemotherapy treatment to outlying parts of Exmoor. This was in acknowledgement
of the Peaky Climbers' phenomenal fundraising and Justin accepted it on behalf
of all the lads.
To keep up to date with news of future challenges, go to the group's Facebook
page: www.facebook.com/PeakyClimbersSomerset.
They have been offered a guaranteed place on 2019's Trailwalker endurance
challenge and there has been talk about a European trek in the near future.
Details of the causes which the group has supported can be found at the
charities' own websites:
Hope For Tomorrow (Mobile Chemotherapy Unit): www.hopefortomorrow.org.uk
Mind: www.mind.org.uk
St Margaret's Hospice: www.somerset-hospice.org.uk
Musgrove Maternity Unit: www.tsft.nhs.uk/wards-and-departments/
departments-services/maternity-(pregnancy-and-birth)
Bristol Children's Hospital: www.uhbristol.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/
your-hospitals/bristol-royal-hospital-for-children
Penny Brohn: www.pennybrohn.org.uk (and see page 42)
Exmoor Spring 2019 31
Promotional Feature
FIGHTING BACK
By Tim Price NFU Mutual
Rural Affairs Specialist
Since 2010, when country people joined forces
with police, manufacturers and NFU Mutual to
tackle rocketing machinery thefts, the cost of
rural crime has been kept under control.
However in 2017 we were alarmed to see it on the
rise once again, this time fuelled by a new breed
of determined and brazen thieves who are using
a combination of brute force and technological
knowhow to steal from farms and country homes.
Crime like the theft of a loader often leads to an
even more serious offence being committed. In
the last year we’ve seen loaders used to smash into
village shops to steal cash machines.
As well as causing huge structural damage, these
raids often lead to the shop owners deciding
not to replace the ATM to avoid a future attack.
This leaves rural communities already facing the
closure of local bank branches with a further loss
of access to services.
Protecting the fabric of rural life is what drives
NFU Mutual to support farmers and country
people in the fight against crime. Amid the gloom
there are beacons of light.
However we would like to see more collaboration
between forces. It’s not enough for one county’s
rural crime initiative to simply displace crime to a
neighbouring county. We’re fighting to see crime
removed from the countryside.
Your local office is the
Williton & Rooksbridge Agency
NFU Offices, Bank Street, Williton, TA4 4NG
Contact number 01984 633 220.
Agent of The National Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Society Limited.
ARAB HORSES
FOR SALE
from
BROFORD FARM STUD
Our horses are bred for endurance riding, racing
or enjoyable hacking.
Come and visit with no obligation to buy.
The Clock Shop
Tel: 01398 (Dulverton) 323569
101 East Street
South Molton
North Devon EX36 3DF
Clock Repairer
Specialist in the Repair
and Restoration of
Antique Clocks
Richard Werner
Phone/Fax: 01769 579090
Mobile: 0777 6380546
clockshop101@gmail.com
Insurance Valuations
A family run agricultural merchant
based in the south west covering
all aspects of rural life.
Coal and Logs Supplied
Equestrian • Countryside Pursuits
Farming • Home & Garden
WASHFORD MILL, WATCHET,
SOMERSET, TA23 0JY
01984 640412
www.pickards.co.uk
BROMPTON REGIS
near Wimbleball Lake
Visit one of the oldest sites on Exmoor, mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086)
Pulhams Mill
Craft Centre
(OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK)
Genuine Exmoor Gifts
HARDWOOD FURNITURE
by Ian Mawby,
China by
Pauline Clements,
Local and British
Arts & Crafts and gifts.
Celebrating 40 years!
RIVERSIDE TEAROOMS
Pulhams made cakes, puds, lunches weekday and Sunday Roast
For future courses and events go to
www.pulhamsmill.co.uk
on the road from the bridge on Wimbleball Lake towards
Brompton Regis village near Dulverton TA22 9NT
Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 12.30-5 phone for Jan, Feb opening times
Tel: 01398 371366
32 Exmoor Spring 2019
You don't often meet a man who
can tell you what happened nearly
a century ago as precisely and
meticulously as if it were yesterday. Nor
would you expect him to be dashing
about Exmoor in a 4x4 and playing
skittles and bowls several times a week.
Anyone who needs convincing that there
can be life after almost ten decades should
meet Gordon Pickard Short. As he strides
from his car, you'd take him for a chap
in his seventies who'd seen a bit of life:
smart, upright and razor-sharp, with
a countryman's glow and a flow of
reminiscences which exhausts a set of
dictaphone batteries.
DOWN MEMORY LANE
Gordon Pickard Short:
Going with the Grain
WORDS by Tony James
PHOTOS courtesy of Gordon Pickard Short
Above: Ernest and Elsie Short
(née Pickard) with Gordon, 1921.
Here: Nigel, Gordon, John and Graham Short
on a family shoot in 2016.
There's a lot to talk about, because
Gordon, at 97, has led an extraordinary
life. Born in Burrington, the North Devon
village in which he still lives, a decorated
Burma war veteran and highly successful
businessman, his heart remains rooted
in the countryside.
He talks about farmers and rural
characters as though they have just left
the room but many have been in their
Exmoor graves for decades. Next minute
he's anticipating an agricultural world of
driverless tractors and lorries, harvesting
controlled by drones and robot-run
offices. "I may not live to see it," he says.
"But it will come."
In fact, during a 50-year chairmanship of
the family firm – he took over from his
father who lived to be 100 – Gordon has
influenced changes almost as profound,
in their own way, as any in his images
of the future.
Under what, one suspects, was Gordon's
benign but pretty uncompromising
influence, J. Pickard & Co. Ltd, agricultural
merchants, has grown and prospered,
and spread far from its roots in the
village of Burrington near Umberleigh,
into West Somerset. Here one of his three
sons runs a sister company, formerly
Badcock & Evered, at Washford Mill near
Minehead, which was taken over by
Pickards in the 1960s.
Gordon officially retired at 90, but from
his home, just a cow-cake's throw
from the firm's imposing village-centre
headquarters, he still visits the office
every day and unashamedly insists
on knowing what's going on.
"I'm proud of the way my sons are running
and developing the business, but old
Exmoor Spring 2019 33
habits die hard," he says with a smile.
"I ask about how much seed has been
sold and questions like that. I end up
asking to look at the figures and there's
always a deathly hush!
"I think they thought they had got rid of
me at 90 but my father lived to be 100
and never gave up. He was a shareholder
until he died. You can't help taking an
interest."
It's a light-hearted ritual which both
generations obviously enjoy, but for
Gordon there's a serious side. He has
a theory that businesses are vulnerable
when run by a third generation. "It has
happened to hundreds of businesses
around Exmoor – too often to be just
coincidence.
"In Barnstaple alone I could pick out at
least 20 family firms which have failed
for one reason or another in the third
generation and I've always been
determined that it shouldn't happen to
us. Not that I think it will. Pickards is in
safe hands."
Here: Gordon's grandfather, John,
and father, William Ernest, waiting for a lift.
Below: Gordon 'showing off'.
W. Parker waiting for the rabbits to bolt from the corn.
He was from the village and came to work for William Short
at the age of 14. He asked for 5 shillings a week but agreed
on half a crown but to live in on site. He worked all his life on
the farm or in the stores of Pickard's and would have mixed
all the grass seeds that were sold by hand.
Joyce and Gordon in their wedding car.
We're lucky to find Gordon hale and
hearty. At four he collapsed while on
a walk with his grandfather. "The local
doctor put a cold key down my back to
see if I had any sensation in my body and
diagnosed poliomyelitis, which was little
known in those days.
"I saw specialists who said the paralysis
would creep through my body, reach my
brain and kill me. They said prayers for
me in the Methodist chapel, but luckily
a local nurse asked to try a system
of massage, which was a new form of
treatment.
"She massaged me month after month
and life eventually came back into my
legs and through my body. I learned to
walk again when I was eight. I owe my
life to Nurse Garrett, rather than doctors.
There's no doubt about that."
Gordon left school at 14 and spent a year
at agricultural college. "I was about 17
when I began to take an interest in the
business and wanted to know how it had
started."
He found that the Pickard family had
farmed in the Burrington parish since
the 1500s but it was Gordon's greatgrandfather,
James, who was to
dramatically change the family fortunes.
Keen to improve his pasture, James
34 Exmoor Spring 2019
Down Memory Lane
Here: Wool being graded before packing.
Below left: The bales of wool ready for sale.
Below right: Fertiliser stacked by hand. The older man is Gordon’s dad William (who lived to 100)
and he is standing with a family friend, Donald Browning, who farmed in Dorset.
After the wool was centralised at
South Molton, the firm's wool store was
used for the handling of seeds and fertiliser.
Exmoor Spring 2019 35
Down Memory Lane
collected perennial rye-grass seed from
neighbours' haylofts and mixed it with
clover seed and meadow grasses to such
good effect that other farmers asked to
buy it.
That was the start of J. Pickard Agricultural
Merchants, in 1846. The seed, known as
'Devon Eaver', was sold for many years,
mixed with timothy, clovers and other
meadow grasses. "Fertilisers and other
products have changed dramatically,"
Gordon says. "But grass seed mixtures are
pretty much the same as they always were."
Gordon's father, William, married into
the Pickard family and joined the firm,
which was now trading in seed, wool and
fertiliser. He took over from Gordon's
grandfather in the 1920s and ran the firm
with a partner, Herbert Embery, who had
a gift for mental arithmetic.
As Gordon tells it, "He could add a long
column of hundreds of pounds, shillings
and pence simply by running his finger
down the figures."
The Pickards transformed Burrington in
a benign, patrician way. The expanding
company brought local jobs. The family
opened and ran a Post Office in 1847 and
when, after years as a tenant, Gordon's
grandfather bought Homelands Farm in
1907, he put up an imposing mansion,
Hillcrest, in the next field and surrounded
it with bowling greens.
While the village drew its water from
springs and relied on oil lamps and
cesspits, Homelands and Hillcrest had an
electrical generator, their own sewerage
system and modern conveniences. Later,
a more powerful generator was fitted
which also supplied electricity to all
houses in the village for many years.
Top: A welcome break from
haymaking, 1930. The lady
closest to the camera is Joyce,
the child eating is Gordon and
the gentleman at the end,
sitting, is W. Parker.
Second from top: Gordon's
grandfather, John, his father
William and a friend from
Torquay, Bobby Rintoul, 1930s.
Above left: Gordon's father's
first car, a bull-nosed Morris.
Above right: Gordon in uniform.
Right: Gordon and his father
sitting on the watering trough.
The golden summers between the wars
were a magical time for a country boy.
"We always looked forward to harvest.
Corn was cut by a binder pulled by three
horses and rabbits would bolt from the
centre of the fields.
"We loved to watch corn being handpitched
up into the ricks and joined the
workers when they had a welcome break.
Riding in a car was a novelty – my
grandfather had one of only two in the
village and was known to be a slow and
cautious driver.
"There was a story that when he stopped
one day to offer a lift to a man walking
36 Exmoor Spring 2019
along the road to Chulmleigh, he replied:
'No thank you sir. I'm in a hurry'."
The social event of the year was
Burrington Fair with its sheep and cattle
auctions, which brought buyers from
throughout the South West. Gordon
remembers, "It was an important time for
Pickards because many Exmoor farmers
would make their annual payments for
the goods they had bought the previous
spring.
"My mother and my auntie Polly would
cook joints of beef weighing over 50lbs
each and serve it to the customers who
came to pay their accounts and there was
enough to feed over 400 people.
"Those were the days when a country
worker got £1 a week for a 12-hour day.
On the other hand, they could buy
a hundredweight of coal from my
grandfather for just one penny!"
"When I joined the firm, the daily routine
was to attend markets with my father and
I remember the pens of sheep and cattle
and the horses and carts.
"Farmers would gather in pubs and cafés
and exchange news and gossip. Discussing
the First World War with my father,
who had served as an officer, one
Exmoor farmer remarked: 'I don't know
what our secret service were doing.
You never heard anything about them.'
"When my father replied: 'If you'd known
what they were doing, it wouldn't have
been secret,' the farmer said, 'I hadn't
thought of that.'
"All business was done in the markets.
My father wrote farmers' orders down
on a cigarette packet. Things were very
different then and all you needed was a
handshake to close a deal.
"Grading, sorting and packing Exmoor
wool was an important part of our
business. Remote farms on the moor
still had open fires, no electric light and
a pump over a well, but we were always
well fed and made sure we finished
packing the wool before 1pm so that we
would be asked for lunch. Chicken or
duck from the farm was usually on the
menu."
Gordon remembers how wool was
laboriously baled after being trodden by
foot into suspended sacks. "Wool before
the war was fourpence farthing a pound
This photo shows Gordon's father, William, settling a dispute as to which was his
father's winning shot. Gordon writes, "Father must have just returned from
market, as he was certainly improperly dressed to be on a bowling green."
Bottom right: Gordon at 96.
and during the war Exmoor farmers
stored it for six or seven years, by which
time it had risen to a shilling a pound
– if the rats hadn't got at it!
"Eventually the trade was taken over by
the Wool Board and by then we were
dealing with over a million pounds
weight of wool a year. We were the last
local wool merchants to accept
compensation.
"It was the end of an era. The work was
heavy and hard and you could spend
at least two days wool-packing at a farm,
but it was part of our history."
The takeover of Badcock & Evered over
in West Somerset by Pickards in the
mid-1960s largely came about when it
became apparent that both firms
were servicing many of the same Exmoor
farmers – Pickards buying their wool and
B&E supplying seeds and fertiliser.
B&E's HQ, Washford Mill, which once
supplied flour to the monks at nearby
Cleeve Abbey, was later converted into
shops and a restaurant, opened by the
Princess Royal in 2001. Since then, there
have been plans to convert some of the
buildings into houses.
Gordon might claim he's "beginning to
wobble" but there's no sign of it. Ever
since the distant days when he pushed a
portable generator on pram wheels into
Burrington Village Hall to power a
projector for Friday night films, he's found
time for a massive amount of community
work, from being a Devon county
councillor and a governor of local
schools and colleges to his roles as a
tax appeal commissioner and crop
competition and ploughing-match judge.
A former county player and ex-president
of Devon Bowling Association, the game
remains a lasting passion. Gordon still
plays an average of two games a week
and recently formed a team of players all
in their late nineties.
"If anyone of a similar age feels like taking
us on, I'll present a cup to the winner,"
he tells us. From the look in his eye,
it's not a challenge to be taken lightly.
He's recently written a self-published
autobiography, The Story of a
Countryman, giving it away, but
accepting donations for Burrington
Village Hall and Burrington Graveyard
Trust. If you would like to order
a copy, please write c/o J. Pickard & Co.
(Burrington) Ltd, Burrington,
Umberleigh, Devon EX37 9JG.
Grateful thanks to the printers of the
book, Jamaica Press in Bideford,
for supplying the image scans for
this article. You can contact Washford
Mill on 01984 640412.
Exmoor Spring 2019 37
THE
JUBILEE INN
WEST ANSTEY, SOUTH MOLTON,
DEVON, EX36 3PH
We warmly welcome you this Spring to our
relaxed homely Inn where you can enjoy log
fires, fine wines and ales with honestly priced
home-cooked food. Offering a traditional menu
and a “secret menu” (when booking you tell us
what you like and a budget and we create a
bespoke menu for your enjoyment), we offer
something a little bit different. We are able to
host and cater for weddings, other special
occasions and charitable fundraising nights.
Open 7 nights a week and all day at weekends
and holiday periods, we offer beautifully
appointed en-suite guest rooms, and support our
local Devon guests as well as international
travellers keen to enjoy country pursuits –
walking, hunting, shooting and fishing. Dog and
horse friendly. Booking for dining and
accommodation strictly by appointment.
Please email for further information and best rates.
Telephone 01398 341401 • info@thejubileeinn.co.uk
As a private home we are strictly by reservation only for dining and staying guests.
The Black Venus Inn
Liz, Marc and family welcome you to the
Black Venus Inn, situated in the beautiful
village of Challacombe, on Exmoor.
Historic 16th century beamed Inn
Excellent home made food using
local produce
Food served seven days a week
throughout the year
Beer garden and large car park
Open all day during school holidays
Challacombe, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 4TT
Tel 01598 763251
www.blackvenusinn.co.uk
Morning coffee with homemade cakes & biscuits.
All-day menu for all tastes (11am-4pm)
Award-winning Gallery restaurant,
specialising in seasonal produce for evening dining.
Daytime courses on
sourdough, bread-making, chocolatiering and flower design
Three-monthly comedy nights with Genius Events.
We work closely with Exmoor National Park and their CareMoor events.
Next CareMoor event: 1st March
Find out more:
www.thebeachhotel.org • www.facebook.com/thebeachhotel
The Avenue, Minehead, Somerset TA24 5AP
Situated on Minehead Sea Front and opposite the West Somerset Railway
STORM IN A TEACUP
Come and enjoy our homemade, freshly prepared breakfast, lunch,
cream teas and cake in beautiful Watermouth Harbour. Our tastefully
restored rescue boat awaits you with a warm welcome.
Open March onwards 9.30am-5pm
Facebook: ‘Storm in a Teacup - Watermouth Harbour’ 07846 496069
Photo from Exmoor Magazine, Autumn 2018, by Andrew Hobbs
WWW.WICKEDWOLFGIN.COM
Award-winning Hand-made Preserves
'Makers of Whortleberry Jam for 34 years -
served and sold in many shops and tea rooms
across Exmoor & North Devon'
Visit us at
the various
events we
attend
during the
year
‘Wicked Wolf ® ’, ‘Exmoor Gin’ and ‘The Spirit of Exmoor ® ’ are trademarks or registered
trademarks of ‘The Old Chapel Brendon Limited’ registered in the UK.
SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR DETAILS
www.brendonhillcrafts.co.uk • Tel. 01271 346111
38 Exmoor Spring 2019
RECIPES
A Jubilee Inn Twist
on the cookbook, Nourish
RECIPES from Christine Bailey
for Penny Brohn Cancer Care
Regular readers of Exmoor Magazine may remember the remarkable story of Claire Sellar-Elliott,
owner of the Jubilee Inn, near South Molton, which we published in the spring issue 2018.
An accomplished chef and a woman with boundless positivity, who is living with a terminal cancer
diagnosis, Claire is a passionate advocate of eating well to help her own body. When she discovered
the specialist cookbook, Nourish, she quickly became a big fan of the recipes, created by Christine
Bailey. Claire also serves them, often with her own twist, at the Jubilee Inn where a warm welcome
and a healthy repast are guaranteed to leave you feeling better than when you arrived!
Here are some of her favourite recipes from the book...
Exmoor Spring 2019 39
Garlic & Bean Soup with Pesto
SERVES 4
Italian Crackers
and Bean Dip
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
250g flaxseeds
50g almonds
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 egg
zest and juice of ½ lemon
60g pitted black olives
1tbsp chopped basil leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE CURRIED BEAN DIP
400g tinned cannellini beans, drained
and rinsed
1tsp turmeric
2 cloves garlic
½tsp ground cumin
1tbsp lemon juice
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp chopped parsley leaves
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/
Gas 2 and line a baking sheet with baking
parchment.
Grind the flaxseeds and almonds in
a food processor until fine. Add the red
pepper and tomato, and process until
combined.
Add the egg, lemon zest and juice,
then season with salt and pepper.
Process to form a thick dough.
Briefly pulse in the black olives and
stir in the basil.
Using a spatula and damp hands,
spread the mixture onto the baking sheet
to 5mm/¼in thick, then shape into a
square. Score lines to make individual
crackers. Bake for 40-45 minutes until
golden and crisp.
Put all the ingredients for the curried
bean dip into a food processor and
season lightly. Process until smooth.
Add a little extra oil if needed.
Break the flaxseed mixture into
individual crackers along the score lines
and leave to cool on a wire rack. Serve
with the dip. (Store the crackers in an
airtight container for up to 4 days. Store
the dip in the fridge for up to 3 days.)
INGREDIENTS
1 garlic bulb, cloves peeled
2tbsp olive oil
450g vine-ripened tomatoes, quartered
400g tinned borlotti or kidney beans,
drained and rinsed
700ml vegetable stock
1tbsp lemon juice
sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper
FOR THE PUMPKIN SEED PESTO
30g shelled pistachio nuts
30g pumpkin seeds
2 large handfuls of basil leaves
1 handful of mint leaves
1 garlic clove, crushed
2tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
(optional)
2tbsp lemon juice
2-3tbsp olive oil or walnut oil
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the garlic cloves in a roasting tin, add the olive oil and toss to coat, then
roast for 15 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and roast for 10-15 minutes, until the garlic is lightly golden
and the tomatoes are soft.
Put the garlic, tomatoes, beans and stock into a blender or food processor and
process until smooth. Pour into a saucepan and heat gently until warmed through.
Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
To make the pesto, put the nuts and seeds in a food processor and process until
finely ground. Add the herbs, garlic, yeast flakes (if using), lemon juice and a pinch
of salt and process. Drizzle in the oil with the machine running, to create a thick
pesto. (Store the soup in the fridge for up to 3 days. Store the pesto in the fridge
for up to 1 week.)
CLAIRE'S TWIST
"I like to use use pine nuts instead of the pistachios and I also combine them
with some cashew nuts as I love their creamy texture."
CLAIRE'S TWIST
"I use 20g chia seeds mixed with
80g flaxseeds for added energy."
40 Exmoor Spring 2019
Recipes
Baked Sea Bass with
Olives and Tomatoes
SERVES 4
Chicken & Cashew Nut
Stir-Fry (Page 39)
SERVES 4
For this super-quick dish, strips of
chicken flavoured with coriander
and lime are tossed with a colourful
medley of vegetables and toasted
nuts. Choose organic chicken if
possible to reduce your exposure
to added hormones and antibiotics.
Serve with buckwheat or wholewheat
noodles.
INGREDIENTS
60g cashew nuts
1 egg
1tbsp cornflour
450g skinless chicken breast fillets, sliced
1tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
4 spring onions, sliced
100g mangetout, trimmed
1 pak choi, leaves separated
1 yellow and 1 red pepper, deseeded
and sliced into strips
150g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4tbsp chicken stock
juice of 1 lime
2–3tbsp tamari
2tbsp coriander leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
INGREDIENTS
½tsp coriander seeds
1tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
leaves from 3 thyme sprigs, plus 1 small bunch of fresh thyme sprigs
115g pitted black olives, roughly chopped
60g sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped
16 cherry tomatoes
1 large sea bass or trout, head removed, scaled and gutted
zest of 1 lemon
olive oil, for drizzling
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. Toast the coriander seeds in a dry
frying pan over a medium heat for 1 minute, then crush using a pestle and mortar.
Heat the olive oil in the frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion,
coriander and garlic, and fry gently for 2–3 minutes until the onion starts to soften.
Stir in the thyme leaves, olives and the sundried and cherry tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a large, shallow ovenproof dish.
Using a sharp knife, slash the skin of the fish diagonally along each side and
push sprigs of thyme into the cuts. Sprinkle over the lemon zest, then put the fish
on top of the tomato mixture.
Drizzle over a little olive oil and cook in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until the
fish is cooked through.
CLAIRE'S TWIST
"I double the garlic and blend half of the sundried tomatoes in a blender
or blitzer and chop the remaining. This makes a heartier sauce."
METHOD
Lightly toast the nuts in a dry frying
pan over a medium heat for 1 minute,
stirring, and set aside.
Put the egg into a large bowl, add
the cornflour and a pinch of salt, and
whisk to combine. Add the chicken and
coat with the egg mixture.
Heat a frying pan or wok with the
olive oil over a medium heat. Stir-fry the
chicken for 4–5 minutes until golden,
then remove with a slotted spoon.
Add the spring onions and stir-fry for
a few seconds. Add the mangetout, pak
choi and peppers, and stir-fry for
1 minute or until just softened.
