an exmoor b&b owned and managed by sue & andy north
guest house and b&b, lynton, north devon
34 lee road, lynton EX35 6BS tel: 01598 753328
Every August Bank Holiday Monday the North Devon Mini Rally comes through Lynton. Today we caught up with them at Lee Abbey, where they stop for lunch. This worked out well for us because we got there by way of one of our favourite walks over Southcliffe, and of course we had to have a cream tea at the Lee Abbey tea garden!
These freshly-made carvings have been created out of stumps from trees that had to be felled in Lynton cemetery. There are birds, mushrooms, hands and even a chair. The cemetery is between Lee Road and the Valley of Rocks in Lynton if you fancy a look.
If you fancy trying a walk further afield during your stay, the Porlock area is one of the places we recommend. The whole area including Bossington, Porlock, Selworthy and Horner Wood is beautiful and it is easy to find excellent woodland and coastal walks. The latest edition of the Exmoor magazine features an interesting walk around Porlock and Bossington. The walk is five miles, starting in Porlock using country lanes to Bossington, along the marshes to Porlock Weir and back through woodland to Porlock. Refreshments are available at Porlock, Bossington and Porlock Weir. We will test this walk as soon as possible, and we have put copies in the lounge as usual.
Heres an interesting thing to do on a Summer's evening. We recently read about Borough Farm in the Exmoor magazine. The 400-acre Woolacombe farm is home to David Kennard and his nine sheepdogs who also give occasional evening displays. The well-attended displays feature several of David's sheepdogs, and after explaining a few basic principles and commands we were shown some close up manoeuvring of sheep and even ducks. However, the star of the show is the extraordinary sheepdog Mist, who raced off into the distance and returned with about 200 sheep! Mist is also the star of her own television show 'Sheepdog Tales' on Five: http://www.mistthesheepdog.co.uk/ and there is loads of information about the farm and the dates of the shows at the excellent Borough Farm website: http://www.boroughfarm.co.uk/
The special 401 bus service has started again, and it is worth thinking about if your stay includes a Wednesday or Sunday, the days it runs. The service only operates in August and September, but it is really useful if you do not have a car, or if you would rather leave the driving to someone else! The bus runs from Lynmouth twice a day and the most useful stops are probablly Watersmeet, Hillsford Bridge, Winsford, Tarr Steps and Dulverton. There is a three hour gap between the services, so for example you could arrive at Dulverton at 12.30 and return (after lunch and shopping) at 3.30. Or you could use it to get to Hillsford Bridge (11.14) or Watersmeet and only have to walk back one way.
Several people have asked us recently about the alternative routes to Watersmeet. Often people want to visit there more than once during their stay, and some people would prefer an easier route. Most people walk along the riiver from Lynmouth. This takes about 40 minutes and only has a couple of steep bits. There is also a woodland and a riverside walk from about half way, so it is possible to make the walk back slightly different. A slightly shorter and possibly easier way is to drive to Hillsford Bridge and walk back from there. This walk is deceptively downhill all the way because the way back seems steeper than you remember! The favourite longer walk is over Myrtleberry Cleave, which takes three to four hours starting from Lynton and finishing up along the river to Lynmouth. Another favourite is to head off in the Countisbury direction and head down to Watersmeet just after the Blue Ball Inn, then return along the river (or add on the previous walk over Myrtleberry Cleave). Of course you can also drive there and walk down from the car park on the Watersmeet Road . . . but that would be cheating.
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