Sunday 6th May 2007
After a day spent in Alton Towers, I drove down from Leicester all the way to Somerset and Exmoor. I had never been in this part of the country before, so I thought that before going on to Dartmoor the next day I would stop off in Exmoor. After driving through Minehead I turned off the main road just before Porlock and parked in the village of Horner. Leaving the car park I headed into Horner Wood and up Horner Hill along bridlepaths to Luccombe Water out onto the open hillside.
I started following a path that circles Luccombe Hill, but eventually I gave up and headed straight up through thick heather to the cairns at the summit where I sheltered from the cold wind behind one of the cairns and had my lunch. The sunny start to my walk was long gone as I pulled my cagoule on against the wind and headed across the moorland to Dunkery Beacon. After crossing a road I joined a wide gravelly path that climbs the gentle slope up to the large beacon at top of Dunkery Hill, the highest point in Exmoor. Proceeding west along the wide moorland ridge I soon reached Great Rowbarrow, a hill not much smaller than Dunkery Beacon, but with a drop of only 22m.
Continuing west I crossed the road at Porlock Post, passing the Bendels Barrows with no path to another road, and then climbed Almsworthy Common opposite to reach Alderman's Barrow, where I turned right along a road to Lucott Cross. Carrying straight on along a bridlepath I descended into Lucott Farm and then steeply down a rocky track to a path that follows the valley high across the northern slopes. This was a fabulous path with great views along the valley, but eventually the views disappeared in the trees as I joined a route signposted as Lord Ebington's Path that gradually descends the hillside through beautiful natural woodland to the valley bottom. The final mile of the walk followed the Horner Water through Horner Wood back to my car. This was a great end to a walk that in places was frankly rather dull and in harsh weather. Hopefully my walks in Dartmoor will not be so dull, but frankly I'm not very hopeful. Moorland tends to be rather dull for me, but maybe Dartmoor will be different. We'll see.
After a day spent in Alton Towers, I drove down from Leicester all the way to Somerset and Exmoor. I had never been in this part of the country before, so I thought that before going on to Dartmoor the next day I would stop off in Exmoor. After driving through Minehead I turned off the main road just before Porlock and parked in the village of Horner. Leaving the car park I headed into Horner Wood and up Horner Hill along bridlepaths to Luccombe Water out onto the open hillside.
I started following a path that circles Luccombe Hill, but eventually I gave up and headed straight up through thick heather to the cairns at the summit where I sheltered from the cold wind behind one of the cairns and had my lunch. The sunny start to my walk was long gone as I pulled my cagoule on against the wind and headed across the moorland to Dunkery Beacon. After crossing a road I joined a wide gravelly path that climbs the gentle slope up to the large beacon at top of Dunkery Hill, the highest point in Exmoor. Proceeding west along the wide moorland ridge I soon reached Great Rowbarrow, a hill not much smaller than Dunkery Beacon, but with a drop of only 22m.
Continuing west I crossed the road at Porlock Post, passing the Bendels Barrows with no path to another road, and then climbed Almsworthy Common opposite to reach Alderman's Barrow, where I turned right along a road to Lucott Cross. Carrying straight on along a bridlepath I descended into Lucott Farm and then steeply down a rocky track to a path that follows the valley high across the northern slopes. This was a fabulous path with great views along the valley, but eventually the views disappeared in the trees as I joined a route signposted as Lord Ebington's Path that gradually descends the hillside through beautiful natural woodland to the valley bottom. The final mile of the walk followed the Horner Water through Horner Wood back to my car. This was a great end to a walk that in places was frankly rather dull and in harsh weather. Hopefully my walks in Dartmoor will not be so dull, but frankly I'm not very hopeful. Moorland tends to be rather dull for me, but maybe Dartmoor will be different. We'll see.
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