Add the chicken, mushrooms, stock,
lime juice and tamari to taste. Simmer
for 1 minute or until the mushrooms
have softened.
Stir in the nuts and coriander, then
season with salt and pepper and serve.
(Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.)
CLAIRE'S TWIST
"I use regular, scented coconut oil as
I much prefer it to any olive oil in this
dish, as it's creamier and nuttier, whilst
also being mild. I garnish the dish with
fresh parsley or oregano."
Exmoor Spring 2019 41
Super-Berry Yoghurt Sorbet
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
200g natural yoghurt, soya yoghurt or coconut yoghurt
1-2tsp acai berry powder (optional)
125g strawberries
125g raspberries
225g fresh or frozen cherries, pitted
Gooey
Chocolate and
Raspberry
Pudding
SERVES 6
INGREDIENTS
oil, for greasing
125g wholemeal plain flour
or gluten-free flour mix
2tsp baking powder
1tbsp cocoa powder
1tsp vanilla extract
125g apple purée
125ml soya milk
1tbsp xylitol
150g raspberries, plus extra to serve
(optional)
FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE
2tbsp xylitol
1 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
METHOD
Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Pour into a shallow freezerproof container and freeze for 2-3 hours until firm.
Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before serving to allow it to soften slightly.
(Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.)
CLAIRE'S TWIST
"I add 75ml of an Exmoor gin, a tiny bit of fresh mint and a squeeze of lime juice."
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas
4 and lightly grease a 20cm baking dish.
Sift the flour, baking powder and
cocoa powder into a bowl, then add in
the sievings if you wish.
Mix together the vanilla, apple purée,
milk and xylitol, and beat into the flour
mixture. Stir in the raspberries, then
spoon into the baking dish.
Combine the sauce ingredients with
400ml boiling water and pour gently over
the batter. Do not stir the liquid in – it
will seep in as it cooks.
Carefully put the dish in the oven and
bake for 35–40 minutes until the pudding
is firm on top but with a gooey chocolate
sauce underneath. Serve with extra
raspberries, if you like. (Store leftovers
in the fridge for up to 2 days.)
CLAIRE'S TWIST
"I add a few drops of orange essence
with the vanilla and some chia seeds
with the raspberries."
Eating well is important when you are living with cancer, before, during and after treatment. Often, though,
you may feel too tired, ill or stressed to prepare a balanced and nutritious meal, or you may not feel like
eating at all. Nourish, brought to you by the team at Penny Brohn UK, shows you how to create simple meals,
snacks and drinks that are packed with nutrients to support your body. And, if you are cooking for a loved
one, you can rest assured that you will be providing the best possible meals to make them feel better.
The mouth-watering recipes are user-friendly, quick to prepare, highly nutritious and are designed to bolster
energy levels throughout the day.
Penny Brohn UK is the only charity in the UK specialising in an integrated, whole-person approach to cancer,
known as the Bristol Whole Life Approach. Find out more about the charity at www.pennybrohn.org.uk, and
visit www.shopatpennybrohn.com if you would like to order the book (inside which you can read about the
specific benefits of the recipes on these pages and many others to suit all tastes).
42 Exmoor Spring 2019
Traditional English Tea Rooms and Gardens
The best veg you’ve ever tasted
Call your local veg team Tom & Hilary on 01823 218408
riverford.co.uk
Tarr
Farm Inn
Tarr Steps, Dulverton, Exmoor, TA22 9PY
+44 (0)1643 851507
enquiries@tarrfarm.co.uk
OPENING HOURS
Monday to Friday 11am to 11pm
Saturday & Sunday 11am to Midnight
Dogs Welcome
21 Fore Street, Dulverton, Somerset, TA22 9EX
01398 323 697
Trenchermans pub of the year 2016
The Swan is the oldest pub in the charming historic town of Bampton,
near Exmoor National Park, an area well known for its hunting, fishing,
shooting and popular with ramblers and cyclists.
Great Food :: Great Location :: Great Welcome
We have a passion for food and with this we like to embrace the use of
local produce, keeping menus simple, yet bursting with flavours and
imagination. We take pride in our well kept, locally sourced ales and fine
wines, to whet the appetites and suit all tastes.
Eat, Drink & Sleep at The Swan, Bampton
www.tarrfarm.co.uk
Midweek
Specials
Sunday - Thursday
Book 2 nights
get one FREE!
T&C apply
T. 01398 332248 E. info@theswan.co www.theswan.co
Bampton | Tiverton | Devon | EX16 9NG
Exmoor Spring 2019 43
Celebrate the 150th anniversary of 'Lorna Doone' by staying
at Millslade Country House, Anna and Simon's luxurious bed
and breakfast in Brendon, the very heart of Doone Country.
Having undergone an extensive refurbishment during the winter of
2018-19, we are now able to offer the very best bed and breakfast
accommodation: beautifully appointed and spacious rooms; all new en
suite facilities; scrumptious breakfasts and splendid hospitality.
Evening dinners and afternoon teas showcasing the best Exmoor
produce available by arrangement.
Come and experience the warmth and charm of the original Lorna
Doone Hotel, opened in 1889 following the publication of
Lorna Doone, a romance of Exmoor.
Perfectly positioned in the heart of the village of Porlock,
ideal for exploring both the moor and the rugged coastline.
We offer fresh, locally sourced food cooked to order in our bar,
restaurant and courtyard garden and we are open to welcome
locals, visitors and special events or private parties.
For bookings call us on 01598 741322
or email: millsladebnb@gmail.com.
Further details are available at: www.millslade.co.uk
Porlock, TA24 8PS 01643 862404
www.lornadoonehotel.co.uk
info@lornadoonehotel.co.uk
Stay a little longer in Lorna
Doone country
THE STAGHUNTERS INN
BRENDON, EXMOOR, EX35 6PS
lorna doone something like this?.indd 1 20/12/2018 12:05
Runner up
North Devon
CAMRA Pub
of the Year
Heddon Orchard Bothy
Stay active outdoors this spring in self-catering
accommodation with a difference. From our back-to-basics
bothies to our spacious bunkhouses with large communal
areas to relax and dine in, all located in some of Exmoor’s
most dramatic landscapes.
To find out more:
bit.ly/bothiesbunkhousesdevon or
northdevon@nationaltrust.org.uk.
The Exmoor Bunkhouse
Foreland Bothy
Butter Hill Barn
The National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846. ©National Trust Images/Trevor Hart,
Mike Henton
u The Staghunters is a traditional, historic Inn,
nestling on the banks of the East Lyn River in
the beautiful Brendon Valley
u Ideally situated for walking the South West
Coast Path and Coleridge Way
u Perfect location for walking Exmoors beautiful
Doone Valley, Watersmeet and Lynmouth
u Comfortable en-suite accommodation
u Excellent home-made meals, real ales and
fine wines served daily
u Beer garden overlooking the East Lyn river
u South facing landscaped garden available to
hotel guests
u Log fires through the Winter
u Dog friendly
u Off road parking
Opening hours 12 noon until 11 p.m.
e-mail: stay@staghunters.com
www.staghunters.com • Tel: 01598 741 222
44 Exmoor Spring 2019
LANDSCAPES
The Real Badgworthy
WORDS by Rob Wilson-North
PHOTOGRAPHS by Julia Amies-Green, Kieran Hanlon,
Neville Stanikk and Nigel Stone
Exmoor Spring 2019 45
Landscapes
I
n Lorna Doone, R.D. Blackmore
set his isolated and lonely Doone
village in a hidden valley high on
the moor. Here archaeology and romantic
fiction meet face to face. Most of us claim
to have read or to know the story and it
has reached notoriety in English literature.
On Exmoor, it divides opinion: fact or fiction?
Legend or nonsense?
The origin of the Doone legend is obscure, but it existed by the early-nineteenth
century. It focuses on a band of outlaws – the Doones – who were supposed to
have been descended from a noble family of Scottish origin. The legend claims
that they were busy on Exmoor in the 1600s, robbing and pillaging the locals.
This is a great story, despite the lack of any contemporary corroboration! Yet
somehow, it is a story that tantalises, mainly because Exmoor has been seen for
a long time as beyond the law... for example, by the very early 1800s it had an
established reputation for smuggling, with a group known as the 'banditti'
terrorising Simonsbath.
Richard Blackmore, living at his father's rectory at Oare, knew of the legend of
the Doones, and it inspired his historical novel Lorna Doone which was first
published first in 1869. It went on to become a national treasure, devoured by
the nation's readers on a huge scale.
The novel is drawn against the upheaval of the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685
(in which Exmoor became, albeit obliquely, involved). The hero is John Ridd of
fictional Plover's Barrows Farm near Oare. It is tempting today to stand on the
ruins of Larkbarrow Farm on the high moor on a sunny day in early spring and
listen to the skylarks hovering and singing overhead, and to come to the
inevitable conclusion that Blackmore drew inspiration from this place and
its exquisite name.
46 Exmoor Spring 2019
Landscapes
John Ridd's father is murdered by the Doones and John returns from school to
run the farm. By chance one day he wanders into the Doone valley and meets
the beautiful Lorna. They are instantly drawn together and begin an illicit
friendship which risks the wrath of the evil Carver Doone, who both murders
John's father and is also betrothed to Lorna. The novel charts John and Lorna's
relationship and eventual marriage, at which Carver shoots at Lorna through the
church window. He flees, pursued by John Ridd, and is then engulfed in one
of Exmoor's bogs known as the Wizard's Slough.
Blackmore's romance makes full use of Exmoor's evocative placenames, such as
Cloven Rocks and the Devil's Cheesewring, but his descriptions of the landscape
convey a scale which does not sit comfortably with Exmoor's gentler, more
sublime character. His Doone village in its fortress-like valley – Badgworthy Water
– evokes Glencoe rather than 'Glen Doone'. Scale apart, a walk into the 'Doone
Valley' set in 'Doone Country', as the Ordnance Survey had it for many years,
was a cultural pilgrimage for many during much of the twentieth century.
The well-known 'Doone village' itself can be found at the confluence of
Badgworthy Water and a narrow neighbouring valley. It is a strangely beautiful
place where the valley slopes are scattered with patches of scree (very Scottish)
and natural hillocks occupy the valley floor, creating an enclosed, possibly
fortress-like feel. If that was not enough, there are the traces of stone walls,
Top, left to right: Badgworthy Water
(Neville Stanikk); some of the steeper valley sides
are densely wooded; Malmsmead (both Julia
Amies-Green).
Above: Yealscombe Wood beside Badgworthy
Water (Neville Stanikk).
Page 46 under intro. and below: A glorious
setting for the church at Oare and a panorama
of the Oare Water valley from North Common
(Nigel Stone/ENPA and Neville Stanikk).
Exmoor Spring 2019 47
forming little rectangular buildings. Set on
the riverbank, they bring to mind Blackmore's
description of Lorna's home:
For she stood at the head of a deep green
valley, carved from out the mountains in a
perfect oval, with a fence of sheer rock standing
round it, eighty feet or a hundred high; from
whose brink black wooded hills swept up to
the skyline. By her side a little river glided out
from underground with a soft dark babble...
But further down on either bank were covered
houses, built of stone, square and roughly
cornered, set as if the brook were meant to be
the street between them. Only one room high
they were, and not placed opposite each other,
but in and out as skittles are, only that the first
of all, which proved to be the captain's, was a
sort of double house, or rather two houses
joined together by a plank bridge over the river.
This wonderfully evocative and detailed description can be traced on the ground
as you pick your way amongst the stone heaps of little rooms and walls.
It is hardly surprising to find that what is on the ground accords so well with
Blackmore's description, for it was precisely here that Blackmore himself
wandered and found inspiration for his Doone village in the wildness, the
streams and the ruins at Badgworthy.
In truth, what Blackmore had discovered for himself were the remains of a
village; not a brigand's hideout of the 1600s but a village of medieval houses
belonging to a remote little farming community that lived on the edge of Exmoor
in the 1300s. In 1170 this land was given to the Knights Hospitallers, under
whom the village presumably came into existence, but was described as
previously 'the land of the hermits of Badgworthy'. Quite what this lonely
monastery looked like we don't know, as no trace of it survives, but what we do
know is that by the 1200s there was a priest, named Elias, and a chapel within
a secular village. However, by the early 1400s houses were empty and tenants
could not be found to live there. The place became abandoned, probably
because of a deteriorating climate, and perhaps because it was easier to live
elsewhere where rents had become lower due to the Black Death. Whatever
the reasons, the village died, although a single holding may have endured;
in any event, one house was occupied at the very beginning of the 1800s.
48 Exmoor Spring 2019
Today, if you go there in May before the bracken sprouts up and hides the ruins,
you can find the traces of 12, 13 or maybe 14 buildings. This is a big village and
is scattered in the folds of the valley on either side of the stream which joins
Badgworthy Water. Old fields run up the slopes whilst terraces run along the
hillside and they are testimony to medieval farmers growing cereal crops here
when summers were warmer. In fact this village – its houses, fields and terraces –
is a complete, relict medieval landscape, the best on Exmoor and one of the
best preserved of its type in the South West.
For me, a trip to Badgworthy is a walk back in time to a medieval community
who lived and farmed in the harshest of environments and who eventually lost
that battle and left their homes to slip away into the landscape that they had
called home. It is also a trip to a different time: perhaps a spring afternoon in
the 1860s where a disgruntled figure is hunched upon a rock, scrutinising his
surroundings and occasionally scribbling into a battered notebook... an as-yet
unwritten book that was to become a bestseller, propelling this writer to fame.
Above, left and right: Robbers Bridge
( Julia Amies-Green); looking up Weir Water
from the south (Kieran Hanlon).
Below, left to right: Heather moorland dotted
with hawthorns meets the woodland at
Badgworthy Water (Craig Joiner); the road
to Oare ( Julia Amies-Green); Leeford ( Julia
Amies-Green); oaks beside Badgworthy Water
(Neville Stanikk); looking down the valley in the
direction of Dunkery at the height of summer
( Julia Amies-Green); Church of St Mary,
Oare ( Julia Amies-Green).
Badgworthy: Blackmore's landscape, the landscape of the medieval farmers, the
elusive sanctuary of the hermits of Badgworthy. Badgworthy is one of Exmoor's
essences, but, like a lined face or the patina on old furniture, is its beauty not
in its layered meaning and resonance... whether fact or fiction?
Exmoor Spring 2019 49
JULIAN GURNEY'S NATURE DIARY
River of the Doones
WORDS by Julian Gurney
PHOTO by Craig Joiner
A
s I am sure you know by
now, this year marks the
150th anniversary of R.D.
Blackmore's Lorna Doone. I have read it
at least three times, possibly more. Each
time I am struck by just how difficult the
first chapter or two are to read. Before long,
though, I start to feel more comfortable
with Blackmore's written word...
Lorna Doone contains part-factual, partfictitious
events from 200 years before
publication. As it ages, and our language
continues to evolve, will it become more
difficult for people to read? I suspect
so, for already in my late fifties, I struggle
with the spoken word of those two score
years younger than I.
However, for me, something will remain
unchanged in the book, something I
readily empathise with, and that is John
Ridd's obvious love of his environment.
There is no doubt in my mind that he
loved Exmoor, his home at Oare and,
in particular, his 'Lynn River' which he
mentions some 40 times throughout the
book. Here is how he describes Plover's
Barrows:
Almost everybody knows, in our part
of the world at least, how pleasant
and soft the fall of the land is round
about Plover's Barrows farm. All above
it is strong dark mountain, spread with
heath, and desolate, but near our house
the valleys cove, and open warmth and
shelter. Here are trees, and bright green
grass, and orchards full of contentment,
and a man may scarce espy the brook,
although he hears it everywhere. And
indeed a stout good piece of it comes
through our farm-yard, and swells
sometimes to a rush of waves, when
the clouds are on the hill-tops. But all
below, where the valley bends, and the
Lynn stream comes along with it, pretty
meadows slope their breast, and the sun
spreads on the water...
Why does John's passion for his home
and the Lynn Stream resonate with me so?
Well, for two decades my wife Lynne and
I lived at Combe Park, on the bank of the
Hoar Oak Water. For three years we lived
and worked in mid-Wales on the bank of
the Avon Cammarch. Now we are
privileged to live overlooking the Severn
Sea. Like the Ridds at Plover's Barrows
farm, the constant sound of water, in all
its moods, has been the musical score
that has accompanied our lives.
One of my favourite walks is to follow the
river, from source to sea, from Brendon
Two Gates, starting at Hoccombe Water,
on to Badgworthy and finally down the
East Lyn to Lynmouth. I've walked and
worked along parts of this route for so
long now that memories are triggered by
landmarks along it: sitting in the sun on
a tuft of grass near the footbridge below
Tom's Hill Barrows watching the river as
a kingfisher flashed by, too quickly to
fully appreciate its finery; seeing a heron
lift off, like some prehistoric dinosaur,
from the heronry below Lank Combe;
watching dippers walk under the water
50 Exmoor Spring 2019
from the riverbank by the Memorial to
Blackmore under Cloud Hill.
I tried fishing the East Lyn once. My dear,
recently departed friend and true
gentleman of Exmoor, John Pedder,
taught me to fish with a fly rod from the
footbridge at Myrtleberry after I had
spent the morning at my Saturday job
mowing the lawns of that beautiful place.
John patiently coaxed my inexperienced
technique until, to the delight of us both,
a brown trout took the fly and I clumsily
played it back to the bridge. Alas, without
his help, I seldom caught anything ever
again and gave up the idea that I may
become a fisherman. In truth, unlike John
Ridd who fished for 'loach' as food on the
Lyn as a boy, I have to admit to loathing
the thought of actually killing the fish;
they look so much more at home in the
pools of the Lyn than on my dinner plate.
Many years ago, in February of all
months, I spent several days wading in
the East Lyn, at Long Pool, where several
largish trees had come down into the
river. With chainsaw in hand, before we
gave much thought to risk assessments,
I would wade out and cut limbs from the
trees before tying a rope around them
and signalling for them to be pulled back
to the bank where they were cut up and
stacked or burnt. The water was so cold
my legs would grow goose bumps, sting
and were painful to touch, and by the
end of the day I would go home with no
feeling in my hands. In fact, I remember a
colleague at the time whose hands were
so cold he could do nothing more than
sit down with them tucked under his
thighs; I remember tears rolling down his
face with the pain as he repeatedly swore
he had frostbite. I suspect his protestations
were not too far from the truth.
Although the Lyn can appear gentle at
times, it should never be underestimated.
As John Ridd says, "It swells sometimes to
a rush of waves". During heavy rain I have
stood at Watersmeet and watched the
waters rise with astonishing speed;
someone told me once "an inch of rain
on the Chains can lift the river a foot".
I have witnessed this first-hand on several
occasions and, if the rains continue to fall,
the normally quite placid stream will
begin to rumble with the sound of
boulders and take on an earthy smell of
peat from the high moor. It becomes
a truly awesome force of nature.
My favourite season is the spring and,
in my opinion, one of the best places to
enjoy the wonders of the season is along
the banks of this, one of Exmoor's truly
beautiful rivers. Dappled light playing on
sparkling pools, brown trout rising for a
fly, dippers and wagtails flitting about in
search of food and nesting materials. The
ceaseless noise of water tumbling down
over shallow falls into gin-clear waters...
Very little has changed since John Ridd
stumbled into that little bower and found
his Lorna Doone.
Follow Julian's diary at: www.facebook.
com/ExmoorNatureDiary.
Exmoor Spring 2019 51
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52 Exmoor Spring 2019
ENVIRONMENT PART I
Natural Flood Management
on the Holnicote Estate
WORDS by Ben Bryant
PHOTOS by Nigel Hester
Rivers have always played
a key role in civilisation.
They brought life and
prosperity, they provided
trade links and were a source
of food. They were, and still
are, used for irrigation and
even at times of flooding they
deposit silt and sediment to
create rich, fertile soils that
are perfect for growing crops.
They're intrinsically linked to
our social and recreational
activities too as we fish, walk
alongside or even take to the
water itself.
For all their beauty and
calming nature though,
they also possess a much
darker side. They're constantly
changing, restless, moving
and reactive. They can bring
life but also devastation. They
flow and, in doing so, they
erode, they carry and they
deposit material. Whilst
creating landforms on the one
hand, they destroy them with
the other.
Moving laterally across
floodplains they seek new
ground, looking to migrate
to fresh territory. The river
wants to move, and keep on
moving. Humans have long
attempted to shackle and
restrain waterways but the
river is something of an
enigma. You think you've got
them sussed, but turn your
back for a moment, and they
can easily surprise you.
For a long time the thinking
was that rivers needed to
be straightened, widened,
deepened and kept free of
debris and blockages, the
theory being that the faster
the water flows, the faster it
can leave the land behind.
While this is true to a degree,
this strategy has huge
potential to backfire.
If the velocity of water
is increased through the
traditional methods of river
management there comes a
point, when the many streams
and rivers of a catchment
converge, that the volume of
water exceeds the capacity
Exmoor Spring 2019 53
From left: Upland interventions to slow the flow in the headwaters of the Horner Water; 'leaky weir' built to spill water out onto the
floodplain during high flows; Allerford cottages during an estimated 1:75-year flood event, 2016; temporary flood storage on farmland.
of the channel to hold it. At
that stage the excess water
spreads onto the surrounding
land, causing a plethora of
issues and problems – flooded
properties, damaged transport
links, contamination from
sewage pipes and drains and
the loss of crops and grazing
land to name just a few.
The impacts – environmental,
economic and social – are
far-reaching.
As the impacts of climate
change become better
understood and more widely
felt, and budget constraints
place an inevitable limit on
our use of conventional flood
management methods, we
strive, inevitably, to find new
solutions. By working with
nature, rather than fighting it,
the possibilities begin to
open up.
The National Trust's Holnicote
Estate, between Minehead
and Porlock, has been at the
forefront of natural flood
management for a number
of years and something of a
quiet revolution has been
taking place in the catchments
of the Horner and Aller rivers.
So subtle are some of the
measures that have been put
in place here that you'd be
hard pushed to even spot
them. This isn't a scheme built
out of concrete and steel, it's
something entirely different.
Porlock Vale Streams is part of
the National Trust's Riverlands
programme that was launched
in October 2018. It follows
on from the successful Source
to Sea project which ran at
Holnicote from 2009. While
Source to Sea was primarily
about natural flood
management, Riverlands
is designed to deliver more
than flood alleviation; it's also
about creating new habitats,
providing resilient catchments
and connecting people with
the environment.
Project Manager for the
Porlock Vale Streams project
is Ben Eardley, who explains,
"It's not just about focusing
on the river, but the whole
landscape around the river.
For a lot of people when they
think of a river it's just the
section through their town or
village and whether it floods
or not. They won't necessarily
think of where that river has
come from or what's going on
in the upland areas that might
affect the river as it moves
through the catchment."
The earlier Source to Sea
work showed that small-scale
interventions upstream can
have a significant impact
downstream and it's this that
the current project is keen to
improve on. Although the
area isn't densely populated, it
does have a lot of high-value
property and it's important
that is protected. It's been
estimated that there are 30 to
40 million pounds worth of
properties at risk from flooding
and that, if there was a serious
flood, around 90 properties
would be in the flood
footprint, including places
like Allerford, Bossington and
West Luccombe.
The catchment areas of the
Aller and the Horner are very
small as far as rivers go, which
gives a very short lag time. In
short, the lag time is the time
difference between when the
rainfall is at its heaviest and
when the river level is at its
highest. A short lag time can
lead to a very 'flashy' river,
where the levels can rise and
fall swiftly.
The management and
topography of the land can
alter that lag time quite
significantly, as Ben explains.
"Historically, some of the area
has been deforested, the
grazing here can cause the
ground to become compacted
and the upland areas often
have steep ground." This
combination can lead to
a lot of water getting into
the streams and rivers very
quickly. "Any rain that does fall
in those areas can't be held by
the land," says Ben. "Instead,
it just runs straight off the land
into the river network. This
project is about mitigating
that quick exit of water into
the channels and creating a
catchment that doesn't just
capture the water, but holds
it. The higher up a catchment
you can hold it, the better.
We need to be considering a
whole catchment approach,
from the uplands down to
where the river meets the sea."
The concept of holding water
might, potentially, conjure up
images of lakes and reservoirs
whereas, in truth, the concept
is more about slowing down
the rate of movement from
the upper to the lower
courses. The techniques for
getting this slower flow are, in
the main, relatively simple. In
fact, some are actually more
about what isn't done rather
than what is. For a long time it
was standard practice to keep
stream and river channels
completely clear of debris and
any fallen branches, trees and
general stream detritus were
removed to create a clear path
for the water. On this project
debris is purposefully being
left in the channel, giving rise
to what are known as 'leaky
weirs' and 'woody dams'.
Whilst not stopping the water
from moving, they're intended
to impede the flow.
For the water that does make
it down to the Vale there is
another very simple, but very
effective, measure in place, as
Ben explains. "We've got five
bunds which are, effectively,
grassy banks and behind those
the field level has been lowered
ever so slightly to create
a temporary holding area.
They act as mini, temporary
reservoirs, but for the vast
majority of the time they don't
affect the land use. They've
been successful because of
54 Exmoor Spring 2019
View from the south showing a bund retaining a large amount
of floodwater.
their ability to hold larger
volumes of water back.
By doing that they also give
you time; there is a chance
to alert the residents and
settlements further down the
catchment." The bunds are
more than just about reducing
the impact of flooding, though.
"We want them to be very
naturalised," says Ben, "so that
they create habitats, such as
wet woodlands and meadows.
So, as well as having a flood
mitigation benefit, there is
also the habitat benefit, too."
The concept of natural flood
management has been
around for a while now, albeit
on a relatively small scale,
but its profile was raised
significantly across the winter
of 2013-14. "It was incredibly
timely really," says Ben. "There
was a lot of severe flooding
taking place and the
Government realised they had
to do something more than
just resort to the traditional
methods such as dredging.
It's something that bodies
like the Environment Agency
and DEFRA had been looking
into for a while. There's been
a progression in thought and
much has been done on the
academic side of things with
regards to data monitoring,
so that the effectiveness of
strategies can be seen."
For those who remain
unconvinced of the scheme's
effectiveness, there is more
than just anecdotal evidence
to consider. Two years of data
monitoring was undertaken
during the establishment of
the scheme to understand the
full dynamics of the river.
That monitoring was then
continued following the
installation of the natural
flood management so that
its impact could be assessed.
The results, as Ben testifies,
have been significant. "Shortly
after the first bunds were
installed there was a pretty
serious weather event, during
which there was a ten per
cent reduction in peak flow –
and that meant that properties
further down in the
catchment which had flooded
previously didn't flood."
It's not just a one-off success;
2016 saw even more severe
flooding, the scale of which
should only occur once every
75 years, and again not a
single property suffered
flooding.
Big things often have small
beginnings but, perhaps, the
rest of the country, and even
beyond, could learn a lot
from what is happening in this
sleepy little corner of Exmoor.
READ MORE
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holnicote-estate
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/riverlands-how-wekeep-our-rivers-flowing
Step out onto Exmoor
this spring
Discover the Holnicote Estate
If you're looking to grab some fresh air this spring,
then why not explore the Holnicote Estate?
On your visit look out for lambs at Horner, bluebells
in the woods and perhaps enjoy a tasty treat at one of
our quaint tea-rooms such as Kitnor's at Bossington?
Call 01643 862452 for details
nationaltrust.org.uk/holnicote-estate
When you visit, donate, volunteer or join the National Trust, your
support helps us to look after special places for ever, for everyone.
© National Trust 2018. The National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846.
Photography © National Trust Images\National Trust images/ John Millar.
#nationaltrust
BLACKSMITHING, WELDING AND FABRICATION
ARTISTIC, ARCHITECTURAL AND RESTORATION SPECIALISTS
Gates, railings,
handrails, balustrades,
balconies, staircases,
fire escapes, sculptural
and artistic metalwork,
home and garden
metalwork, chandeliers
and lighting, curtain
rails, repairs and
restorations including redecoration, coded welding
services, fully mobile welding services, steel sales.
www.westcountryblacksmiths.co.uk
tel 01643 863339
ALLERFORD FORGE, ALLERFORD,
NR MINEHEAD, EXMOOR, SOMERSET, TA24 8HN
Exmoor Spring 2019 55
The Exmoor Mires
Partnership (EMP) is the
culmination of several
projects that began over 20
years ago, back in 1998. It
presents a real opportunity to
make a significant difference
to the peatlands of Exmoor
by implementing sustainable
hydrological management in
upland river catchments.
Peatlands cover 11% of
England's landscape and are
nationally and internationally
recognised as they provide
a habitat for a wide range of
wildlife and birds, as well as
rare plant species. They also
provide an estimated 70%
of our drinking water and
they are the UK's single-most
important terrestrial carbon
store, containing 20 times
more carbon than all UK
forests.
The overall aim of the Exmoor
Mires Partnership project is to
restore the hydrological
function of the relatively
shallow peatland-covered
headwaters of the River Exe
and other Exmoor catchments,
with multiple benefits to the
upland environment and
society. The project is
undertaking a forwardthinking,
all-encompassing
monitoring and research
programme in order to
quantify the impacts on
water quantity, quality,
carbon storage and greenhouse
gaseous flux, as well as
ENVIRONMENT PART II
Upstream Thinking
The Exmoor Mires Partnership
WORDS by Morag Angus, Mires Manager
on agriculture, ecology,
archaeology and landscape.
These peatland landscapes
have been an intrinsic part of
Exmoor for over 5,000 years.
During this time human
intervention has modified the
form and function of these
blanket, spring and valley
mires. In particular, agricultural
drainage, peat cutting and
burning have modified the
hydrology and dried out the
upper layers of the peat,
causing oxidation, erosion and
vegetation change. In addition
to the historic disturbance of
the peat, recently observed
global climate change trends
may further threaten the
continued existence of actively
growing peatlands. Their loss
would result in significant
ecological and landscape
change and a reduced
water- and carbon-storage
function.
Exmoor Mires is funded
by South West Water (SWW),
Natural England, the
Environment Agency (EA) and
DEFRA. It is a partnership
project made up of SWW,
EA, Exmoor National Park
Authority (ENPA), Natural
England (NE) and Historic
England (HE), with additional
representation from Exmoor
farmers and the local
community. We also work
closely with the University
of Exeter, and with numerous
contractors and volunteers
to deliver a wide range of
monitoring and research.
RESTORATION WORK
Before any restoration takes
place, the EMP team carries
out a large body of work to
compile a Restoration Plan
for each site. Each plan
assesses any potential impact
of the restoration on the
ecology, historic environment,
landscape, access assessments
and land management, and
estimates the costs associated
with any ditch-blocking work.
All appropriate Government
bodies, landowners and
farmers have input into
the plans and what final
restoration happens on
the ground.
Initial analysis of remote
sensing data and aerial
photography illustrate the
location of ditches and peat
cuttings. Between the project
staff, interns and volunteers,
an amazing 4,133 hectares of
moorland has been surveyed.
Working in pairs, the team
uses handheld GPS units to
record the length, depth,
width and peat depth of
ditches. Peat depths on
Exmoor vary from just a
few centimetres to over 2m,
averaging around 33cm.
Restoration is carried out
between August and April,
avoiding the breeding season
for ground-nesting birds.
Owing to the delicate nature
of peat, the diggers used
need to be of very particular
specifications. These include:
wide tracks to provide greater
weight distribution, weight
no greater than 7-8 tonnes,
a rotating bucket head in
order to reduce the amount
the digger moves around, and
a toothless bucket to ensure
less disturbance, particularly
to anything historical hidden
in the peat.
The restoration work entails
using locally developed ditchblocking
techniques on
drainage networks, eroding
gullies and peat cuttings, to
re-wet extensive areas of
damaged peatlands. These
techniques have evolved over
the years through trial and
error and through advice and
requests from landowners
and tenants. The project has
a strong working relationship
with local contractors to
deliver the bulk of the work,
with a pool of amazing
volunteers who tackle minor
maintenance works.
The overall restoration aim
is to install 'blocks' along the
ditches to encourage water
out of the ditch and across
the moor, slowing the rate
at which water leaves the
moorland and increasing
its storage capacity. Broadly
speaking, blocks installed in
the ditches can comprise a
combination of peat, wood
and bales (made out of
Molinia caerulea, locally
known as 'sedge grass'). The
wood for the blocks comes
from local plantations, and
it is then planked to our
requirements and left
untreated. The frequency of
blocks installed is high enough
to enable the pools which
form behind them to extend
back to the base of the next
block. This keeps the water
table high and helps prevent
erosion at the base of the
blocks from any overflowing
water. Shallow pools are
desirable to promote
Sphagnum growth.
56 Exmoor Spring 2019
Peat blocks along drainage ditch showing
water stored behind the block, Great Buscombe.
Bales and backfill materials
are sometimes used to fill
any deeper voids along the
ditch. This creates a safer
environment for stock and
recreational users. The decision
as to the type of block to be
used in an area depends on
several factors, such as the size
of the ditch, the gradient of
the slope, and the volume
of water that flows down the
ditch, or the landscape impact.
To date, over 2,000 hectares
of damaged peatland have
been restored, with a further
760 hectares being considered
unsuitable for restoration. The
project is looking to restore
another 1,000 hectares.
MONITORING
In order to understand the
pre- and post-restoration
effectiveness of any works
on the peatland ecosystem,
a wide range of scientific
research has been undertaken
and this is ongoing. To date,
the data coming out from
all the research is showing
very positive results as to the
effectiveness of the peatland
restoration on Exmoor and
the project's holistic approach
in achieving this.
The aim of the hydrological
monitoring is to understand
the quality and quantity of
water leaving the moor – that
is, clean up the water leaving
the moor and slow the rate
at which it leaves.
KEY RESULTS
Within one of our monitoring
catchments we are seeing
an average decrease in depth
to groundwater levels of
between 1.03–2.65cm,
which equates to a two-thirds
reduction in water leaving
the catchment.
The aim of the biodiversity
monitoring is to understand
whether we are seeing
positive changes in the
peatland-associated species
and habitats, and by carrying
out the work we are having
a positive impact on slowing
the national decline in nature.
Vegetation is used as a proxy
of change, that is, if we see
bog species (Sphagna and
cotton grasses), returning to
the moor and species like
purple moor grass (Molinia
caerulea), we know there have
been significant changes in
the hydrology and that the
peatland is working again. Five
out of seven restoration sites
are showing positive botanical
changes. Breeding snipe have
been seen at two restoration
sites which previously had
none. In the context of there
being only eight breeding
snipe locations on Exmoor
in 2011, this is a significant
result. The Exehead/Blackpitts
restored sites have become
the best sites in Somerset for
black darter and common
hawker dragonflies, upland
species which require open
water. This success is due to
the pools which were created
by restoration that happened
in several phases up until
2007; prior to this there was
no surface water on the site.
In order to understand the
past historic environment we
undertake walkover surveys,
case study sites are set up
where extensive geophysics
are undertaken, and paleoenvironmental
monitoring
has also been carried out.
Around 300 previously
unrecorded archaeological
features and sites, ranging in
date from around 6,000BC
to the twentieth century,
have been found. The new
evidence has included
prehistoric standing stones
and cairns, Victorian mining
works, disused roads and
tracks and Second World War
military training features.
Techniques such as tephra
chronology (analying dust
from volcanic eruptions)
also give us clues about the
story of the environment
laid down in the peat.
PARASITES
Will the peatland restoration
have an impact on agriculture,
with regards to parasites?
The sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus,
is a vector for a number of
diseases including bovine
babesiosis. Research has
shown no significant
difference of incidences
between pre and post
restoration and that
incidences are higher in
dry grassland and brackendominated
habitats,
compared with bog habitat.
The snail Galba truncatula is
an intermediate host of liver
fluke, Fasciola hepatica, and
is a cause of major economic
loss for farmers. Research has
reported that G. truncatula
does not occur on peat soils
and therefore re-wetting to
create bog (peat) habitats
is unlikely to create suitable
habitat for the snail. Research
has also shown that the snail
favours muddy habitats with
rich algal growth, conditions
not consistent with peat soils.
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers are actively
involved in a wide range of
activities within the project,
ranging from running,
leading and organising
educational walks, talks and
events, to practical work such
as small-scale ditch blocking
and maintenance work, survey
and research, publicity work,
office work, and so on. The
project has benefited from
over 1,000 days (7,000 hours)
of volunteering, with a
nominal in-kind value of
£50,900. Over 4,000 people
have been engaged through
our community outreach
work, which has included,
for example, the Bogtastic
CLOWNS Play Bus and the
Bogtastic Summer Festival.
The holistic aims and
approaches in delivery of the
project, which involve local
individuals, community
groups, the farmers who
manage the land and partner
organisation has enabled
successful landscape peatland
conservation to happen
on the ground.
FIND OUT MORE
www.exmoormires.org.uk
There is a walk on Saturday
16 February, 'Birds, Bogs and
Barrows', at Hangley Cleave,
2-6pm. Join the EMP Team
on a walk across areas of
restored blanket bog to learn
about the work. Look out for
bird species associated with
the mires and see the rich
archaeological landscape of
the high moor. Free event.
Meet at Ashcombe car park,
Simonsbath. T: 01398
315011 to book your place.
Here: Restoration work at Spooners Monitoring Catchment.
Page 56: Deer Park restoration work, March 2014.
Exmoor Spring 2019 57
landowners/managers are
eligible to apply to a small
capital grants fund offering
50% of costs, up to a maximum
of £4,000 per holding, to
support work on the farm that
will help protect water quality.
Headwaters of the Exe
WORDS by Heather Harley, Programme Manager
The Headwaters of the Exe
project was launched in 2016
and also forms part of South
West Water's Upstream
Thinking programme, offering
an innovative way to improve
the quality of drinking water
being abstracted from rivers
in ten catchments across the
South West.
It costs South West Water
(SWW) more to treat water
that contains silt, fertiliser
or pesticides to make the
high-quality water we expect
from our taps. The idea behind
Upstream Thinking is to lower
this cost by improving the
quality of 'raw' river water.
On this basis, SWW is funding
three projects on the River
Exe, of which Headwaters of
the Exe is one, which will run
until March 2020.
I picked up the baton from
Bea Davis in August 2018.
It's very much a partnership
project, with SWW, Exmoor
National Park Authority
(ENPA), Exmoor Hill Farming
Network (EHFN) and the
Farming and Wildlife Advisory
Group SouthWest (FWAG
SW). We have a steering
group comprising local
landowners and organisations
including the Exmoor Society
and the Exmoor Rivers and
Streams Group. The University
of Exeter and volunteers
carry out monitoring to
ensure that the project is
having the desired effect.
By working together with local
landowners and managers,
we hope to deliver multiple
benefits for the upper Exe
catchment.
Through the project, local
contractors are carrying out
work to reduce the amount
of sediment washing off
footpaths and bridleways
and entering watercourses.
Reduced sediment in turn
reduces treatment costs and
improves the river habitat for
many species. Atlantic salmon,
for instance, travel long
distances to reach the rivers
and streams of Exmoor in
order to spawn, but the
gravels, or 'redds', in which
they spawn are threatened by
siltation which could make
conditions unsuitable. These
improvements will have direct
benefits for water quality,
wildlife and also for users of
the Rights of Way network.
Farmers and woodland
owners are offered
management advice and
grants. Through the project,
advisors from ENPA and
FWAG SW offer free advisory
visits within the catchment.
During these visits, advisers
make recommendations for
work which could be done
to improve water quality;
these are incorporated into a
confidential bespoke report
for each holding. Each report
provides advice on possible
funding sources. Where no
funding source exists,
The previous manure storage area
and the area now.
One farmer who has worked
with the project said, "We
received funding towards the
cost of a covered manure
store. Now that we no longer
have a muck heap in the field,
the pasture is improving.
We don't need to use a tractor
in the field in winter, which
allows us to avoid making ruts
and the manure retains its
nutrients." In the previous
manure storage area (below,
left), various issues included
poaching from livestock and
machinery and rainwater
mixing with dung, creating
risk of contaminated runoff
and nutrient loss. In the new,
grant-funded manure store
(below, right), clean and dirty
water are now separated and
manure can be spread when
soil conditions are good,
thereby protecting fields and
soil health.
Whilst on the farms, FWAG
SW advisors can offer sitespecific
advice on a range of
topics including soil health,
manure, fertiliser and pesticide
use, improvements to habitats
and wildlife, protecting
historic features and
conserving Exmoor's
landscape. Advisors can
provide links to other projects
and funding, too, such as
58 Exmoor Spring 2019
advice on grants through
the DEFRA Countryside
Stewardship Scheme.
Working with the EHFN, the
project runs events covering
topics such as grassland
management, soil husbandry
and woodland management.
In May 2018, an event
focusing on internal parasite
monitoring and control
in sheep and cattle was
particularly successful.
This was followed by six
practical faecal-egg-counting
sessions, hosted by Exmoor
Farmers Livestock Auctions,
enabling farmers to treat for
parasites only when absolutely
necessary. These events have
increased engagement with
farmers within the catchment
and wider community.
Since mid-2018 the project
has run a pesticide amnesty.
To date, 191.5 litres of liquid
pesticide and 5.5kg of
powdered pesticide, along
with 2,300 litres of 50%
sulphuric acid, has been
removed from the catchment.
This is a huge success story
for the catchment, for the
farmers working here and
the environment.
Woodland and game shoot
managers can also receive
advice and grants to improve
water quality and increase
best practice, such as
improving track management
and reducing pressure on
vulnerable areas.
Adam Lockyear, FWAG SW
Senior Farm Conservation
Advisor, is proud of the
project's achievements to
date. He says, "We have
engaged with a high number
of farmers over a large
proportion of the catchment
area on a very wide range
of subjects including
wildlife, conservation, yard
infrastructure and soil
management. The diversity
of advice and level of
engagement is incredibly
beneficial to the catchment."
The project also supports the
River Barle Invasive Crayfish
Project, which works as a
strong partnership between
organisations, such as the
Environment Agency and the
River Exe and Tributaries
Association, working together
with a team of dedicated
volunteers. The team is
trialling a ground-breaking
piece of research to control
non-native invasive signal
crayfish on the River Barle,
which may offer a possible
way of controlling this invasive
species in future.
The project works with the
Exmoor Knotweed Control
Partnership to reduce a
number of non-native
knotweed species within the
catchment area. The project
has begun an exciting new
trial of methods for controlling
knotweed on land which
is managed organically.
At present it is not possible to
treat these sites through the
Exmoor Knotweed Control
Project, as a chemical
herbicide is used as part of the
treatment process. Consent
is sought annually from
landowners and the
Environment Agency to treat
sites, but clearly this treatment
is not allowed on organic
land. The Headwaters of the
Exe project hopes to look
in detail at whether there
is a viable alternative for
controlling invasive species
on organic land on Exmoor.
So the next time we drink
a glass of water, we can be
assured of the hard work
taking place in our catchments,
that benefits both the
environment and the water
that flows out of our taps.
FIND OUT MORE
www.exmoor-nationalpark.
gov.uk/living-and-working/
headwaters-of-the-exeproject
T. 01398 322277
E. hjharley@exmoornationalpark.gov.uk.
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Day ticket fishing available. Local advice.
Dulverton Angling Association membership available.
Walking boots, socks, compasses.
Large selection of Barbour clothing.
www.lance-nicholson.co.uk
Exmoor Spring 2019 59
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60 Exmoor Spring 2019
The
Dandelion
and
the Bee
WORDS & PHOTOS
by Jane A. Mares
L
ight spreads from the east while the lane is yet in
shadow, night's stillness lingering among the oaks,
deepening the air of composure, of inner calm,
that wraps mature trees. Larks sing from the hill; soon
the rhapsody of blackbirds fills the valley. As the sun touches
the hedgetops a whitethroat carries a phrase up into the oak,
then swoops back into the cover of the hedge and falls silent.
He has all day to sing, and it is not yet 7am. Dew hangs from
every grass-tip, silvers stitchwort and cow parsley.
Dandelions are still abed, enfolded in their green bracts.
But by and by, when the sun has drawn the scent from nettle
and fern and there is a new song of tiny wings traversing the
morning air – then the taraxacum flowers stretch wide in the
warmth. From before March to beyond October a bloom may
show here and there, but April into May is prime dandelion
time, when a thousand and one 'yellow suns' colour wayside
and pasture, carrying spring across the West Country like a
long, celebratory cheer. Or is it a roar? 'Dens leonis' the Romans
called the plant; the French named it 'dent de lion' which
was anglicised into dandelion, probably from the jagged
appearance of the leaves, serrated as a lion's jaw. Although
there is something leonine, too, in the bold hue of the flowers,
the way the hundreds of florets that compose each head lie
close and trim and soft as fur. Do they purr, if stroked? No, that
is the red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) humming under
her breath as she works from bloom to bloom. Dandelions
flower early and long, and figure among the top 20 favourite
bee plants, rich in both nectar and pollen, although the 'fatherdust'
is sterile, and plants can reproduce apomictically, which
means they do not require outside fertilisation to set seed.
It is easy to recognise a dandelion on the lawn, but to tell one
sort from another requires close inspection, or the trained eye
of a taraxacologist. There are some 150 dandelions native to
the British Isles, but arrivals from elsewhere have increased the
record by another 100 and numbers will doubtless rise. Nature
is an enthusiastic adjuster of life, quick to give a tweak here,
that allows something to fit a space there, and taraxaca illustrate
this with gusto, adapting to almost every habitat from hilltop to
shoreline. Around Upton Church blooms T. nordstedii; Webber's
Post is home to T. faeroense; while the Erythrosperma group
have settled around Dunster Beach. Specimen collectors are
active between February and May, when dandelion varieties
come closest to looking like what they are! A checklist of
some 15 features aids identification, from the smoothness of
Exmoor Spring 2019 61
The Dandelion and the Bee
Clockwise from top left: Solitary bees mating in Brendon churchyard on a hawkbit; bee on borage flowers; honeybee on lavender;
Andrena haemorrhoa resting on a leaf with a full pollen basket; dandelions, daisies and forget-me-nots; solitary bee gathering
pollen from an opium poppy; bumblebee visiting flowers of a white dead-nettle. Centre: Bombus hortorum and foxglove.
the stem to the shape of the seed. Soil type, season, even the
weather must be taken into account, for although the leopard
cannot change its spots, a dandelion may lose its markings.
"You have to be quick to identify T. pseudolarssonii," Jeanne
Webb tells me, "as its spots may wash off in the rain". Jeanne is
a member of the Somerset Rare Plants group (see Winter Issue
2018) and has spent hours, days and years seeking, collecting,
pressing, mounting and identifying wild plants. Her work is both
scientifically accurate and artistically sensitive and reminds me
of an observation by Sir Joseph Paxton, "Botany is... the science
of beauty." Her quiet enthusiasm is endearing. "It's a compulsive
hobby," she admits. "I suffer from Taraxacitus! They are lovely
plants, each one is like unfolding a gift, with layers of surprises.
The humble dandelion can be so interesting and diverse...
We should be caring more for nature." Yes, indeed.
Early May, a hillslope carpeted with blooms, the air scented
with a faintly cocoa-like sweetness, musical with tinkling notes,
as if the flowers themselves were singing – but it is a pair of
goldfinches fluttering among the first seed-heads. What colour
are the blooms growing en masse in the spring sunlight?
Lemon-yellow? Orange-yellow? A feather, cast from the wingbar
of one of the finches suggests an answer – goldfinch yellow.
Birds are not the only foragers among the flowers, 93 different
kinds of insects have been discovered frequenting dandelions,
bees being among the foremost. As with the taraxaca, it takes
more than one glance to tell who's who among the bees, of
which the world has no less than 25,000 species. The familiar
beekeeper's bee, the hive bee, Apis mellifera, that provides us
with honey for tea, is responsible for no more than a third of
insect pollination. For the rest we are indebted predominantly
to wild bees, particularly bumblebees, of which the shorthaired,
apple and Cullem's are now extinct in Britain, with
at least another six species in dire need of succour. To offset
this, on a happy day in 2001 we gained a handsome new
bumblebee from France, Bombus hypnorum. Its vernacular
62 Exmoor Spring 2019
The Dandelion and the Bee
name rhymes invitingly: try repeating 'tree bee' three times in
a glad tone, to banish gloom.
The first week in April. Primroses outnumber dandelions in the
narrow green lanes of the west. A mist of blackthorn blossom.
And on the south wind a soft, burring song coming and going
among the pussy-willow. It is a queen bumblebee, thickfurred
and broad in the beam, for none but the strongest and
stoutest survive the long winter-sleep. Unlike the honeybee, the
bumblebee colonies are annual. Of all her community, only
the young mated queen lives to carry hope of a new generation
into the new year. Having satiated her empty stomach with
nectar, the next urgent quest is for a suitable nest site. This
may be above or below ground, under a stone or up in a tree,
depending on her species.
Bumblebees all belong to the genus 'Bombus' meaning buzzing
or booming from their flight-note, akin to the Greek 'bombos',
a deep, hollow sound. Six species belonging to the subgenus
Psithyrus ('murmuring') are cuckoo bees that, like the bird,
build no nest of their own but depend upon that of whichever
bumblebee they target as host to foster their young. Both hive
and bumblebees are social creatures in contrast with the many
classified as solitary that make up 90 per cent of the British bee
population and are often named for their activities, as leafcutters,
masons, carpenters, miners.
Near a well-trodden path across short sward where the early
grass is still sparse enough to show bare earth, an area of
ground is dotted with small holes. At one round entrance a tiny
face peers out. The black eyes, bright with life and sentience,
belong to a grey-haired mining bee, Andrena cineraria. This is
a favourite site, colonised for years, perhaps centuries, with
numerous shafts leading to nest burrows that have been mined
in close, neighbourly proximity. Yet each female works in total
independence, exclusively intent on rearing her own small
brood. On this sunny morning she has caught the perfume of a
flower that is highly popular with her short-tongued species –
dandelions. She struggles up through grass still heavy with dew,
and takes to the air.
Bees know about work from a very early age, and there is no
time to lose. The pasture that at one moment is ablaze with
yellow blooms will all too soon have dimmed to a scattering
of ghost-candles. No longer "the Queen's hairy dog-flower", as
gypsies once called them, the taraxaca will have matured into
'blowballs', 'time-tellers,' 'the schoolboy's clock', from which
the hours may be puffed away, until the last seeds vanish like
soap-bubbles into the sky, and all that remains is the disc that
anchored them, pitted and bald, reminiscent of a 'monk's
head' or 'priest's crown'. While not as numerous as its seeds
(one flower may produce 170, a single plant release 2,000),
the dandelions' many nicknames indicate that its features have
long been familiar to country folk, discovered unscientifically
perhaps, but noted with pleasure and amusement.
Top: Goldfinch feather on a dandelion flower.
Three in a row, left to right: Grey-haired mining bee, Andrena
cineraria; leaf-cutter bee on an everlasting pea; tawny mining
bee, Andrena fulva, emerging in spring.
Centre: Bumblebee drinking nectar from a sedum.
Above, left and right: Dandelion leaf, T. pseudolarssonii;
dandelion seed-head.
Bottom: A meadow of dandelions and daisies on Exmoor.
It is not the unacademic mind that most threatens the world
of nature, but the indifferent heart. Indeed, happy the eye
that sees a hawkweed (245 different species) as a beautiful
dandelion; the child that sees a dandelion as a dandy lion.
Perhaps happiest of all the idler in the sunny meadow, beguiled
by the murmur of nameless bees among nameless flowers,
as the long golden day drifts towards evening.
Exmoor Spring 2019 63
Under the stars
B L I N DW E L L B U N K H O U S E
Devon/Somerset border,
stunning views. On cycle
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Open all year.
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E. delbridge.carol@googlemail.com
www.blindwellbunkhouse.co.uk
B U R R O W H AY E S F A R M
C A R A V A N & C A M P I N G S I T E
A select family site with
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Just 2 miles from the
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T. 01643 862463 E. info@burrowhayes.co.uk
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D O O N E VA L L E Y
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Friendly, family campsite,
dog friendly, have a camp
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Private group field for
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C A M P S I T E
Glebe House, Oare, Lynton, Devon EX35 6NU
Mrs Carol Burge. T. 01598 741267
Caroline.burge@btconnect.com
Photo by Paul Howell, courtesy of South West Lakes Trust
E X E VA L L E Y C A R AVA N S I T E
Adults only, flat, spacious
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www.exevalleycamping.co.uk
HALSE FARM CARAVAN & CAMPING SITE
Halse Farm is the ideal
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Exmoor. Clean heated
shower block. Childrens
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T. 01643 851259 E. info@halsefarm.co.uk
www.halsefarm.co.uk
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Static caravans decorated
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are available to rent on
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All bedding, towels &
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N ORTH M ORTE F ARM
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beautiful countryside
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S I M O N S B AT H H O U S E
H O T E L , C O T TA G E S A N D
This stunning property
in the heart of Exmoor
is an ideal base for
walkers or special
interest/school groups.
B U N K H O U S E
Simonsbath House, Simonsbath, Exmoor TA24 7SH
Tel: 01643 831259 email: enquiries@shoc.info
www.simonsbathhouse.co.uk
S T R E A M C O M B E W E D D I N G S
Rustic outdoor venue
with marquee & stone
barns, woodland blessing
area, fabulous food, B&B,
camping, dancing & fire
pits under the stars.
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V A N Q U E S T
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Camper Hire
Conversions
and Sales
C A M P E R V A N S
T. 07976 855549 or 07980 148070
E. mail@vanquest.co.uk
www.vanquest.co.uk
W E S T E R M I L L
Westermill can be
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F A R M
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BOOK ONLINE www.lobbfields.com & view opening dates, tariff & pitch maps or CALL US ON 01271 812090 | info@lobbfields.com | Braunton EX33 1HG
64 Exmoor Spring 2019
PHOTOGRAPHY
Astrophotographer
Will Gater
WORDS by Mel Roach
PHOTOS by Will Gater
Exmoor Spring 2019 65
Photography
Twisting formations within a bright noctilucent cloud display, 9 July 2010. The Orion nebula (Messier 42), Jan. 2017.
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy),
16 January 2015.
The Northern Lights over Somerset showing
bright auroral rays, 22/23 June 2015.
The Andromeda galaxy (M31) and satellite
galaxies M32 & NGC 205.
The moon's craters.
Northern Lights display with bright auroral ray
during G3 (Kp=7) geomagnetic storm, seen from
Somerset, 7 October 2015.
Jupiter and the Great Red
Spot, 5 December 2012.
Taunton-based astronomer,
journalist and astrophotographer,
Will Gater, captures stunning
images of atmospheric and
astronomical objects and phenomena
– the result of 20 years diligently and
obsessively studying the heavens and
honing his photographic technique.
Will has successfully forged his career
in a world with only around 10,000
'professional' astronomers. I met with
him to discuss his varied work and
explore further the assorted wonders
to be found in Exmoor's celebrated
dark skies.
Will's boyhood fascination with space
began simply, with books about space
shuttles and astronauts, then the
Hale-Bopp comet passed over when
Will was still in primary school and
astronomy was then very much 'on his
radar'. In secondary school, Will's interest
really evolved, in large part due to a
'fantastic' science teacher who led
a 'really vibrant' astronomy club.
"The school astronomy group was
brilliant," Will remembers, "so active,
and we were fortunate to have an
observatory to use. I was about 11
when it quickly became a passion
and obsession. It was an exciting time for
astronomy – we had the first Mars rover
and the beginnings of the internet.
I joined Torbay Astronomical Society
who were a really enthusiastic group,
turning up every month, back when we
marvelled at rudimentary internet pages
showing imagery we hadn't seen before...
The confluence of internet and space
missions really made it exciting... and
I only started out with binoculars!"
As well as acquiring astronomical
skills, the teenage Will taught himself
photography by 'trial and error'. Using
his dad's old Olympus camera, he began
attempting to capture the night skies of
nearby Dartmoor. These were the 'predigital'
days, but it was not long before
the immense flexibility and low-cost
66 Exmoor Spring 2019
Photography
imaging afforded by digital cameras
changed the game considerably. Today,
Will produces top-quality nocturnal and
stellar images and, for the past ten years,
has acted as a judge for the Astronomy
Photographer of the Year competition.
Will studied Astrophysics at University
College London and, whilst there,
became news editor of Astronomy Now –
at the time the foremost publication
for astronomy enthusiasts. Since then,
he has written for numerous publications
including New Scientist and the BBC's
Sky At Night Magazine. He has also
authored or co-authored a number
of astronomy books, including the
best-selling introductory handbook,
The Practical Astronomer.
Will's knowledge, enthusiasm and talent
have taken him to many and varied
places; he has worked in the outreach
department of the Hubble space
telescope in Germany, led astronomy
workshops and tours and reported on
astronomy news from Exmoor to the
Arctic. When I met Will he had just
finished putting on his third astronomythemed
'show' at Exeter Phoenix,
entitled 'The Story of the Solar System',
which one reviewer likened to the
Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.
An astronomy 'show' sounded like a
novel concept and I wondered what it
entailed. "It's inspirational imagery, demos
and knowledge with a bit of fun and
panto humour thrown in," Will explains.
"It's great to see how it is received on the
night – you don't get that with writing
– hearing the gasps and amazement
amongst the audience is a thrilling, really
enjoyable, rewarding experience."
Browsing through Will's images takes
you on an otherworldy journey – many
and varied types of celestial objects and
phenomena are represented: distant
nebulae and galaxies, detailed planetary
portraits, eclipses, aurorae, meteors,
nightscapes, star trails and 'moondogs'.
A moondog is the nocturnal version
of a 'sundog', where ice-crystal clouds
produce isolated patches of 'rainbow'
in the sky. Will was particularly pleased
to have recently captured the 'lunar
green flash' – a rare phenomenon, much
sought-after by astrophotographers.
The lunar green flash is caused by the
atmosphere bending light and 'pulling'
green light upwards and a further 'mirage
effect' makes the green light appear
briefly as a green crest or 'flash' on the
top rim of the moon when it is very close
to the horizon.
Will is keen for more people to
discover the wonders of astronomy and
astrophotography, emphasising that
beginners do not need lots of expensive
kit to get going. Good-quality 10 x 50
binoculars, he tells me, are better than
a cheap telescope and add to these a
consumer-level DSLR camera with
just the kit lens and a sturdy tripod.
Astronomical imaging software is widely
available for free. One of the most
challenging, but interesting things a
beginner can attempt, Will suggests, is
meteor photography: "Go out during
the peak night of a meteor shower, if the
skies are clear, finding a good location
away from street lighting and, hopefully,
with no moon. Take a camera and tripod,
point it towards the stars and focus, then
set the camera up to take exposures of
about 20-30 seconds and keep taking
them... you may take hundreds and fill
up your memory card and drain your
batteries, but you may just get one or two
clear images of a meteor. It's brilliant fun
and you can be meteor-watching yourself
at the same time!"
High-resolution lunar and planetary
images are a little more complex to
capture clearly. Will explains this is
because Earth's atmosphere causes
objects to wobble, "like looking through
a swimming pool". Packets of moving
atmosphere refracting and bending the
light causes planets to look like they are
shimmering. Video imaging is frequently
used and freely available image-stacking
software can select the clearest frames
and stack them into one, high-resolution
image. Astrophotographers frequently
employ tracking mounts for cameras,
which track the night sky, or use webcams
in combination with telescopes.
Will explains how weather and
atmospheric conditions are key to
achieving photographic success and
that astronomers refer to these as the
'seeing conditions'. The different seasons
also bring different opportunities and
challenges. Winter brings the thrill of
'aurora-chasing' – although aurora can
appear at any time, long winter nights
make seeing one more likely. Will has
witnessed the spectacular aurorae in
the Arctic, insisting that, "It really is more
breathtaking than anyone can describe –
there is nothing about it that is a let-down
or underwhelming." Will even managed
Top: The North America nebula
(NGC 7000), the bright star Deneb and
nebulosity around the star Sadr.
Second from top: M45 – the Pleiades
star cluster.
Third from top: The Lagoon nebula (M8).
Above: An image of the moon that has
been processed to show the colour
variations (i.e. the different geological
compositions) on the lunar disc.
Page 65: The Milky Way over Exmoor
National Park, Somerset, August 2016.
Exmoor Spring 2019 67
Photography
to capture the aurora when it made a
rare appearance over the Quantocks
some years ago. When aurorae reach
this far south, the dominant colour tends
to be red, rather than the characteristic
greens, because the aurora is structured
almost like a curtain – the top is red and
the bottom is green and at our latitude,
we tend to only see the red portion. Will
explains how true 'astronomical darkness'
is brief in the summer months, so there
is less of a time-window to capture
certain subjects and astronomy tends
to 'wind down'. However, summer in the
northern hemisphere brings noctilucent
clouds which he says are a 'fun' thing
to go hunting for when all else is quiet.
Noctilucent or 'night-shining' clouds are
high-altitude ice-clouds which appear
illuminated in the sky after sunset at
mid- and northern latitudes. At 80km up,
they are still receiving sunlight after the
sun has sunk below our visible horizon.
Noctilucent clouds are rare, but more
likely to be encountered than aurorae
at our latitude.
Will's infectious passion and genuine
desire for widening interest in astronomy
means he is most enthusiastic about
Exmoor's designation (in 2011) as an
'International Dark Sky Reserve' by the
International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).
Exmoor was the first place in Europe to
be awarded this status! The IDA's website
defines suitable sites as "possessing an
exceptional or distinguished quality of
starry nights and nocturnal environment
that is specifically protected for its
scientific, natural, educational, cultural,
heritage and/or public enjoyment."
"It is an amazing thing for the area,"
Will enthuses. "I am really keen for
people to appreciate how special the
dark sky designation is and to spread the
word about its significance, because it is
vulnerable. The LED lighting revolution
could be a disaster for astronomy and
people being aware of these issues when
installing lights is really important – a
single security light from 1km away can
affect the visibility of objects and quality
of images.
"Exmoor is where I do most of my dark
sky photography, especially the very
dark, far western side of the moor. I also
do a lot around Exford. In the summer
months, Exmoor sees a particularly
bright, detailed and rich area of the Milky
Way over the southern horizon; we are
looking towards its heart in summer
– a central bulge, full of rich, dense star
fields and dark patches, which are not
an absence of stars, but silhouettes of
dust clouds. There are also some nebulae
visible to the naked eye here – if you
look for the faint form of the Milky Way,
you may see small ghostly patches, half a
little-fingernail at arm's length... these are
little star-nurseries. The Lagoon nebula
can be seen without binoculars on very
clear, transparent summer nights. Also the
Andromeda galaxy, 2.5 million light years
away – that says a lot about the clarity of
Exmoor's skies, they really are something
to celebrate and protect."
READ MORE
willgater.com
www.willgaterastrophotography.com
www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/enjoying/stargazing
Left, from top: Harvest moon rise, 24 September 2018;
twilight star trails over Dartmoor National Park, 17 June 2017;
Mars, eight days after opposition, rising over Exmoor National Park, 4 August 2018.
68 Exmoor Spring 2019
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Exmoor Spring 2019 69
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70 Exmoor Spring 2019
GARDENS
Telling Stories:
Plants and Gardens
at Dunster Castle
WORDS by Rosemary FitzGerald
CONTEMPORARY PHOTOS
by Julia Amies-Green
Exmoor Spring 2019 71
So my perception of the Castle was long
restricted to an historic image of a famous
picture (the raising of the Green Howards
regiment), interest in a rare tree, and shopping
trips to Minehead enlivened on days when a
magnificent farm animal is visible. Then, during
document sorting after the death of Sir Walter
Luttrell at East Quantoxhead, fate gave me a
clue to the possible importance of gardens at
the Castle.
During thirty years of living in West Somerset I have never thought of
Dunster Castle in terms of its gardens. Some National Trust properties
are defined by theirs, but Dunster has such presence in the landscape,
perched on its rock above the outstandingly picturesque village, that its
appearance from a distance governs all other impressions. It's famous as the
long-term seat of the Luttrell family, and has countless associations with the
history of the Quantocks and Exmoor. There are daily and annual additions
to that famous view – Dunster Show is held on the former Polo Field, and
sometimes impressive longhorn cattle graze the fields. For botanists there is
the presence of true black poplar trees along fence lines (and we grieve the
occasional loss). These trees can be part of landscape history – females are
extremely rare in Britain, so most trees must have been deliberately planted,
and they were long used as boundary markers for parishes and ownerships.
They are a speciality of former and present Luttrell holdings, from Kilve to
Minehead.
A collection of paper fragments was found,
possibly assembled to make something like
one of the 'scrap screens' which were a popular
Victorian schoolroom craft. Among them were
watercolour images of single auricula flowers.
Like many gardeners I had longed to grow
these difficult primrose relatives, and dreamed
(in vain!) of them looking perfect on the
shelves of MY Auricula Theatre, so I was
immediately excited by these little portraits.
After a lucky contact with the National Primula
and Auricula Society, it became clear that
they were of enormous interest. Auriculas
were popular in the eighteenth century, with
many colour forms named, but connecting
the names to the flowers is a huge challenge
for auricula historians. In these scraps each
individual flower (a 'pip' in auricula-speak) has
its name in careful sepia copperplate, often
combining a patron or royal personage with
the raiser's name, such as 'Higg's Prince Charles'
and 'Perry's King George'. Some have Scottish
tags, 'Culloden Duke' and 'Bonny Highlander',
or more classical references like 'Gloria Mundi'
and 'Andromeda'. The collection is now archived
by the Society, and an article appeared
in their Yearbook in 2012, titled 'The Dunster
Auriculas'.
72 Exmoor Spring 2019
This excited me as a gardener, and made me
speculate on the possible nature of gardens at
Dunster Castle before 1800, but life intervened,
and it was only the commission to write on this
subject which finally turned my full attention
to what now exists. Before I visited I had rather
unkindly wondered where any gardens might
be – there's a big rock with very steep sides,
and a big house with a lot of stone walls, and
a big car park in the top of the former actual
Park – how could anything else fit in? I knew
a National Collection of arbutus had been
grown here, which I could visualise as I know
the Mediterranean species growing in various
steep, rocky habitats in the wild, but it never
sounded like a huge attraction. Strawberry tree
Arbutus unedo makes an excellent garden
shrub in many local gardens, and seeing these
was good enough for me. However, I had
reckoned without that force which drives all
gardeners – passion.
There are actually plenty of gardens, all differing,
in the Castle grounds. Their present forms are
due to two particular characters, both with the
mainspring of a strong passion for plants and
garden design and an equally strong wish to
enhance a setting so rich in history. First comes
Alys Luttrell (1888-1974), who created gardens
here for more than 40 years after her marriage
to Geoffrey Luttrell in 1930 brought her from
her home (and influential home garden) at
Trawalla in Victoria province, Australia. By all
accounts she was a formidable lady, but in
garden terms her commands brought only
good! She certainly inspired loyal, skilled staff.
One, Sam Hardwick, is shown in the late
Hilary Binding's book, Dunster: A Changing
Community, looking the ultimate wise and
benign image of a traditional head gardener.
Alys keenly researched interesting plants and
designed parterres and borders which
demonstrated Gertrude Jekyll's Arts and Crafts
principles, combining formal layout with
exuberant, colourful plantings. Her meticulous
notebook still exists. It's full of fascinating detail,
with sketches and plant lists, and gives clues
to important nurseries of the time.
Probably the most influential was Treseders'
of Truro. They were a nursery, like Veitchs' of
Exeter, which introduced many now-familiar
exotics to Britain. Specialising in Australian
species, including Phormiums and eucalyptus,
they began to put tree ferns and mimosa
(perfect for West Country gardens) on many
wish lists. Their catalogues included cultural
advice, and their staff often came on site to
give customers guidance. The River Garden
and terraces still have shrubs and tree ferns
which must have been their recommendations.
Alys Luttrell's purchases were meticulously
recorded in her notebook, making it possible
to trace planting histories.
Knowledge of which plants she favoured is
now fascinating another person of passion.
Robin Andrews, the current head gardener,
loves garden history, and during his stewardship
here has done some intense research into the
nature of both Alys’ gardens and the much
earlier history of the Castle grounds. A striking
feature of the Castle mound has long been the
presence of yew trees. An iconic illustration
from 1733 shows the serpentine road up the
mound winding through dozens of ‘lollipop’
yews. Only a few old trees remain, but Robin
believes them to be an essential part of the
history of the site, and that this species should
again be a strong part of its visual character.
Pages 72-73, along the top
from far left: The South
Terrace in 1954 (we are not
sure who Alys is standing with
- perhaps a reader recognises
him?); Alys Luttrell; the
Dream Garden in the 1930s,
photographed by Ronald
Ford; a photo of the Dream
Garden which appeared in
The Field on 29 August 1963;
members of Redland Lawn
Tennis Club from Bristol in the
Dream Garden, 1930s (also by
Ronald Ford); Sam Hardwick,
head gardener at Dunster
Castle for many years. After
his death in 1957, his second
wife, Mollie, began her
collection of 250 dolls that
form the basis of Dunster's
Doll Museum (photo courtesy
of Halsgrove Publishing).
Above: Alys Luttrell, with her
groom, in her pony trap,
for which she was well known
in Dunster.
Page 71: Springtime views of
the Dunster Castle gardens
(all by Julia Amies-Green).
Exmoor Spring 2019 73
Gardens
have inspired Robin to do what I so applaud in
Fergus Garrett's handling of Christopher Lloyd's
heritage at Great Dixter – to honour and run
with the ideas and spirit, but NOT to copy. This
garden is open to all, not just Castle visitors. It
is currently in varying stages of redevelopment
(it was grassed down or made into stock beds
around 1980), so some parts may be immature
and experimental, but it's always interesting,
and must be a great pleasure for regular visitors
who can follow Robin's ideas as they grow.
Above: Dunster Castle in a fanciful illustration of 1733, showing the yew trees.
Below: The original lemon house in summer with its shutters off and,
below that, behind glass ready for winter.
Bottom: Dunster Castle's River Garden (both by Julia Amies-Green).
The steep banks, in the years between seven
full-time Edwardian gardeners and today's
much smaller (if just as dedicated) team, had
become overgrown with laurel and ivy. They
are now being cleared, and replanted with
cuttings taken from the original stock.
Managing big trees on precipitous slopes is not
a practical proposition in the twenty-first
century, so Robin's stylish and far-sighted
solution is mixing the yew with Griselinia
littoralis AGM, an evergreen appropriately from
the antipodes. Plantings, in elegant wave patterns,
will be kept trimmed low, so the banks will be
clothed in a tapestry of shining, bright-green
leaves and dark conifer needles year round,
combining deep history with modern design.
His most detailed research concerns what Alys
called her 'Dream Garden'. Aerial photos from
the 1970s show much of the heart of Dunster,
including round the church, still given over
to Castle vegetable gardens, but this narrow
enclosure adjoins yard buildings between the
mound and the street. Here she designed
borders and a parterre which look delicious
even in the most blurred of old photos and
postcards. Her notebook, pictorial evidence,
and memories from living family members,
The most obvious garden element for the
wider public is the South Terrace. This runs
beside the house, outside the Conservatory.
It's cleverly kept in proper Edwardian style with
brilliant carpet bedding, but uses the best and
brightest of modern plants. The sheltered wall
now has exotics such as cannas and banana
trees in place all summer, making an exciting
show. The house wall also has one of my
favourite oddities – the Lemon Frame. There's
been a lemon tree here since at least 1757
(many grand eighteenth-century houses had
them) but instead of being grown in a large
pot and brought in over winter, this grew,
espaliered, in a sort of large cupboard, with a
glass-paned door put in place in cold weather.
The original tree died in the winter of 2003/04
and what actually grows there now has a story
worthy of its own article, involving plants given
to old retainers as retirement gifts, losses and
finds! However, Robin has disentangled the
threads, and a plant of the original stock will
soon return to this strange abode.
I was so wrong to think of Dunster Castle
as having little to do with gardens – thanks
especially to these two passionate people it is
at least as thick with horticultural history and
interest as with its more familiar claims to fame.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VISITING
DUNSTER CASTLE AND GARDENS
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunster-castle
(Grateful thanks to the National Trust for
archive photos.)
74 Exmoor Spring 2019
Dunster Add some Castle colour and to
Gardens your weekend this
Spring is in the air...
autumn at Gibside
Open 10am - 5pm now is the perfect
time to wander the gardens. Spot
snowdrops in the River Garden and
Go crunching through fallen leaves and discover a forest
teeming with wildlife and autumn colours, with walking
routes for all ages and abilities.
enjoy the sweetly scented hyacinths on
the South Terrace.
Call nationaltrust.org.uk/gibside
01643 821314 for details
nationaltrust.org.uk/dunster-castle
When you visit, donate, volunteer or join the National
When you visit, donate, volunteer or join the National Trust, your
Trust, support helps your us support to look after helps special us places to look <in the after region> special <like
property X, property Y and Proeprty Z> in for ever, for everyone.
places for ever, for everyone.
© National Trust 2018. The National Trust is an
© National Trust 2016. The National Trust is an independent
independent registered charity, number registered 205846. charity, Photography number © National Trust
Images.
205846. Photography © National Trust Images.
#nationaltrust
Exmoor Spring 2019 75
WALKING
BRENDON HILL IRON MINERS
AND NETTLECOMBE'S GREAT PARK
WORDS by Sue Viccars,
with an entry on Nettlecombe by Pat Wolseley
PHOTOS by Andrew Hobbs
Religious buildings can provide many clues about the past make-up of a place. Tiny churches in
remote hamlets on Exmoor – Stoke Pero and Trentishoe, for example – that once served triple
the number of farms and houses that survive today; surprisingly large churches – St Helena's on
Lundy – that catered for the needs of hundreds of quarrymen digging granite out of the cliffs on this
small island in the Bristol Channel.
And so it is with Leighland's Church of St Giles, seen from this walk and perched above the steepsided
valley of the little Washford River in the Brendon Hills near Roadwater. The church was rebuilt
in 1862 to serve the growing ranks of iron miners coming to extract ore from the surrounding rolling
hills. The West Somerset Mineral Line Association (www.wsmla.org.uk) today keeps alive the memory
of a time when these hills were buzzing with activity, and a railway line – the ‘Mineral Line',
encountered on this route – was built to transport ore to the coast at Watchet.
But on reaching Nettlecombe Court later on, the walk's historic interest stretches further back in time
to the twelfth century and beyond… read on to find out more!
76 Exmoor Spring 2019
Here: The Nettlecombe estate's rolling parkland.
Below, left to right: Pit Wood; Nettlecombe Church contains treasures aplenty, including the effigy of Sir Simon de Ralegh, 1260;
Point 8 offers up an amazing panorama towards Minehead; the optional loop in Point 2 includes a lush path of wild garlic
in springtime; views of the Bristol Channel are enjoyed from Point 7; a steep stile encountered on Point 8.
Exmoor Spring 2019 77
Here: The bridlepath in Point 3 offers fantastic views back down the valley.
FACTFILE
MAP
OS Explorer 9 Exmoor; OS Landranger
181 Minehead & Brendon Hills
START
Roadwater Stores ST 032383
PARKING
Car park (free) by the playing fields
behind Roadwater Village Hall
DISTANCE & TIME
6 miles (9.7km) with optional
¾-mile extension; 3 hours
1
Start
8
7
6
TERRAIN
Rolling hills, field and woodland paths;
plenty of ups and downs
TOILETS
None on route
REFRESHMENTS
The Valiant Soldier, Roadwater;
Roadwater Stores (open Mon–Sat
8am–7pm, Sun 9am–2pm)
2
Optional
extension
3
4
5
NOTE
There are pheasants everywhere –
please keep dogs under close control.
©Crown copyright 2019 Ordnance Survey. Media 008/19
78 Exmoor Spring 2019
Walking
THE ROUTE
1 With your back to the shop turn
left along the lane, soon passing the
telephone box (Roadwater book
exchange). Pass Watersmeet Close, then
turn immediately left down the next
narrow lane, signed to the Mineral
Line (on the Coleridge Way).
After a few paces, reach a lane junction
(Mineral Line). Keep straight on, uphill
(below), soon turning right on a bridleway
to Sticklepath that parallels the Mineral
Line along the valley side, but has much
better views! Head through fields and
patches of woodland – look upvalley to
spot the church at Leighland Chapel (on
the site of a medieval chapel) above the
trees. An ENPA waymark directs the path
left, dropping through a gate into a field.
2 Reach another bridleway junction.
To visit Leighland Chapel, turn right on
the bridlepath signed to LC. Cross the
lane; follow the path (below) steeply
uphill to reach a tarmac drive; turn right
and head up to reach a lane; turn left to
pass the church. Follow the lane
downhill; pass Pitt Farm, then turn
sharp left to pass Pitt Mill and cross the
stream. Head up to the Mineral Line;
cross over and bear right under trees
(signed to Chidgley), soon turning sharp
left to meet the main route at Point 3.
Leighland Chapel.
veteran oak at the top of the field (above)
and go through a gate to meet a path
crossroads. Follow the permitted path to
Chidgley ahead (the Coleridge Way turns
right to Sticklepath), soon descending
towards farm buildings. Pass through
a gate, keep right of the buildings, and
through two more gates to reach the
road.
4 Cross the road with care and turn right;
where the road bears right turn left on
a footpath to Nettlecombe, passing in
front of the beautiful house at Chidgley
Farm and through a signed gate in a
wooden fence (below). Keep ahead,
Cross a bridge and go through the next
gate, then continue along the valley side,
through a nice stand of tall slender beech
trees. Views open up over pretty cottages
in the valley bottom (below). Keep straight
on at a bridleway/footpath crossroads
(bottom), negotiating occasional gates.
For the main route keep straight on;
the next gate leads into Pit Wood. Pass a
steeply descending footpath (signed to
the Mineral Line), and a few paces later
reach a fork. The Leighland Chapel
extension joins via the right fork.
3 Keep ahead, ascending gently. Where
the path bends very sharp left keep
straight on, passing through a gate. The
bridlepath runs along the top edge of a
huge sloping field, with wonderful views
(page 78, top), alongside a lovely ash
and beech bank (below). Pass a solitary
passing behind farm buildings; where
the track bears left keep straight on, soon
passing through a gate into a field. Head
along the bottom left edge, and straight
across the next field, heading for the far
right corner; the Quantock ridge comes
into view. Cross two stiles; head down
the left edge of the next field as best you
can (patches of dense bracken), soon
descending under trees, with a steep drop
left. Go through a small gate (please shut
the gate and keep dogs on leads, below).
Pass a small stone building, at the right
end of which a yellow arrow directs you
straight ahead up the drive, between a
pond and a large house.
Exmoor Spring 2019 79
Ralegh’s Cross Inn
Exmoor National Park, Somerset
An Exmoor
Country Inn
ideal for a
midweek
break or just
a relaxing
weekend
away!
Enjoy a taste of a
spring at Fyne Court
tea room.
When you sink your teeth into our seasonal
treats, park in the car park or join the National
Trust, you help us to look after Fyne Court for
ever, for everyone.
Call 01823 451 587 for details
nationaltrust.org.uk/fyne-court
When you visit, donate, volunteer or join the National Trust, your
support helps us to look after special places for ever, for everyone.
© National Trust 2018. The National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846.
Photography © National Trust Images\Chris Lacey.
#nationaltrust
We are a privately owned Freehouse situated 1300’ up
on the eastern edge of the Exmoor National Park.
On a clear day, there are splendid views west to Dunkery
Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor and north to the
Bristol Channel and the Welsh hills beyond.
Now opening 7 days a week,
with food available all day from Easter.
Brendon Hill, Exmoor, Somerset, TA23 0LN
Tel: 01984 640 343
raleghscrossuk@gmail.com • www.raleghs-cross.co.uk
- Guided walking holidays
80 Exmoor Spring 2019
5 The drive bears sharp right, but keep
ahead to a path junction; bear left to
Nettlecombe on a broad fenced path
(below). Pass through two gates, then
under huge oak trees as the track meets
open parkland, with Nettlecombe Court
and church ahead. Pause to take a look
at the well behind iron railings to the left,
with the inscription 'erected by John
Trevelyan of Yarnscombe who married
Alice the heiress of Champernowne…
and died 1558'.
Head across the parkland and through an
iron kissing gate to meet the drive to the
house and St Mary's Church. Keep ahead
under soaring sweet chestnut trees,
passing between gateposts topped with
rearing horse torsos (below).
6 Follow the bridlepath left off the drive,
passing the back of the churchyard
(below), soon bearing right then left in
front of the stableyard and coachhouse.
The track bears right, but keep ahead,
uphill, through an open gateway. Stay on
the main track, uphill. After 75m
NETTLECOMBE COURT
WORDS by Pat Wolseley
Nettlecombe Court sits in a valley below the wooded edge of the Brendon hills
in a pasture landscape that is much the same as when it was first described in
the Domesday book of 1086. Today it is a Field Centre for students of all ages,
with classrooms and labs – the most recent of many changes since the house was
first described as a small manor house in the twelfth century. Over time it has been
adapted and enlarged to suit the families who have lived here since then. The medieval
hall, now a kitchen, was entered from the back courtyard, but in 1599 the much
grander hall was built in the Elizabethan style with a porch and entrance that is still
in use today.
The landscape has also undergone many changes but features of the ancient wood
pasture remain in the scattered veteran oak trees across the park, up the Grove (an
earlier entrance to Nettlecombe) and along the boundaries. It is difficult to age these
trees as many are hollow in the centre, so we can only use their girth as an estimate of
age, but this suggests that most are well over 200 years old and some of the pollards in
the Great Park, which are up to 10m circumference, may be much older. Nettlecombe
oak trees (Quercus petraea) were highly valued for their timber that was used for many
building purposes, as well as shipbuilding, which required special shapes from open
grown trees. In 1591 Nettlecombe oaks were shipped from Watchet to build a market
house in Cornwall. Trees were regularly sold individually in the nineteenth century, with
bark being sold for use in the local tanneries. You can walk between the remnants of
these great oaks before crossing the road to Chidgley and continuing through a much
more agricultural landscape to Woodadvent. When John Veitch of Exeter landscaped
the Great Park in 1792 he incorporated many of these veteran trees and added clumps
of trees on the crests of the hills to the south of the house in the Capability Brown style
which was popular at that time. The Trevelyans were keen to plant new introductions
in their landscape and woodlands, such as the huge turkey oak (Quercus cerris)
immediately above the west wing. A native of Asia Minor, Asiatic Turkey, this tree must
have been planted soon after its introduction to Britain in 1735. Later introductions
included the New World discoveries such as the giant sequoia and the redwoods
in the nineteenth-century pleasure grounds.
When you return to Nettlecombe from Chidgley you look across Veitch's park before
returning along the valley. The cottage in the valley and fields around it were formerly
glebe land belonging to the church and separate from the thirteenth-century church at
Nettlecombe. These lands were exchanged and incorporated into the park and Combe
House was built as a rectory for the second son in 1794. Today there are no signs of
the other cottages around Parsonage Pond that were removed during the landscaping
of the park, but maybe the inhabitants were pleased to move to new houses at
Woodford on a 'main' road! A more recent change is the loss of the great elms that
were characteristic of this landscape, due to Dutch Elm disease, although you can still
find the smaller remnants in our hedges with their distinctive lop-sided leaves.
Exmoor Spring 2019 81
Walking
look left across rough grassland to spot
a gate (below) leading into a huge
ascending field. Head up the left edge
of the field, climbing steadily.
7 Cross over (signed to Roadwater; taking
care as traffic can be fast on this stretch of
road), and head up a track. Stay alongside
the left hedge of the next field, ascending
steadily – views open up over the Bristol
Channel (below).
a track in the bottom corner and head
downhill (bottom) through the next field,
to meet a lane (below).
Cross a stile on the left in the top corner,
and continue in the same direction,
alongside a fence, uphill. Pass just to the
left of a big oak with a yellow splodge,
and climb steeply to find a kissing gate
onto the road (below).
A run of gates and fields – with wonderful
views towards Minehead and the coast
(below) – follows. Eventually cross a stile
in the hedge at the end of the field, and
keep along the right hedge of the next,
crossing the brow of the hill, with views
over the Brendon Hills, the wooded ridge
above Dunster and North Hill. Pick up
8 Cross over, signed to Roadwater. Keep
straight ahead, along an uncultivated
strip, soon walking alongside woodland.
At the end of the wood turn left along
its edge and head steeply downhill,
following the left edge of the next small
field. Cross a stile, and continue along
the left edge of the next big field.
Cross a stile on the left in the bottom
corner; turn right; after a few paces turn
right then immediately left, passing
a broken stile, on a narrow path into
woodland. Descend under very tall oak
and beech trees to meet the lane via
a stile by a wooden gate.
Turn right downhill, passing the outward
route and the Mineral Line. On meeting
the valley road turn right to return to
your car.
82 Exmoor Spring 2019
TWO MOORS WAY
EVENTS 2019
Walks and music – please join us!
The Notley Arms is a traditional country inn
tucked away on the edge of the beautiful
Exmoor National Park where the food
celebrates the best of both Exmoor and the West
Country’s outstanding seasonal larder. A warm
welcome awaits: rebuilt in around 1870, the inn
enjoys roaring open fires and a beautiful beer
garden bounded by a bubbling tream and
separate coach house with six en-suite bedrooms
– perfect for visitors wanting to explore the
Quantocks, the Brendon Hills and Exmoor.
The Notley’s new ‘Roost’ private dining room
accommodates up to 28 guests – a beautiful,
sumptious space in which to sit back and enjoy
a showcase of beautiful menus paired with
excellent wines.
6 April BIG WALK 3 Newbridge to Chagford
7 June NINEBARROW in concert, Chagford
14 Sept BIG WALK 4 Chagford to Morchard Road
Details www.twomoorsway.org
Come and savour our perfectly executed
traditional pub classics alongside modern British
dishes, served with a crowd-pleasing selection of
award-winning beers, ciders, wines and spirits.
For those who require an extra special
occasion please ask about one of our five
beautifully appointed ensuite bedrooms.
Traditional home-cooked
meals with ‘weekly
specials’, vegetarian
and light snacks.
Sunday & Wednesday
Carvery lunch and
evening meal times.
Comprehensive
wine list.
Locally produced
real ales.
01643 841222
This old coaching inn is situated at
Wheddon Cross, the highest village
on Exmoor. We pride ourselves on
our high standards of service and
accommodation which is full of olde
world charm and friendly hospitality.
The Valiant Soldier
Roadwater, Watchet, Somerset TA23 OQZ
A friendly, olde world inn full of warmth & hospitality
and surrounded by beautiful, peaceful countryside.
Traditional, local real ales, wines
and spirits. Tasty home cooking,
available 7 days a week.
Ideally placed for exploring Exmoor,
the Brendon & Quantock Hills or
just 10 minutes drive away from the
coast at Watchet.
We are situated half way along The
Coleridge Way. Perfect for an over
night stop and well deserved meal!
Tel: 01984 640223 • www.thevaliantsoldier.co.uk
The Notley Arms Inn, Monksilver
Exmoor National Park
Somerset TA4 4JB
01984 656095
notleyarmsinn@hotmail.com
www.notleyarmsinn.co.uk
Exmoor Spring 2019 83
Notley Arms Half Page Vertical.indd 1 14/12/2018 14:56
Letting your holiday home?
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40 years’ experience. Here are some of the reasons why our home owners choose – and remain – with us.
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Please call for more information and quote VIN for a free bottle of wine with your property visit
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www.marsdens.co.uk
PROPERTY
Exmoor
Living
DAVID LETHABY, GTH, CHANIN & THOMAS
Minehead Kitchens
& Bathrooms
BrunellMortgages 85_Layout 1 16/10/2018 13:52 Page 1
C o r n e r s t o n e
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YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON
A MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT
It's no secret that the hectic city life isn't for everyone. Times
change, as do people, and many are left craving a lifestyle
change and some well-needed fresh air. A stark contrast of
this is the hills and vast moors that cover Exmoor – which lulls
visitors from all over like a siren.
But what is it about this mysterious area that latched itself onto
the likes of poets Shelley and Wordsworth? The area is known
for its haunting ability to resonate with its visitors, leaving
a lasting taste to return, and many of its admirers make the
move for this enchanting way of life.
One of those many people was our very own Nick Zorab,
Residential Manager at our Williton office, who moved to the
area ten years ago.
He says, "In many ways my wife and I are similar to many people
who move to West Somerset. We had lived in Hampshire all our
lives and had visited the area for holidays many times, Exmoor
in our case. A decade ago, after 20 years of running our own
business, we felt it was time to change gear and have a bit more
time doing the other things we wanted to do."
With countless country walks, cycle routes, horse riding and
numerous other rural pursuits on offer, Exmoor is a place that
locals and visitors alike hold in their hearts; it entices people
to downsize and move across the country.
"Exmoor is small as National Parks go," adds Nick, "but is,
thankfully, not crowded in the summer. Its charms are varied
with the well-known spots like Tarr Steps, Valley of Rocks the
picturesque village of Dunster with its castle, and the
less-well-known discoveries that you stumble upon when
you live in a locality."
As well as its hidden paths and walks, the area is extremely
popular due to the house prices being significantly lower than
the likes of London and the rest of the South East. With a range
of options, from new-builds to thatched cottages, Exmoor and
the surrounding area has something for everyone.
Despite being very rural and quietly hidden amongst the hedges,
we're extremely lucky to have a strong connection to the rest of
the country, with the M5 on our doorstep which connects us to
the busier way of life.
Without doubt, people move to Exmoor for a quieter life,
but, once they really start to experience life here, they become
increasingly enchanted by the area's rich history, its charming
villages and beguiling moors.
Whether you're looking to move your family down for a
different way of life, or considering retiring in the countryside,
it's no doubt that Exmoor is the place to be.
Photo by Andrew Hobbs
Exmoor Spring 2019 85
Alasdair Robertson ARCHITECTURE
As featured in ‘Exmoor’, Spring 2015
WELLINGTON TILE
EXTERNAL PAVING
S T O N E C L A D D I N G
Design, Surveys &
Project Management
• new‐build
• extensions
• conversions
• listed ‐ buildings
• renovations
For initial consultation
please call Alasdair on:
01984 636065
or 07765 664876
Email: AJR@ARArch.net • www.AlasdairRobertsonARCHITECTURE.co.uk
Pauls Carpets & Flooring
CARPETS • VINYL • WOODS
Commercial & Domestic
FREE ESTIMATES
WOOD FLOORING SUPPLIED & FITTED
Tel: 01884 257247 • Mob: 07989 303834
Bay H • Link House • Leat Street • Tiverton • Devon EX16 5LG
EXMOOR COUNTRY INTERIORS
Exmoor Country Interiors is a family run
business located in the coastal town of
Minehead in Somerset, at the foot of North
Hill and a short stroll from the very
attractive Blenheim Gardens.
You will find an array of gorgeous items
along with unique furnishings to help
transform your house into a home, or which
will make lovely gifts for friends and family.
Our suppliers have been hand-picked for their design, quality, and sometimes
quirky items. Why not call in for a browse? New items arrive weekly.
We love our shop and are sure you will too.
Exmoor Country Interiors • 1 The Avenue • Minehead • Somerset •TA24 5NN
www.exmoorcountr yinteriors.co.uk
sales@exmoorcountr yinteriors.co.uk
Tel: 01643 818637
Doors
Windows
Patio Doors
Conservatories
Secondary Glazing
Of Minehead
Barden Works, Brunel Way, Minehead Enterprise
Park, Minehead, Somerset. TA24 5BY
www.exmoorwindows.co.uk
Handmade Curtains, Roman Blinds and
Accessories
Design and Measuring Services Available
Fabric Sourcing, Pole and Track Ranges
Highly Experienced Maker
Alterations Undertaken
Friendly and Approachable
THORNHAYES
NURSERY
Devon's Specialist Tree Grower
A huge choice of
ornamental, fruit
and hedging trees,
selected to suit the
West Country
climate. From whips
to standards, field
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grown. Together
with advice based
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Fully descriptive catalogue online or contact:
Thornhayes Nursery, Dulford,
Cullompton, EX15 2DF
Tel: 01884 266746
www.thornhayes-nursery.co.uk
Contact Sarah on 07701 062902 or
enquiries@coswaysoftfurnishings.co.uk
www.coswaysoftfurnishings.co.uk
F I R E P I T S
Wellington Tile Company
Tone Estate, Milverton Road, Wellington, Somerset, TA21 0AN
Call 01823 667242 • Email info@wellingtontile.co.uk
www.wellingtontile-online.co.uk
www.paving-online.co.uk
Peter Schofield
Clock specialist
THE OLD STABLES HONITON
01823 601685
07969051656
www.peterschofieldclockspecialist.co.uk
peterschofieldclockspecialist@gmail.com
86 Exmoor Spring 2019
PLANNING LAW
Listed Buildings
AMY CATER, TOZERS
You're looking for a property to develop. You know that
development of a listed building can be a headache,
with numerous hoops to jump through before
development can begin and so you avoid viewing any listed
buildings. You have seen a property that you like which is
not listed. However, it is close to a listed building. Can that
listed building still affect your development proposals?
The answer is "Possibly"!
If you submit a planning application for permission to develop
property that is located near to a listed building, the Local
Planning Authority (LPA) is required to have special regard
to the desirability of preserving the setting of that listed
building when deciding whether or not to grant you planning
permission. To 'have special regard' means that the LPA must
place considerable importance and weight on the impact a
proposed development could have on the setting of a listed
building or other heritage asset when deciding whether to grant
permission. Consequently, if the proposed development will
lead to substantial harm to the setting of the listed building,
permission is likely to be refused.
But what exactly is the setting of a listed building? Unfortunately,
this is not always clear. In the National Planning Policy Guidance
the "setting of a heritage asset" is described as "the surroundings
in which a heritage asset is experienced and may therefore be
more extensive than its curtilage... The contribution that setting
makes to the significance of the heritage asset does not
depend on there being public rights or an ability to access or
experience that setting. This will vary over time and according
to circumstance." There is no single test that can be applied to
determine the exact extent of a listed building's setting. It has to
be determined on a case-by-case basis and involves not only
taking into account any physical or visual connection the
property has with the listed building, but any other relevant
experience, such as any social, historic or economic
connections, or any auditory connection, etc.
What does this mean in practice? The fact that a property is not
listed does not necessarily mean that you can disregard heritage
considerations when making your application for planning
permission. When planning to develop property you will need
to investigate whether there are any listed buildings located
within the vicinity and research whether there could be any
connection between your property and those listed buildings.
If there is any potential connection between your property and
a listed building you will need to carefully consider whether
your proposed development could have a negative impact on
the setting of that listed building and, if it does, what measures
you could propose to minimise the harm caused and make the
development acceptable to the LPA.
It may not always be clear whether a property would be within
the setting of a listed building and so, before submitting any
planning application, it would be advisable to either contact
your LPA or seek specialist advice.
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Providing our customers with an
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Exmoor Spring 2019 87
INTERIORS
Benshayes
WORDS by Rupert White
PHOTOS by John Spurr Photography
It is not always easy imagining a new space,
especially when you have grown up with it
as a barn since you were born. We live on
the family farm just outside Bampton where
my father and his father before him were
brought up, and it is safe to say not much has
changed in that time. In 1997 the film The
Land Girls was filmed here. When the location
manager first came to look at the yard, he
said that yes it would be the ideal site, "but
we will have to update it a bit so it looks a bit
more like a farm in the 1940s!"
Once the film crew moved out, my parents decided to embark on converting the
network of barns that surround the duck pond. They started with a two-bedroom
cottage, and in 2007 began on the main set of stables – for years home to our
horses and now to be a three-bedroom house. I was working in interior design in
London at the time and was not sure how I felt about this conversion; little did
I know that it would be home for my family in the future.
We moved in here in 2011 just after our eldest daughter was born. I had just set
up my business, Rupert White Interiors, and so we had to make do with what we
had. It wasn't until 2017 that we set our sights on the large hay barn that adjoined
our house. It was perfect for development. By this time we had two children
and were running out of space. The business needed a new base and I thought it
would be good to have a home office. My father incredibly kindly agreed.
The barn was two floors. The ground floor had arched doorways which had once
been stables and the milking parlour. The first floor was the hay barn, also used
to shear sheep and thresh oats. It had by this time fallen into some disrepair, the
floor was unsafe and the roof had some holes in it, plus the walls were bulging in
places. However, I could see how the space was to be. Luckily my wife trusted me
to go ahead, and of course I was put on the right path if she felt I was going too
far off track!
Top: A photo of the house from across the
pond. The right-hand section was the original
part of the house, with the left being the recent
renovation. The large picture window makes
the most of the view and the light.
Above: Looking from the kitchen towards
the living room. The original scissor beams
(thus shaped to make it easier to stack hay)
have simply had some wax applied.
Our family friend, Dominic Harvey, who farms and builds in equal measure,
stepped into the breach and said he could do the conversion. He had originally
converted the stables and we knew he was up to it. We started on 1 May 2017.
The primary job was to take out the first floor. Once this was gone, we were met
with this enormous space. I have to say at times I did wonder how we were going
to fill it. It turns out that was not a problem!
The best view is from upstairs, so we decided to have the kitchen there. This means
it benefits from the ceiling height. Due to the barns having no connecting door,
we could carry on living in our house uninterrupted, but were here to keep a
close eye on the works. The only day-to-day inconvenience we had was when
88 Exmoor Spring 2019
Interiors
our cooker was moved. Compared with some of my clients, I know we got off
very lightly! It was an extremely satisfying project to manage and the process has
given me a very useful new insight as to what my clients are going into when I am
managing their projects.
We nearly had a disaster when our window contractor let us know in October
2017 that they weren't going to be able to make the windows in time. Luckily, Rob
Plume, from Wedgewood Buildings Ltd, came to our rescue and produced all of
the windows which are fantastic and much commented on. We moved into the
house on 9 December 2017, in time for Christmas.
We have created a light-filled, spacious barn, which is warm and cosy. The old
kitchen in the original part of the house has now become a spare room for guests
and the old sitting-room has been split into two: on one side is my office with all
the pattern books and other tools of the trade and on the other a twin bedroom,
with a new connecting door to the other part of the house.
In the new barn we have a fantastic utility room in which we used some of the old
kitchen units. So now we have a clean space for all the washing and a home for
our dog when she is not in front of the AGA! There is also a large boot room with
plenty of coat hooks (so the children have no excuse for coats being dumped on
the floor) and a shower room.
Upstairs we have a kitchen that works for both of us really well. I love the look of
it and the actual cook (Trish) loves the layout. The island is the main focus. The
kitchen table was made from scaffolding boards that were used inside the house.
The remaining furniture we already had and, finally, there was more space for our
pictures. I have a huge weakness for buying pictures and having the high walls
helps as there is lots of space to hang them. I find nothing more satisfying than
hanging pictures and often get called in by clients to do just that for them.
Above: The stairs in the new entrance hall.
Below, clockwise from small image below
left: The kitchen island dominates one end of
the fabulous barn space and its position means
washing up is never dull, with a good view
to both the front and back of the house, which
is built into a hill so that the kitchen's rear
door leads you outside; the corridor between
the bedrooms; the four-poster in the master
bedroom came from Trish's great-grandmother
and has been brought back to life in traditional
English chintz; the kitchen table was made
from scaffolding boards that were used on
the house when the roof was replaced.
Exmoor Spring 2019 89
We finished the house in May 2018, but I am not sure it will ever actually be
finished! I am already toying with the idea of changing the curtains in the twin
bedroom and I think the playroom could do with being painted. I am delighted
with what we have produced and I now bring my clients here for meetings so that
they can see how I live. It helps them to understand and visualise what I am
suggesting for their houses.
They always ask me, 'Would you do it again?' Oh yes, I loved it, but then again
I should; it is my job!
Above: The sitting-room situated at the far end of the barn is a light-filled space
and shows Rupert's love of colour and different textures. It is also a great space
for him to hang some of his paintings.
FIND OUT MORE
Rupert White Interiors
www.rupertwhiteinteriors.co.uk
rupert@rupertwhiteinteriors.co.uk
T: 07789 377 412
Left, from top: Once a stable and cider press, then a kitchen, this is now the
main guest room – Rupert likes every room to feel as homely as possible but
not to be taken too seriously either ("Working on a house is meant to be fun, so
stress should be kept to a minimum!"); the new entrance hall, formerly stables
and tack room, offers enough space for all the coats that a family manage
to accumulate and the tongue and groove echoes the room's former life;
this once-dark stable is now the downstairs WC with shower, which conforms to
Rupert's rule that you cannot have a boring colour in your downstairs loo;
the twin bedroom was once the sitting-room and these charming beds were
found in the barn before the conversion and revamped.
90 Exmoor Spring 2019
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Exmoor Spring 2019 91
Hoar Oak Publishing Ltd
E X M O O R
C R O S S W O R D
Spring 2019 by Bryan Cath
The first correct entry out of the hat on 15 May 2019 will win
one year's Exmoor Magazine subscription with a binder, to keep
or give to a friend. Send a photocopy if you would
prefer not to cut your magazine up. Please post your answer
to Crossword Competition, Exmoor Magazine,
PO Box 117, Ilfracombe, Devon EX34 4AS.
Alternatively, email it to editor@exmoormagazine.co.uk.
The winter winner is: Mrs Christine Taylor, from Dulverton.
Name:
Address:
CLUES ACROSS
1. His old grammar served up this plant they called kingcup.
(5,8)
10. No area smells quite like the seaside. (5)
11. Under the main heading of 'warship'! (9)
12. A vehicle that should be running? (6,3)
13. It sounds like a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal,
motorised transporter that can move without interruption
from one scene to another. (5)
14. When nucleoplasm loses its nape it changes into this
shellfish? (7)
16. Exmoor's elevated positions? (7)
18. A person who is quite a turn! (7)
20. A children's game played on Combe Martin hills? (7)
22. A bouffe at Covent Garden, maybe. (5)
24. A Lancaster demolished its patrimonial estate. (9)
26. A poetic end becomes this magic trick. (9)
27. There was no skin around the pig's grunts. (5)
28. Rotary fun-run from highland to strand. (6,2,5)
CLUES DOWN
2. Is it a Mexican walking fish or an atoll with an ox swimming
inside? (7)
3. Clothing to look hot in! (9)
4. Face it as a punishment. (5)
5. Steal or hug nothing when you visit this castle near
Cheriton. (9)
6. Give away one's marijuana. (5)
7. Being lazy when in labour! (5-2)
8. Items at the greengrocers, perhaps. (8,5)
9. To lose one's own identity could possibly displease
Nero. (13)
15. A country devoted to the automobile first, shows it in the
lapel! (9)
17. A prehistoric monument on Challacombe Common – a tall
gem! (4,5)
19. Sentimental writing about molasses! (7)
21. A minor small company turns out to be stupid. (7)
23. Outdated conventions can be set in this. (5)
25. Learn to leave this country. (5)
Answers from winter 2018 crossword:
Across: 1. Liable, 4. Stowford, 9. Nettle, 10. Jettison, 12. Reasoned,
13. Cheese, 15. Creative arts, 18. Yellowhammer, 21. Ape-man,
22. Raindrop, 24. Buddleia, 25. Events, 26. Tawny owl, 27. Alphas.
Down: 1. Landrace, 2. Anteater, 3. Lily of the valley, 5. Tree,
6. Watchet carnival, 7. Oyster, 8. Denier, 11. Weevils, 14. Narwhal,
16. Amaranth, 17. Proposes, 19. Rabbit, 20. Meadow, 23. View.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
The perfect local gift for
Mother's Day – or treat yourself!
www.exmoormagazine.co.uk
EXMOOR
THE COUNTRY MAGAZINE
free inside
Miles Tea & Co fee
ISSUE No. 65 Winter 2013 £2.95
LONG-EARED OWLS TRAINED FRUIT TREES YFC WALKING ON NORTH HILL HASHING
meet
The Waley-Cohen sisters
Folk musicians past & present
Barnstaple Fire Brigade
win
A Christmas
break worth £399!
festive fare...
Game Recipes
Goose Farming
Christmas Diary
plus
‘Dogs Helping Kids’ Horse logging
Lichens Hoar Oak Cottage Churches for the 21st century
Subscriptions from £15.
UK, Europe & International subscriptions available.
For all who love Exmoor, North Devon
& the Quantocks.
To subscribe:
call Bryan on 0345 224 1203
or go to www.exmoormagazine.co.uk
92 Exmoor Spring 2019
Books
A Village Inheritance,
Glyn and Clare Court,
2018. 221 pages,
paperback. Numerous
photographs and
illustrations.
Many readers will
remember local
historian Glyn Court,
who wrote copiously,
including a number
of articles for this magazine.
Glyn passed away last year and, towards
the end of his life, he worked with his
grandson, Michael, to get one final book
published. Glyn and Clare's daughter,
Philippa, emailed us to say, "My parents
had written it in the 1970s, but it lay
undisturbed, an unproofed typescript,
in an outbuilding until Michael found it.
It is the story of my parents taking on
Washford Post Office in the 1960s."
Michael wrote, "A Village Inheritance
shares a combination of family history,
local history and autobiography. It was
written when my grandparents had just
inherited Glyn's childhood home and
family business in 1967. Already leading
busy lives as teachers, they weren't
prepared for the added responsibility
and pressures which came with leading
a village shop whilst bringing up a young
family. The story details how they ran the
business, highlighting their excitement,
optimism and the difficulties they faced."
It was a painstaking process converting
the old typewritten pages into text and
a lot of work went into finding all the
original images for the book. "A notable
example were the house drawings," wrote
Michael, "which were produced in 1921
when my great-grandfather built the
property and they were clearly suffering
after almost 100 years of being in storage.
I got these digitally restored and I think
they are among my favourite parts of
the book.
Once it was finally finished, Michael
self-published the book, which is
now available in Smiths Minehead,
at Washford Post Office or Amazon,
priced at around £11.99.
The Lorna Doone
Trail, S.H. Burton,
revised and
expanded by John
Burgess and
Caroline Tonson-
Rye, 2018. 112
pages, hardback.
Illustrated in
colour throughout.
The following information
is issued by the publishers...
R.D. Blackmore's deep affection
for, and understanding of, Exmoor's
landscape, people and legends shines
through his immortal novel Lorna
Doone. Through words and pictures,
The Lorna Doone Trail traces the Exmoor
adventures of John Ridd and Lorna
Doone and a host of other characters,
such as Jeremy Stickles and Tom Faggus,
who feature in the grand sweep of
the story.
Using Blackmore's own words as the
starting point, The Lorna Doone Trail
helps to marry plot with place, using
generous illustrations and expert
commentary which puts the narrative
in its real-life context. It enables lovers of
the novel and its abounding life to follow
confidently in Blackmore's footsteps and
revisit the key locations of the timeless
Exmoor story of derring-do, and love
enduring against the odds.
S.H. Burton (1919–2005), writer, teacher,
and publisher, was head of the English
Department at Blundell's School between
1945 and 1964. He wrote many books
on a wide range of subjects, his most
successful being Exmoor (4th edition,
which was published in 1984).
John Burgess, born in Somerset, was a
BBC radio journalist and producer for
almost 25 years, but his life-long love
of Exmoor and its people first took root
when he joined the Exmoor National Park
Authority in the late 1970s. He produced
– with Caroline Tonson-Rye – Hope
Bourne’s Exmoor: Eloquence in Art
(Halsgrove, 2013).
Caroline Tonson-Rye retired to Exmoor in
2010 after a career in publishing. She is a
Trustee of The Exmoor Society, and editor
of Exmoor Chroniclers (Exmoor Society,
2017).
The Lorna Doone Trail is published
by Halsgrove (www.halsgrove.com),
priced at £9.99.
North Devon broadcaster, author and
smallholder Simon Dawson has two
new books coming out early this year.
The Boy Without Love... and The Farm
That Saved Him will be published in
February; Make Your Own Butter follows
in March.
Warm, witty and honest, The Boy Without
Love charts an unhappy childhood,
taking an honest look at parental rejection
and charting Simon's recovery, since his
unfortunate beginnings, through finding
his soul mate, to taking on a farm where
the couple care for a menagerie of animals.
From how to make butter at home, to
where to use it, Make Your Own Butter
will surprise and delight you as it offers
amusing instruction on what you need to
know, the process of making
butter, getting creative
and recipes, including
cocktails and beauty
products!
The Boy Without Love
costs £12.99 and How
to Make Butter will be
£7.99. www.simondawson.com/books.
Exmoor Spring 2019 93
Books
A new book
recording
Devon's
threatened
apple
varieties
has been
published
with the
support
of the Council for
the Protection of Rural England Devon.
The following information has been
issued by the CPRE...
CPRE Devon recently sponsored
The Devon Orchards Book, written by
orchard expert Michael Gee, to preserve
important knowledge of rural life and
traditions for future generations. Michael
is the founder of Orchards Live, a charity
which protects and promotes Devon's
orchards and traditional apple varieties.
He is also the author of Mazzards: The
Revival of the Curious North Devon Cherry.
Since the 1960s, two-thirds of Devon's
orchards have been lost and many
ancient apple varieties have disappeared.
In recent years, however, there's been a
revival of interest in replanting orchards,
including the creation of community
orchards, and a renaissance in microbrewing
and artisanal cider making.
Penny Mills, Director of CPRE Devon,
says, "Michael's meticulous research into
the county's fruit-growing history is a
wonderful example of what we strive
to do at CPRE Devon – preserve rural
knowledge and skills and all that is
precious about our county and our
countryside. We hope that readers of this
Jeremy Thorpe: A
Dazzlingly Talented
Man, Philip
Dalling, 2018. 128
pages, hardback.
16 pages of plates.
The following
information is
issued by the
publishers...
This is a grass-roots portrait of one of the
most charismatic politicians of the twentieth
century. The recent TV dramatisation of
the events which led to the downfall
of the flamboyant Liberal leader, Jeremy
Thorpe, has restored his name to the
media headlines, from which it was rarely
absent during his political prime.
book will be inspired to spread the word
about Devon’s very special part in the
history of British orchards.”
Michael Gee says, "It's challenging to grow
good fruit in Devon, and yet orchards
and cider are part of the county's image.
Orchards once surrounded most farms
and villages, and there are still hundreds
remaining, plus some new ones, but their
story has never been told. I wanted
to know, and others to know, how
Devonians rose to meet the fruit-growing
challenge, so I researched and wrote
this book."
Last spring, a joint project between
Orchards Live, the South West Fruit
Group and the Royal Horticultural Society
established a unique 'mother orchard' of
Devon apples at RHS Garden Rosemoor.
There are around 70 known varieties of
apple found and grown in Devon and 45
of the most threatened, including eaters,
cookers and cider apples, will be grown
on the site. The orchard will ensure that
these diverse types of ancient apples
won't die out.
Jonathan Webster, Curator of RHS Garden
Rosemoor, says, “We welcome the
production of this new book to raise
awareness of the importance of
preserving the wonderful diversity of
Devon’s traditional apple varieties,
many of which are now rare. If we can
encourage people to grow them, then
they will come off the endangered list.”
The Devon Orchards Book, published
by Halsgrove, can be bought via CPRE
Devon’s website www.cpredevon.org.uk,
priced at £14.99, or from Halsgrove.
Despite being acquitted on charges of
conspiracy and incitement to murder
during a sensational trial at the Old Bailey
in 1979, Thorpe was subsequently
excluded from all political and public
life – a fate described by one political
commentator as "infamous and unfair".
The consequences of an alleged
homosexual affair (at a time when such
acts were illegal) have coloured and
distorted perceptions of a man described
as a stylish, progressive and popular
politician, with a deep lifetime
commitment to classic liberal principles.
His leadership of the Liberals laid the
foundation for the revival of a party which
was on the verge of extinction when he
first entered political life.
A History of the Devon & Somerset
Staghounds, Jeremy Whitehorn, 2018.
262 pages, hardback. Illustrated in
colour throughout. Jeremy writes...
"The fear of omissions inevitably bedevil
those who write small books on immense
subjects. And although vastly more has
been written about the Devon &
Somerset Staghounds than any other
hunting establishment under the sun,
early historians restricted themselves on
the whole to accounts of the deer, the
country, the tufters, the harbouring
procedure, the sporting runs and suchlike.
Little is generally said about the remarkable
people who bred the hounds, managed
the deer with such foresight and care,
ran the country, raised the roofs of the
Exmoor tap-rooms and broke their backs
keeping alive this, the oldest and most
misunderstood of all our hound sports.
And so, when asked by that grand old
patriarch of the cause, Tom Yandle, to add
to the annals of the Devon & Somerset
Staghounds, it was decided that this
should be the first book to attempt an
unbroken narrative history of the hunt
from the early times right up to 2018,
with particular focus on the wonderful
characters who
made it all happen."
A History of the
Devon & Somerset
Staghounds is
priced at £25.
To find out
more about
ordering email
Jeremy Whitehorn
( jeremywhitehornbooks@gmail.com).
Philip Dalling explores the life of a man
respected and admired by friend and
opponent alike, whose name is still
revered in the West Country constituency
of North Devon, and whose name still
resonates in national politics to this day.
Philip Dalling's career in journalism and
communications has included spells in
regional newspapers, in the steel industry,
as a Government Information Officer and,
for 22 years, as Director of Public Affairs at
the University of Nottingham. He lives in
Chittlehampton, the parish where Jeremy
Thorpe established his constituency home.
Jeremy Thorpe: A Dazzlingly Talented
Man is published by Halsgrove (www.
halsgrove.com), priced at £14.99.
94 Exmoor Spring 2019
Minehead Literary Festival
Photo by Claire Spottiswoode
Minehead's first literary festival will take place on Saturday 27
April at the Methodist Hall, Minehead, featuring presentations
by four leading writers with ties to the area who will explore
the importance of place in their writing. An art exhibition will
also run from 2 April to 6 May at the Regal Theatre and Toucan
Wholefoods to celebrate Minehead Literary Festival, with work
by local artists that will also focus on the theme of the
importance of place (see page 109).
Speaking at the literary festival will be one of the country's
foremost writers of novels and short stories, Tessa Hadley.
Winner of the 2018 Edge Hill Short Story Prize and author of
critically acclaimed novels Clever Girl, The London Train and
The Past, Tessa Hadley has a special connection with the area
which shines through her work.
BBC radio producer, writer and bird watcher Tim Dee (pictured)
will also share his knowledge of the area and particularly his
insights into the natural world. Author of titles including Four
Fields and The Running Sky – A Birdwatching Life, Tim is an
exceptionally original storyteller, mixing autobiography with
nature writing to captivating effect. His most recently published
book, Ground Work – Writings on People and Places, is an
anthology of new work by some of the most exciting authors
writing about the natural world today, and was described in a
Guardian review as "an extraordinary and life-affirming book".
Best-selling author of first novel The Huntingfield Paintress and
winner of the Jane Austen Short Story Award in 2014, Pamela
Holmes has been fascinated by the area since she lived and
worked on a farm on Exmoor in the 1970s (see Exmoor
Magazine, Issue 85, Winter 2018, page 92).
For the younger audience, popular local writer Victoria Eveleigh
will be giving a special illustrated presentation about her muchloved
series of books Katy's Exmoor Ponies and The Horseshoe
Trilogy. Billed as 'Tea Time with Tortie', this event promises to be
a highlight of the festival and offers a chance to meet the best
contemporary writer of pony stories around.
A writing competition, with separate classes for adults and
children, will be organised in the run-up to the festival, details
of which can be found on the festival website. Catering for the
festival will be provided by Toucan Wholefoods.
For more information and details about how to book:
W: www.mineheadliteraryfestival.org
E: mineheadliteraryfestival@gmail.com
T: Janet Styles on 01643 822097.
01643 862 419
www.yourfirstbook.co.uk
Exmoor Spring 2019 95
PAST TIMES
Kestrels School
WORDS by Michele Romaine
Sometimes, on a quiet day, just for
a moment, I imagine I can hear
Annie the cook chiding the kitchen
maid and the drumming of boys' feet as
they scramble down the basement stairs
to get to their tuck boxes. This is a house
with a history and, since we moved here
in 2011, parts of that history have been
told to us over and over by the multiples
of people who all have a different
connection with this lovely Exmoor
Art and Crafts property.
We first began piecing together its special
story when the doorbell rang one Sunday
afternoon and a rather reticent man asked
if it would be possible for him to have a
quick look around as he was visiting from
New Zealand and this was his old prep
school. Since then we have had numerous
such requests, an 'old boys' reunion and,
rather wonderfully, a holiday guest
who turned out to be the great, great
granddaughter of the man who built
the house and who has shared with us
family diaries and photographs.
Knapp House – or 'Kestrels', as the school
was known – was built as a hunting lodge
in East Anstey in the early 1900s by James
Norwood Stapledon, an industrialist,
who had made money putting coal and
water into ships going through the Suez
Canal. Sitting in a 25-acre estate with the
pre-Beeching railway running along the
bottom of its land, it was easy to get to,
and family, friends, luggage and even a
horse or two came by train. For each new
generation of Stapledon children it was
the place where special memories were
made. One of the earliest entries in the
diary of an 11-year-old Norah Stapledon
is her account of boarding the train to go
to East Anstey to see 'Knapp' being built.
Later her own son, Amorey, would write
about unforgettable family holidays with
his mother, aunt and cousins: picnics
on Exmoor, swimming in the Barle and
the most admired horse in the stables,
the hunter, Daybreak. He describes an
Exmoor with small roads and many gates
which had to be opened. "Almost always
there would be a small boy waiting at
each gate. He would open the gate and
get a penny in reward."
Amorey describes a house little changed
with its long, broad landing, woodpanelled
hall, attics and gardens for
"hiding games". In the old photographs
the house is instantly recognisable. In fact,
it is the gardens that have changed most,
with the small trees in the pictures now
giants, straight and tall as ships' masts,
and the magnificent rhododendrons that
so define this Exmoor garden appearing
96 Exmoor Spring 2019
back then as small shrubs. The walled
vegetable garden, so productive then, is
now a work in progress as I slowly reclaim
it from the grassy wild.
Knapp House was a family home until
the Second World War, when it was
requisitioned for a small boys' prep school
called Hillsbrow, the pupils being
evacuated from Redhill in Surrey to
escape the Blitz. A couple in a campervan
on holiday in Devon were among our
doorbell ringers not long ago. They'd
promised their neighbour they would try
to find out what had happened to his old
school and, after their visit, an email came
from Major Bill, describing how, at the
beginning of 1941, 30 little boys collected
their belongings and were put on a train
heading west. A pony and trap picked
up their luggage at East Anstey and they
walked in a crocodile to their new school.
This was the beginning of the house's life
as a school, in which purpose it continued
until the late 1960s, when it became a
residential home. Eventually, in the earlytwenty-first
century, Knapp became a
private home once again.
Following the war, in 1946, Knapp House
was handed back to the Stapledon family
and Richard Stapledon (Norah's brother),
with an Oxford Blue for athletics and
some limited teaching experience, decided
to put his inheritance to work and Kestrels
School, named after the birds nesting
in the Virginia creeper that covered the
south side of the house, was born.
It began with just 9 boys but this number
eventually grew to nearer 50. Most loved
it, a few loathed it, but even now, some
60 years later, its 'old boys' are unanimous
in recalling that it was very different, with
its black cat Satan and its charismatic
headmaster 'Staps'.
With a profound love of Exmoor, its
wildlife and its traditions, nurtured by his
parents during their family life at Knapp,
Richard Stapledon ran a school that
encouraged these passions amongst the
young pupils.
There were ponies in the stables ready
for a day's hunting with the Devon &
Somerset Staghounds for the princely sum
of seven shillings and sixpence. He had
himself first hunted with the Dulverton
Foxhounds at the age of eight. The boys'
dormitories took their names from the
Exmoor birds of prey – Buzzards, Kestrels,
Falcons, Sparrowhawks, Merlins, Eagles
Above, from top: Kestrels outside the school; the Box Brownie club (courtesy of John
Ponsonby); rugby team, 1956 (courtesy of Iain Morison).
Facing 96, top: Kestrels, 1947 (courtesy of John Ponsonby).
Page 96, insets: Norah Stapledon, 1920s; the drive to the house when it was built
in 1912 (courtesy of Damaris Albarron).
Exmoor Spring 2019 97
Past Times
Former pupils at their reunion in 2012.
and Peregrines – and the name labels are
still there on the cupboards in the attics.
The large school bell, taken from a
merchant ship, hung in the corner of
the dining-room and with eight rings
summoned the boys from bed at the
start of each day.
The main focus of Kestrels was preparing
the boys for Common Entrance, with
lessons in English, maths or Latin taken in
what is the now main sitting-room of the
house, the teacher standing in front of the
fireplace in the wood-panelled Arts and
Crafts alcove. Lessons were limited to the
mornings and after lunch there was a rest,
the afternoons being given over to games.
Not surprisingly, given Richard Stapledon's
athletic prowess, sport played a big part in
school life. Hurdles were carried up from
the livestock market near East Anstey
Station and cricket was played on the
main sports field opposite what is now
Blake's Coaches. The headmaster's
birthday in May was celebrated with
the cancellation of lessons and a 'Spivs
V Workers' cricket match followed by a
birthday cake with candles and a slice for
everyone. If it was too wet for games
the boys were sent on long runs,
accompanied by local farmer and Rugby
Blue David Pearce who reportedly only
had two speeds, 'fast' and 'very fast', and
thought nothing of reporting boys who
were running too slowly!
Termly fees were £66 and for an upfront
payment of £1,000 fees were fixed for five
years. A fee plan given to Sir Ian Lyle in
1954 still exists.
The school swimming pool was the Barle,
the boys being taken down in Richard
Stapledon's old car which had to be
pushed up the track on the way home.
They would enter the field gate at Five
Cross Ways, bumping down a steep
and very rough track to the river. After a
couple of hours of swimming, fishing and
dam-building, tea would be produced
from a large wicker laundry basket: jam
sandwiches and weak orange juice.
Behind the house in those days was a
small plantation where the boys played,
made camp and climbed the trees.
We have had to take many of these trees
down because of P. ramorum infection, or
larch disease, and have repeatedly had a
broken saw blade because of the dozens
of nails hammered into the trees all those
years ago by boys building dens.
So Kestrels sitting quietly on the edge
of Exmoor was a little school with a big
attitude. The boys are grown, but their
memories are fresh. In 2014, 16 of them
came together at Knapp House for a
reunion, with a special service in the little
village church of St Michael's that they
had walked to every Sunday in pairs
all those years ago. Andrew Lyle, who
appeared on Richard Stapledon's register
with a little drawing of a sugar cube with
arms and legs, read the lesson and Iain
Morison, whose register symbol was a
spark plug because of his love of engines,
played the organ.
It is hard to truly imagine Kestrels now.
Certainly all the photographs show
smiling boys – and the stories are of
impish japes – but there was certainly
punishment and it must have been
a hard school for the unsporting.
Ex-pupil Charles Proudfoot sums it up.
"What was it about Kestrels? I have been
intrigued for many years to try and put my
finger on it. It seems we were in the care
of an extraordinary bunch of eccentric
characters who allowed us a remarkable
degree of freedom in almost idyllic
surroundings.” Iain Morison, who has
written a book, Kestrels 1946-1968: The
Tale of an Iconic Devon Post War School,
writes, "It was a high-flying place,
punching well above its size."
Kestrels closed in 1968, Knapp House was
sold and became a residential home and
local people still mention visiting relatives
or working here in the 1970s and '80s.
Finally, stringent regulation forced it out
of business and after a sad period it was
rescued and turned back into a family
home with some of the additional
accommodation being converted into
holiday lets.
Mike and I now have the joy of living in
this wonderful house and sharing it with
the holiday guests who come to enjoy
Exmoor. A new generation of children
explore the gardens, writers and artists use
the 'classroom sitting-room' for their
retreats and its history gets told and
retold. Occasionally, if I listen hard
enough, I am sure I hear the tinkling of
a piano, the pouring of cocktails and the
enthusiastic shouts of happy boys getting
ready for cricket.
FIND OUT MORE
Kestrels 1946-1968: The Tale of an Iconic
Devon Post War School is available from
pmorison@uwclub.net priced at £12.
VISIT
www.knapphouselodges.co.uk
98 Exmoor Spring 2019
Three floors of great gift ideas
Enjoy delicious menus in our Bistro
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OPEN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY EVENINGS AND SEVEN DAYS A WEEK
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Barnstaple EX31 2NX ☎ 01271 377990
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Bideford EX39 5BE ☎ 01237 470060
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Exmoor Spring 2019 99
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100 Exmoor Spring 2019
WILD GARDENS
Orchids
WORDS by Peter Marren
PHOTOS by Andrew Hobbs, Andy Stuthridge,
Chris Gladman, Ian Salmon, Liz McDonnell,
Julia Amies-Green and Graham Lavender
Exmoor Spring 2019 101
If
there was a competition for
the most popular group of
wild flowers, my money would
be on the orchids. During the
past year alone there have been
two books devoted to finding the
50-odd species of British orchids. My own
book, Chasing the Ghost, also takes the
mysterious ghost orchid as its talisman, as a
symbol of unattainability (for it has flowered
only once in 30 years). When it comes to field
guides you can take your pick from at least
three, and orchids also feature prominently
in more general guides to wild flowers.
What makes orchids so special? Unlike those
you find in plant nurseries, most of which are
cultivated forms not found in the wild, British
orchids are homely and modest. To find some
of them you need sharp eyes, so closely do
they blend with their surroundings. All the
same, they have considerable allure. In no
other group of flowers do you find so many
species named after animals or insects – bee
orchid, lizard orchid, monkey orchid, spider
orchid, frog orchid (appropriately enough,
DNA has shown that the frog orchid belongs
among the marsh orchids). Several are named
after Homo sapiens: lady orchid seems to wear
a full-skirted, polka-dotted dress while the
homunculus of man orchid is a little dangling
figure wearing a big hat. Orchids are simply
adorable.
British orchids also display an intriguing range
of scents. Some forms of fragrant orchid have
a strong whiff of cloves. Musk orchid reminds
me of honey. The lizard orchid starts off with
a heavy scent like hyacinths but later smells of
billy-goats. The pure-white-flowered butterfly
orchids switch on their sweet perfume in the
evening to attract moths. The early purple orchid
is fragrant when fresh but the scent soon turns
sour and mature plants smell like tom-cats.
Scented blossoms have evolved to attract
insect pollinators, but orchids take this
adaptation to extremes. Many do not simply
attract flying insects in general but particular
kinds of insect. The greater butterfly orchid
hides its nectar – its gift to the pollinator –
inside a long spur that only the long tongues of
butterflies and moths can reach. Broad-leaved
Helleborine presents its nectar in a little cup,
to attract wasps, but it adds narcotics to the
mix. Apparently, drunken wasps make the best
pollinators. The twayblade rewards flies with a
trail of sugar, but when the insect reaches the
top, a sticky lump of yellow pollen explodes
onto its little head like a custard pie.
An orchid quartet, the bee, the fly and our
two spider orchids, take things a stage further
by mimicking their pollinators. The fly orchid's
amazing flower looks like a wasp with antennae,
a distinct head with 'eyes', and even a hint of
wings in its flash of blue. Moreover its scent,
which our noses can hardly detect, mimics the
pheromones of the female wasp. Its realism
certainly fools the male wasp, which attempts
to copulate with the flower and receives a
blob of pollen for its pains. In the game of
evolutionary intelligence the orchids win
hands down.
Three species of orchid manage to do without
leaves. The bird's-nest orchid is so named
because its roots look like a crow's nest, a mess
of twiggy rootlets. Its honey-brown spikes
bloom in the darkness of beech woods among
the fallen leaves where ordinary, light-demanding
plants cannot grow. It has the place to itself.
Botanists used to think that the bird's-nest
orchid behaves like a mushroom, feeding
on decaying matter. In fact, it feeds on fungi
trapped inside its roots. It's a fungus killer.
The ghost orchid is even more extreme in that
it hardly needs to flower at all. It seems able to
carry on indefinitely underground, a rootstock
quietly scoffing fungi, and producing a flower
only when it feels like it. And, unfortunately, in
Britain at least, it doesn't feel like it very often.
Funnily enough, 'orchid' is quite a recent word,
coined by the botanist John Lindley in 1845.
The older word for them was 'orchis', a name
that goes back to ancient times and means (of
course) 'testicle'. The analogy is with the tubers
of the early purple orchid and its relatives,
which are round and in pairs. Many of the
folk-names for orchids allude to these manly
'testicules'. They are what Shakespeare called
'grosser names': dog stones (or, as we would
say, 'the dog's bollocks'), cullions, fool's stones,
ballockwort. Another old name, 'satyrium',
alludes to that horny woodland deity, the
satyr, noted for his exaggerated male parts.
John Ruskin was so shocked by all this that he
proposed to rename orchids 'weatherworts'
(it didn't catch on). Perhaps, knowing this, you
would not be surprised to learn that, dried and
reduced to powder, orchid tubers are regarded
as an aphrodisiac. It's an idea that dates back
to the Middle Ages: that if a plant resembles
something, then it probably has properties
to match.
Left, from top: Autumn lady's-tresses (Liz McDonnell); this is the common spotted orchid, which,
in fact, is not all that common on Exmoor! (Andy Stuthridge); bird's-nest orchid is a strange plant
which has no chlorophyll (Chris Gladman); early purple orchid (Andy Stuthridge).
102 Exmoor Spring 2019
Some orchids are quite common: marsh
orchids can colour the ground, especially, and
interestingly, on industrial spoil heaps. Others
are a challenge to find. The diminutive bog
orchid is hard to spot even when someone
points it out for you. Some have become so
rare that you can easily count the number of
remaining plants. The gorgeous lady's slipper
(which seems far too exotic to be a genuine
wild flower, though it is) is down to just one
or two individuals. Rare orchids are often
protected with netting or individual wire cages.
Unfortunately, their fans easily outnumber
the plants, and trampling can damage their
prospects almost as much as picking.
Which species occur on Exmoor? Generally
speaking, orchids prefer lime-rich soils, and so
the more acidic geology of Exmoor is against
them. The one which you see everywhere
in boggy places around midsummer is the
heath spotted orchid. As the name suggests,
it has spotted leaves, and pale lilac flowers
with broad lips, all growing in a tight bunch.
Around late August you may come across a
much smaller orchid, the autumn lady's-tresses,
whose tiny white flowers grow in a narrow,
steeple-like spiral. You find it in short grass,
especially along the coast and, if you are
very lucky, on lawns.
Exmoor's most special species is the lesser
twayblade. The heather-covered parts of the
moor are now the only site for this upland
plant in southern England. It is hard to find
since it usually grows in damp moss under
heather, and you may need to part the clumps
to find it. When you do, you see a spindly little
plant with a neat pair of round leaves and a
spike of tiny pink and yellow flowers. Once you
spot one and get your eye in, you often find
many more for, like many orchids, the lesser
twayblade is a gregarious plant which grows
in circumscribed colonies.
With so many things going for them – funny
flowers, strange lives, the lure of a botanical
treasure-hunt – orchids make the perfect
introduction to wild flowers. It was with the
orchids that I started out in my teens, trying to
see as many species as I could. The search took
me on bus and train journeys to the wilder
parts of Britain and so it also became my
introduction to the natural beauty of our
mountains and moors, sand dunes and downs,
islands and forests… Orchids can be the start
of something big.
Page 101: Early purple orchid (Andy Stuthridge).
Four pairs, from top: Heath spotted orchids ( Julia Amies-Green); lesser twayblade, the rarest Exmoor orchid, hard to find and even
harder to photograph! (Chris Gladman); the larger and much commoner twayblade – it can grow in woodland or out in grassy places
and comes out in the late spring (Ian Salmon and Chris Gladman); south marsh orchid (Graham Lavender and Andrew Hobbs).
Exmoor Spring 2019 103
CHILDREN'S PICTURE QUIZ
Uncle Willow
& Ginger Tigger
in Snowdrop Valley
ILLUSTRATION by Endymion Beer
Can you answer these questions:
1. Ginger-Tigger is leaning
on a sign. What does it say?
2. A gnome is hitching a ride
to the river on Willow's back.
What colour are her boots?
3. The fungi featured in the picture
are scarlet elf cups. How many elves in red
jackets are there? What are they doing?
Snowdrop Valley is open 2 February to 3 March.
See page 107.
104 Exmoor Spring 2019
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with North Devon Farm Holidays!
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Let our two cottages
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Dulverton, TA22 9RZ T: 01398 341329
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#nationaltrust
Looking for your next adventure?
Life is one long adventure and we'd love to
join in with your next one. Whether you
want to put years of skills and experience
towards our cause or just want to try
something brand new, we'll have a role to
suit you.
Find out more about the current volunteer
roles we have on offer.
Call 01271 850296 for details
nationaltrust.org.uk/arlington-court
© National Trust 2018. The National Trust is an independent
registered charity, number 205846. Photography © National Trust
Images\Chris Lacey.
106 Exmoor Spring 2019
Ex Mag Ad 2019
21 December 2018 11:19:45
Photo by Jane A. Mares
Spring Diary 2019
COMPILED by Katy Charge
Our diary gives a small sample of the
type of events taking place locally.
See page 111 for some useful websites
and keep an eye on our Facebook page
(www.facebook.com/exmoormagazine).
ENPA's Exmoor Visitor also contains
listings.
The dates here are submitted to us and
as far as we are aware the information
is correct at the time of going to press.
Contact details are included so that you
can check events nearer the time.
Please email your summer dates to us
by 15 April 2018 (see page 6 for
details). We are always over-subscribed
but will do our best to fit you in!
To find out about advertising your
commercial event here call 01392
201227 (prices start at £35).
2nd and 4th Saturdays of Every Month
OPEN NIGHTS/CONCERTS
RESPECTIVELY
8pm. Shammick Acoustic, Pack o' Cards,
High Street, Combe Martin. T: 01271
882366, W: www.shammickacoustic.org.uk.
Every Friday
MINEHEAD COUNTRY MARKET
9-11am. Traditional fare, indoors in the
Quaker Meeting House on Bancks Street.
Breads, cakes, honey, jams, chutneys,
savouries, main dishes, plants, seasonal
veg., handcrafted items. Free entry.
Minehead TA24 5DJ. T: 01643 705291.
February
Saturday 2 February-Sunday 3 March
SNOWDROP VALLEY
A privately owned remote valley in a
hidden part of Exmoor close to Wheddon
Cross. The Badgworthy Land Company
kindly allows access to the valley while
the beautiful carpet of snowdrops is in
bloom. Short, medium and long walks
(take sturdy footwear; can be muddy).
Park & ride Saturday 9 February-Sunday
24 February. Find out more nearer the
time at W: www.wheddoncross.org.uk/
snowdropvalley.htm. T: 01398 323841
(ENP Visitor Centre, Dulverton).
Thursdays 14 February, 14 March,
11 April, 9 May
WATERCOLOUR PAINTING WITH
CHRIS HOWE
2-4pm. Learn the art of watercolour
painting with talented local artist Chris
Howe. Beginners welcome; sessions for
all levels of experience. All materials
included. Booking essential, £15. Lynmouth
National Park Centre. T: 01598 752509.
Saturday 16 February
BIRDS, BOGS AND BARROWS:
A WALK AT HANGLEY CLEAVE
2-6pm. See page 57 for details.
Saturday 16 February
VALENTINE'S EVENING & SUPPER
7.30-10.30pm. Supper with the Dark
Town Strutters. Paying bar. Tickets from
Porlock Spar, Allerford Post Office &
Summerland Road pet shop in Minehead.
Allerford and Selworthy Community Hall.
Booking essential, £10pp. T: 07980 595
989, W: www.allerfordandselworthyhall.
co.uk/events.html.
Sunday 17 February
6TH CASTLE HILL CORKER
10am. Approx. 6 miles of multi-terrain
running around the Castle Hill Estate.
Highlights will be the Tunnel of Doom,
the Troll Bridge, Creepy Cliff and nearly
1,000ft of climbing! £14 unattached
runners; £12 for ALL members of UKA
affiliated clubs; £2 extra on the day.
W: www.southmoltonstrugglers.co.uk/
castle-hill-corker.
Sunday 17 February; Saturdays 16
March & 20 April
North Hill Guided Walk
10.30am-12pm. Join a walk leader on
a tour of North Hill, taking in glorious
scenery and historical sites. Approx.
3 miles, moderate inclines, suitable
footwear essential. Meet at the
Marshalling Yard car park on North Hill.
Booking essential. Free; donations to
CareMoor welcome. T: 01598 752509.
Monday 18 February
RUINS IN THE WOODS: A WALK
Meet 9.45am at Chargot Wood car park
(SS975355). A 1-hour stroll to Langham
Engine House, then a 2-hour walk down
the steep miners' track to see Bearland
Flue and other iron-mining features.
Possible visit to Burrow Farm Engine
House or Kennisham Hill. W: www.
westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk.
Mondays 18 February, 18 March, 15 April
SIMONSBATH SAWMILL OPEN DAY
10am-4pm. No need to book, advisable
to ring (10am-4pm). Look around the
historic water-powered sawmill and
estate workshops. Parking and toilets
Ashcombe car park, Simonsbath. Donations
welcome. T: 01643 831202 (on the day),
W: www.simonsbathsawmill.org.uk.
Thursday 21 February
ACTIVITY AFTERNOON AT EXMOOR
PONY CENTRE
12-3pm. Have fun meeting the ponies.
Booking not required, free entry. Small
charges for individual activities, which
incl. pony rides (min. age for riding 4yrs;
12-stone weight limit), pony grooming,
crafts and games, refreshments. W: www.
moorlandmousietrust.org.uk/events.php.
Saturday 23 February
SHAMMICK ACOUSTIC CONCERT:
KIMBER'S MEN
8pm. Internationally renowned shanty
crew, previously sell-out nights! See first
diary entry on this page for contact details.
Exmoor Food & Crafts
Local products made by local people
4 The Avenue, Minehead
Tel: 01643 706030
www.exmoorfoodandcrafts.co.uk
www.facebook.com/ExmoorFoodandCrafts/
National Centre for Folk Arts
“An essential part of the
UK folk scene”
Paul Sartin, Faustus
www.halswaymanor.org.uk
01984 618274 | www.halswaymanor.org.uk
Exmoor Spring 2019 107
Diary
March
Wednesday 6 March
ILLUSTRATED TALK: CLIMATE CHANGE
AND TREES
7.30pm. A talk by Robin Offer, ENP
Conservation Advisor, about a survey of
tree bud burst and how climate change
might impact Exmoor's trees. Minehead
Methodist Church Hall, The Avenue,
Minehead. W: www.enhs.org.uk/
programme.htm.
Thursday 7 March
A BLACKSMITH'S LIFE ON EXMOOR:
ILLUSTRATED TALK
7.30pm. The Dulverton Group Exmoor
Society's AGM at 7pm (non-members
welcome), followed by a talk and slide
show about the life and work of
local Master Blacksmith James Horrobin
FWCB. DGES members free, nonmembers
£3. Riverside Youth Centre,
Kemps Way, Dulverton. T: 01398 323954.
Thursdays 7 March, 4 April, 2 May
SEA GLASS & GEMSTONE JEWELLERY
2-4pm. Jewellery making with Debbie.
Workshop for beginners and more
advanced crafters. Make a unique piece
of jewellery for yourself, or as a gift.
Booking essential, £15pp. Lynmouth
National Park Centre. T: 01598 752509.
Friday 8 March
EXPLORE EAST QUANTOXHEAD AND
THE COAST
10am-2pm. A moderate 9-mile walk with
knowledgeable volunteer rangers, Philip
and George. Bring a packed lunch. Sturdy
and waterproof clothing and footwear
required. Dogs on leads welcome. East
Quantoxhead car park (Duck Pond), East
Quantoxhead, TA5 1EJ. T: 01823 451884,
W: www.quantockhills.com/events.
Saturday 9 March
QUIZ NIGHT
7-10pm. Friendly, fun quiz. Max. 4 per team.
£2pp. Allerford and Selworthy Community
Hall. W: www.allerfordandselworthyhall.
co.uk/events.html, T: 07980 595989.
Tuesday 12 March
DISCOVER EXMOOR'S LICHENS
10am-2pm. Discover how to identify
some of the lichens common in Exmoor's
woodlands. Aimed at beginners.
Booking essential, £5. Malmsmead car
park (SS792478) EX35 6NU. T: (Jackie
Kiberd) 07970 099 127, W: events.
constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=vj
zs4adab&oeidk=a07efvu18d2ee2ca8c4.
Saturday 16 March
SPRING SHOW
2-4.30pm. Seasonal floral classes.
Decorative, cookery, home-made drink
classes. Classes for children. Artwork
display of St Dubricius School children.
Plant sales, book stall, raffle, home-made
refreshments. Entry £1 (members of the
Society and children free). Porlock Village
Hall TA24 8QD, T: 01643 863074,
W: www.porlockhortisoc.weebly.com.
Sunday 17 March
LOCALS DAY ON LYNTON
& BARNSTAPLE RAILWAY
10.45am-4pm. Residents in EX and TA
postcodes travel free. Proof of residency
required. Woody Bay Station EX31 4RA.
T: 01598 763487, W: www.lynton-rail.
co.uk/page/Special-events.
Saturday 23 March
SHAMMICK ACOUSTIC CONCERT:
GRANNY'S ATTIC
8pm. Talented young trio of traditional
musicians and singers. Pack o' Cards,
High Street, Combe Martin. T: 01271
882366, W: www.shammickacoustic.org.uk.
Sunday 24 March
RALEGH'S CROSS SHORT WALK
9.45am-1.45pm. Explore the old
Brendon village, the nineteenth-century
iron mines, the Winding House and the
remains of the mineral railway in the
Brendon Hills. It includes part of the
Incline, steep, spectacular, but optional.
Booking essential, donations welcome.
Meet at Ralegh's Cross Inn TA23 0LN.
T: 01398 323841,
W: westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk.
Wednesday 27 March
WOODLAND WALK AND RAPID
WOODLAND ASSESSMENT AT
HORNER WOODS
9.45am-1.pm. Learn about Exmoor's
Atlantic woodland habitat and
conservation. Carry out a Rapid
Woodland Assessment (RWA) (you can
later do RWAs independently if you
volunteer as part of Plantlife's Building
Resilience in South West Woodlands
project). Free, booking essential. Horner
Woods car park TA24 8HY. T: 07889
733232, W: www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/
discover-wild-plants-nature/events/
atlantic-woodland-walk-and-rapidwoodland-assessment-training-hornerwoods-e.
Saturday 30 March
COFFEE, CAKE AND CLEAN-UP
10am-1pm. Porlock community annual
pre-season clean-up of the Marsh and
Shingle Ridge of Porlock Bay. All welcome;
join for coffee and cake by the car park
before taking part in the clean-up. Litter
pickers, gloves and bags provided. Free.
Bossington car park TA24 8HF. T: 01643
862452, W: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
bossington.
Sunday 31 March
MOTHER'S DAY WITH LYNTON
& BARNSTAPLE RAILWAY
10.45am-5pm. Mums travel FREE and
get to drive a diesel! Free ticket for
accompanied mums; standard fares for
everyone else. Woody Bay Station.
T: 01598 763487, W: www.lynton-rail.
co.uk/page/Special-events.
Sunday 31 March
MOTHER'S DAY AT ARLINGTON COURT
12-3pm. Treat Mum to a high tea at
Arlington Court (booking essential)!
Family crafting activities (no need to
book). Adults £9.95, children £6.
Arlington Court EX31 4LP. T: 01271
851111, W: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
arlington-court-and-the-national-trustcarriage-museum/whats-on.
108 Exmoor Spring 2019
April
Monday 1-Friday 12 April
EASTER BOOK BONANZA
From 10.30am. Many books 'as new', from
50p. In aid of Dulverton Heritage Centre
and Model Railway Project. Phone John,
T: 01398 323787, to arrange collection
of unwanted books or bring them with
you. Free entry. Dulverton Heritage
Centre. T: 07969 243 887, W: www.
dulvertonheritagecentre.org.uk/events.html.
Tuesday 2 April-Sunday 6 May
MINEHEAD LITERARY FESTIVAL
ART EXHIBITION
Art exhibition at the Regal Theatre and
Toucan Wholefoods, Minehead, focused
on the importance of place, the theme of
Minehead Literary Festival (see page 95).
Works by local artists Jo Minoprio,
Leo Davey and Pauline Clyde.
Free entry. T: 01643 831343,
W: www.mineheadliteraryfestival.org.
Tuesdays 2 & 23 April & 7 May;
Wednesdays 10 April & 1 May
A TOWN TOUR OF DULVERTON
3pm. A guided walk exploring the
history of Dulverton. Discover secret
places and hear tales from local guides.
£3pp. Dulverton Heritage Centre.
W: www.dulvertonheritagecentre.org.uk/
events.html, T: 07969 243 887.
Wednesdays 3 April & 1 May
BAT'S CASTLE GUIDED WALK
11am-2pm
See hidden parts of Dunster and some
wonderful scenery/views. Learn about the
rich history of the area. Approx. 4-mile
walk with some steep inclines, suitable
footwear and water essential. Free;
donations to CareMoor welcome. Start
from National Park Centre Dunster.
T: 01643 821835.
Fridays 5 April & 3 May
DISCOVER PORLOCK MARSH WALK
10.30am-12.30pm. Join local guide
on a walk to discover Porlock Marsh, its
wildlife, history and scenery. Please wear
suitable footwear. Free, booking essential.
Porlock Visitor Centre. T: 01598 752509.
Saturday 6-Thursday 18 April
WILD ABOUT SPRING TRAIL
10.30am-4pm. Discover the interesting
animals that live at Arlington. Collect all
the stamps and unscramble the word to
claim a prize. £1.50pp. Arlington Court.
W: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/arlingtoncourt-and-the-national-trust-carriagemuseum/whats-on.
T: 01271 850296.
Saturday 6-Sunday 21 April
DISCOVER NATIONAL PARKS FORTNIGHT
Annual family festival championing
all that is unique and special about
National Parks. Treasure trails, seaside
safaris, guided forest walks, local food and
drinks, many diverse events are on offer.
W: www.awarenessdays.com/awarenessdays-calendar/discover-national-parksfortnight-2019.
Sunday 7-Wednesday 10; Sunday
14-Wednesday 17; Sunday 21-Tuesday
23 April
HAVE-A-GO ARCHERY
11am-4pm. £4 for 8 arrows, normal
admission applies. Minimum age: 5 for
archery, 8 for pistol shooting; participants
must be 1.16m tall to use the smallest
bow. Booking essential. Dunster Castle.
T: 01643 821314, W: www.nationaltrust.
org.uk/dunster-castle/whats-on.
Monday 8 April & Wednesday 17 April
COMBE MARTIN SEASHORE SAFARI
8 April 2-4pm; 17 April 10.30am-
12.30pm. Gentle seashore safari, exploring
the beach rock pools for wildlife.
Free rock-pool guide for each family,
microscope also available in the museum.
Children £2, accompanying adults free.
Combe Martin Museum.
T: 01271 889031,
W: www.combemartinmuseum.co.uk.
Wednesdays 10 & 24 April; 8 May
HIDDEN DUNSTER GUIDED WALK
11am-12.30pm. Join a walk leader on
a stroll around Dunster. See sites of
historical interest and hidden parts of the
village. Free; donations to CareMoor
welcome. Booking essential. National
Park Centre Dunster. T: 01643 821835.
Sunday 14 April
ACTIVITY DAY AT EXMOOR PONY
CENTRE
11am-3pm. In addition to the usual
activities (see 21 Feb. entry) there is an
Easter Quiz Trail for all the family. Answer
all the questions and claim a chocolate
reward. W: www.moorlandmousietrust.
org.uk/events.php.
Monday 15 April
WEST EXMOOR WEBFOOT WALK
9.30am-4.30pm. Moorland walk with
some historical interest. The west side
of Exmoor is consistently wet underfoot;
route may change, depending on
conditions on the day. Donations
welcome. Goat Hill Bridge, SS723405. For
details and other walks in April, T: 01398
323335, W: www.exmoorsociety.com.
Diary
Monday 15 April & Wednesday 1 May
LYNMOUTH BOAT TRIP
15 April 2.30-4pm; 1 May 3.45-5.15pm.
Look for rare nesting birds along the
coastline west of Lynmouth. Commentary
from an ENP Ranger. £20pp. Lynmouth
Harbour. Booking essential via National
Park Centre, Lynmouth, T: 01598 752509.
Wednesday 17 April
HADDON HILL BIG ADVENTURE
10am-4pm. Family games/activities. Wear
outdoor clothing and suitable footwear.
Booking essential. Free; donations to
CareMoor welcome. Haddon Hill car
park. T: 01398 323841, W: www.exmoornationalpark.gov.uk/enjoying/events/
all-events/haddon-hill-big-adventure.
Thursday 18 & Wednesday 24 April
LYNMOUTH HISTORY & FLOOD WALK
1-2.30pm. Join a Heritage Walk Leader
for a stroll through Lynmouth; learn
about its history and the effect of the
1952 flood. A slow-paced stroll, with
frequent stops. Free; donations to
CareMoor welcome. Lynmouth National
Park Centre. T: 01598 752509.
Friday 19 April
BEAUTIFUL BOSSINGTON GUIDED WALK
10.30am-12.30pm. Walk along the coast
towards Hurlstone and back through
Holm Oak woodland. Circular walk,
approx. 2.5 miles. Wear suitable footwear.
Free; donations to CareMoor welcome.
Booking essential. T: 01598 752509.
Tuesday 23 April
HIDDEN PORLOCK GUIDED WALK
10.15am-12.15pm. A walk around
Porlock village to visit sites of historical
interest and hidden parts of the village's
past. Free; donations welcome. Booking
essential. Visitor Centre. T: 01643 863150.
Saturday 27 April
MINEHEAD LITERARY FESTIVAL
See page 95 for details.
Saturday 27 April
SHAMMICK ACOUSTIC CONCERT:
JIM CAUSLEY
8pm. With a voice as rich as clotted
cream! See first diary entry for details.
Sunday 28 April
MINERAL LINE BUS TRIP
10am-3pm. Minibus to the route of
the Mineral Line. Easy walking. Bring a
packed lunch. Please book by Thurs.
18 April. Bus fare £14. Booking essential.
Meet Watchet Railway Station Bus Stop
TA23 0AU. T: 01398 323841 (ENPA), W:
www.westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk.
Exmoor Spring 2019 109
LORNA DOONE 150TH ANNIVERSARY
The following is a selection of the events (confirmed at the time of going to print)
which are running this year as part of the anniversary of Lorna Doone.
April-October
LARGE EXHIBITION
Dulverton Heritage Centre. Visit www.
dulvertonheritagecentre.org.uk soon!
Wednesdays 10 April & 8 May
LORNA DOONE SAFARI
2-4.30pm. Pass through beautiful Doone
country, visit St Mary's Church in Oare,
Badgworthy Water and Robber's Bridge.
Enjoy the fascinating commentary which
brings the book to life. Booking essential,
£25pp. (Groups on other dates possible).
Departs Porlock Visitor Centre. T: 01643
863150, W: www.porlock.co.uk/events.
May-September
EXHIBITION
With Lorna mannequin and photos of
re-enactments held in Porlock Rec. 50
years ago. Dovery Museum, Porlock.
W: www.doverymanormuseum.org.uk.
Saturday 4, Tuesday 28 & Thursday
30 May; Monday 3 & Tuesday 18 June;
Sunday 14 & Saturday 20 July;
7, 10, 13, 21 & 30 August
LORNA DOONE WALK
10.30am, Malmsmead gift shop. £12pp,
children 10-15yrs £8. With Wild About
Exmoor. T: 01643 831759 or visit
www.wildaboutexmoor.com.
Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 May;
Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 July
PAINTING THE LANDSCAPE OF
LORNA DOONE
10am-4pm, Winsford Community Hall,
with tutor Matthew Davison.
Course ID: C3530299. Fee £74.
W: www.wea.org.uk/find-course.
Saturday 18 May
LITERATURE DAY SCHOOL – LORNA
DOONE
10am-4pm, Exford Memorial Hall,
with tutor Greta Depledge.
Course ID: C3530298. Fee: £35.
W: www.wea.org.uk/find-course.
Friday 24 May
WALK: DOONE COUNTRY – HEROES,
HEROINES, HUNTER-GATHERERS
& HERMITS
10.30am-4.30pm. A 4-mile walk with Rob
Wilson-North over rough moorland to
Badgworthy in the footsteps of author
R.D. Blackmore. Also on the trails of
hermits and hunter-gatherers. Dogs on
leads. Bring a packed lunch/refreshments.
Meet Brendon Two Gates, near
Simonsbath, SS765433.
Thursday 6 June & Friday 2 August
THE LORNA DOONE EXPERIENCE
Meet 10am, Malmsmead gift shop.
Booking essential. A full day out incl.
lunch. Numbers limited to 8 guests.
With Wild About Exmoor. Booking
through Airbnb experiences.
Saturday 22 June
Literature Day School – LORNA DOONE
10am-4pm, Heathcote Community
Centre, Tiverton, with tutor Greta
Depledge. Course ID: C3530298. Fee:
£35. W: www.wea.org.uk/find-course.
Saturday 29 & Sunday 30 June
DULVERTON SUMMER FESTIVAL
A weekend of Lorna Doone celebrations
with re-enactment of scenes from the
novel by Taunton Garrison around the
town. For more information see page 8.
Tuesday 20-Saturday 31 August
PLEASURE DOME THEATRE COMPANY:
LORNA DOONE AT VALLEY OF ROCKS
W: www.pleasuredometheatrecompany.
com.
Saturday 12 October
LORNA DOONE-INSPIRED CONCERT
All Saints' Church, Dulverton.
W: www.twomoorsfestival.co.uk.
Tuesday 29 October-Friday 1 November
3-DAY THEMED WALKING HOLIDAY
Lorna Doone walks and talks,
Simonsbath House Hotel,
W: www.simonsbathhouse.co.uk.
May
Wednesday 1 May-Saturday
28 September
DOVERY MANOR MUSEUM: OPENING
TIMES 2019
Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm; Saturday
10.30am-4.30pm; Sunday closed. Free
entry. Porlock, TA24 8QB. E: enquiries@
doverymanormuseum.org.uk,
W: www.doverymanormuseum.org.uk.
Saturday 4 May
COFFEE MORNING AND PLANT STALL
10am-12.30pm. Minehead and District
Gardeners Association coffee morning
and plant stall, plus bric-à-brac and
books. Proceeds to a local charity.
Free entry. Minehead Methodist Church,
The Avenue, Minehead TA24 5AY.
T: 01643 706558,
W: mineheadgardenclub.btck.co.uk.
Saturday 4-Sunday 5 May
ARMADA ALERT WITH THE TAUNTON
GARRISON
10am-4.30pm. Join the Taunton Garrison
for rolling skirmishes, weapons
displays and a living history camp.
Normal admission. Dunster Castle.
T: 01643821314, W: www.nationaltrust.
org.uk/dunster-castle/whats-on.
Sunday 5 May
BIG CREAM TEA
1pm-4pm. Delicious cream teas and
home-made cakes. Free entry, charge
for teas. Allerford and Selworthy
Community Hall. T: 07980 595 989,
W: www.allerfordandselworthyhall.co.uk/
events.html.
Monday 6 May-Friday 21 June
SIMONSBATH FESTIVAL
Starting with the colourful May Day
celebration on the green in Exford, the
main venue for many concerts and
talks is St Luke's Church in Simonsbath.
Torfaen Welsh Choir, folk, opera, gypsy
swing; art, poetry, talks, history, guided
walks in conjunction with the Exmoor
Society across Exmoor.
W: www.simonsbathfestival.org.uk.
SIMONSBATH HOUSE HOTEL
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Valentine’s Day Mascara Murder Mystery
9t10th February, 7pm
Valentine’s Escape - 14th - 16th February
Mother’s Day Special - 31st March
Explore Exmoor Yoga and Walking weekend
Friday 5th to Monday 8th April
Charter of the Forest 800 year Anniversary Talk
13th April, 6 - 10.30pm
Alpha Painting Workshops - 5th - 17th May
www.simonsbathhouse.co.uk • T: 01643 831259
E: enquiries@simonsbathhousehotel.co.uk
WITHYPOOL TEAROOM
• Freshly made cakes,
light lunches, soups,
FREE FROM options
available
• Serving local ales,
ciders and wine
• Open daily
Spring till Winter
• We now accept all
major credit and
debit cards.
Tel: 01643 831279 • www.withypoolexmoor.co.uk
Tuesday 7 May
DISCOVER EXMOOR'S WOODLAND
FERNS
10am-1pm. A walk at Tarr Steps to learn
about ferns and how to identify them.
Aimed at beginners. Booking essential,
£5. Tarr Steps pay and display car park
SS872323. T: 07970 099 127, W: events.
constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=vj
zs4adab&oeidk=a07efvubn7578cc205f.
110 Exmoor Spring 2019
Saturday 11 May
MUSICAL EVENING WITH THE
RIVERTONES
7-11pm. An evening of musical
entertainment with The Rivertones, male
acapella harmony chorus. Licenced bar,
2-course meal. Booking essential, £15pp,
tables of up to 8 persons. Carhampton
Recreation Centre TA24 6NQ. T: 01643
822194, W: www.carhamptonrec.org.uk.
Saturday 11-Sunday 12 May
GRAND NATIONAL ARCHERY SOCIETY
INSTRUCTOR TRAINING COURSE
9am-5pm. Upon successful completion
of the course, candidates will receive a
certificate and become an Archery GB
qualified instructor. Booking essential,
price tbc. Simonsbath House Outdoor
Centre TA24 7SH. T: 01643 831382,
W: www.shoc.info.
Saturday 11-Sunday 12 May
CHARCOAL MAKING EXPERIENCE
Sat. 9.30am-Sun.10am. Entertaining,
educational and fully-catered course.
Optional evening around the campfire
and camp overnight, with a full English
breakfast. Booking essential, £100 for the
day / £130 overnight. Bulworthy Project,
Hensons Wood, Rackenford, Devon
EX16 8DL. T: 07594 569 441,
W: www.bulworthy.uk/charcoalcourse.
Saturday 11-Sunday 12 May
SPRING GALA
10am-5pm. Celebrate times past, real
ales, marquee attractions. All resident
locos in steam. Great War veteran AXE's
last big thing. Prices on website/phone
for details. Woody Bay Station EX31 4RA.
T: 01598 763487, W: www.lynton-rail.
co.uk/page/Special-events.
Saturday 11-Sunday 12 May
COWBRIDGE SAWMILL OPEN DAYS AS
PART OF NATIONAL MILLS WEEKEND
11am-4.30pm. Guided tours and rural
craft displays. Refreshments. Free entry,
donations welcome. Cowbridge
Sawmill, Timberscombe TA24 7TD.
T: 01643 841803,
W: www.cowbridgesawmill.org.
Saturday 11 May
CONCERT: BRAHMS
7.30pm. German Requiem, Song of
Destiny & Lieder sung by Bridgwater
Choral Society at St Mary's Church,
Bridgwater. The Society has been at the
heart of Bridgwater's cultural life since it
was founded in 1949. £12 on the door
(£10 for Friends), accompanied U16s
free, or via W: www.bridgwaterchoral.org.
Find out more...
ENPA
www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk
(a very useful diary for events
across the area)
Tel. 01398 323665
Twitter. @ExmoorNP
fb. Exmoor National Park
EXMOOR SOCIETY
www.exmoorsociety.com
Tel. 01398 323335
E. info@exmoorsociety.com
EQUINE
www.exmoorponycentre.org.uk
www.exmoorponysociety.org.uk
FOOD & DRINK
www.visit-exmoor.co.uk/eat-exmoor
and www.visit-exmoor.co.uk/types/
shopping/map
GENERAL WEBSITES
www.enhs.org.uk
www.everythingexmoor.org.uk
www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor
www.quantockhills.com
www.visit-exmoor.co.uk
NATIONAL TRUST
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/days-out/
regionsouthwest/south-west
STAGE & SCREEN
barnstaple.scottcinemas.co.uk
www.bidefordcinema.org.uk
lyntoncinema.co.uk/lynton/now
www.merlincinemas.co.uk
www.regalfilmsociety.org
www.shammickacoustic.org.uk
www.theploughartscentre.org.uk
regaltheatre.co.uk
tivertontheatre.com
LOCAL RADIO
www.tivertoncommunityradio.co.uk
10radio.org
VILLAGE LIFE
If you have a community website which
is not here please get in touch.
www.appledore.org
www.bampton.org.uk
www.bishopslydeard.org.uk
www.aboutbraunton.com
www.bromptonregis.com
www.visitcombemartin.com
www.dulvertontowncouncil.co.uk
www.visitdunster.co.uk
hawkridgeexmoor.co.uk
www.visitilfracombe.co.uk/what-is-on
www.kingsnympton.org.uk
www.visitlyntonandlynmouth.com
www.mineheadbay.co.uk
www.mineheadtowncouncil.co.uk
www.nettlecombewestsomerset.co.uk
www.northmoltonvillage.co.uk
www.porlock.co.uk
www.doverymanormuseum.org.uk
www.quantockonline.co.uk
friendsofquantock.com
www.visitsouthmolton.co.uk
www.timberscombevillage.com
www.lovewatchet.co.uk
www.wheddoncross.org.uk
www.winsfordexmoor.org.uk
www.wiveliscombe.com
woottoncourtenayvillage.co.uk
VISUAL ARTS
www.containsart.co.uk
www.crafts.org.uk (Devon Guild)
www.creativesomerset.com
www.devonartistnetwork.co.uk
ndarttrek.com
somersetartworks.org.uk
www.somersetguild.co.uk
If you know of a regularly updated, accurate site which you would like to suggest
we include here, please email the editor (see page 6). Priority will be given to
non-commercial sites. To advertise call 01392 201227. Diary adverts cost from £35.
TOBY'S GARDEN FESTIVAL
at Powderham Castle, nr Exeter
3 & 4 May 2019
With BBC gardeners - Toby Buckland,
Joe Swift and Frances Tophill
Specialist plant nurseries,
artisan food and drink, West Country craft
Advance tickets £10 online from
www.tobygardenfest.co.uk
Photo by Liz Elmont
Exmoor Spring 2019 111
Phil Hammond has always
loved dogs and, when
he took a job with Dogs
Trust Ilfracombe, it was the
perfect position. After enjoying
volunteering at a small rescue
centre during his nine-to-five
office job, Phil quickly learned
the daily grind behind a desk
wasn't for him so he applied
for a job as a Canine Carer at
Dogs Trust Ilfracombe where
he's now been working for
the past two years. After
developing a love for dog
training and behaviour, he
is now part of the Centre's
Training and Behaviour team
and helps to look after and
rehome around 400 dogs
a year.
Phil grew up around dogs
and owns two pugs. He said,
"I grew up with a Border collie
named Duke, and here began
my love affair with dogs.
When I started to think about
what I really wanted to do as
a career, I just knew I had to
work with them in some way."
Phil is involved in developing
training plans for the centre's
dogs, as well as assessing all of
the dogs that come through
the doors, to help them
find the right homes. "I'm
passionate about getting dogs
ready for life in a home, or
supporting them to overcome
behavioural challenges that
may be preventing them
from finding a home. I love
doing things that make the
dogs in our care happy,
whether that's teaching them
a new trick, or taking them
to one of the local beaches for
some time out of the kennel
environment."
He says nothing beats seeing
dogs coming into the Centre,
then waving them off to
their forever homes. "Being
greeted daily with waggy
tails is amazing and, whilst
there can be tears when they
leave, we know all the hard
work is worth it on adoption
day, when we put the dogs
in their new collars and then
bring them out to their new
families."
With 65 dogs being cared for
at any one time, every day is
busy. Each Canine Carer's day
starts with finding out what
new dogs have arrived or are
due to leave that day for a
FINAL PAWS
Dogs Trust Ilfracombe:
A Canine Carer's Day
WORDS by Kayla Maryon
From top: Phil with the Centre's biggest ever puppy, Fluffy;
feeding, training, cuddles and cleaning are all part of the day;
greyhounds on a group walk.
new home, what appointments
there are in the diary and
noting key information they
need for the day ahead.
This is followed by making
sure the dogs have everything
they need for the day – food,
exercise, clean kennels,
company, mental stimulation
and training. The vet suite at
the Centre is extremely busy
with new dogs having their
initial check-up and those
leaving for their new homes
getting a final health check.
Prior to going-home day,
all new owners will have
attended a pre-adoption talk
to help them understand how
to care for their dog. New
owners are also given some
food, medical information
about their new pet and four
weeks' free pet insurance.
Afternoons offer the chance
to spend time with the dogs
through playtime, training
or simply some fuss in their
kennel. The Centre is lucky
enough to have a woodland
walk and a beach on the
doorstep, which are great for
walks in new environments,
ensuring as varied a day as
possible for everyone.
At 4pm each day the dogs
have their final feed and walk
of the day and settle down for
the night, to dream of the day
when it's their turn to head off
to their new home with their
forever family. With the last
of the visitors gone, staff head
home for the day – ready to
do it all again tomorrow and
see which four-legged friends
they'll be caring for until they
find their special someone.
There are lots of ways that
you can help Dogs Trust
Ilfracombe. We have more
than 60 dogs in need of
rehoming, but if you cannot
adopt, don't despair. The
Centre also needs dog
sponsors, volunteers and
foster carers – and any old
blankets, dog toys or tasty
doggy treats will help to keep
the dogs cosy and well looked
after. The Centre is so grateful
for any doggy donations!
FIND OUT MORE
W: www.dogstrust.org.uk
T: 01271 812 709
E: IlfracombeRehoming@
dogstrust.org.uk
112 Exmoor Spring 2019