Even more Exmoor walks near Exmoor House at Wheddon Cross

Exmoor is fabulous for walking. Here are a few more walks in and around the National Park that we’ve discovered recently. These are all quite short (but could easily be incorporated into a longer walk). If you’re staying at Exmoor House, you wouldn’t need to use a car to get to the start point of most of them (see below).


Kennisham Woods

There’s an entrance to Kennisham Hill Woods at Goosemoor, not far from Wheddon Cross. We did a four mile walk that also takes in Colly and Lype Hills, with great views across the Brendon Hills and towards the Bristol Channel. The walk passes through Forestry Commission woodland, beech woods and farmland as well as open hills. Lype Hill is invariably windy, so you will certainly get some fresh air.

Conygar Hill

This is the hill with the folly on top, visible from Dunster and the area around (in fact, sometimes people think the folly is actually Dunster Castle – an easy mistake to make if you haven’t yet seen the castle itself). We went via the Butter Cross and the community orchard going up the hill via the more meandering and less steep route, coming down by a more direct (steeper!) path into the village. There are some fabulous views of Dunster, its surrounding countryside and the Somerset coastline and you pass through a mixture of woodland. The name Conygar, in case you were wondering, indicates that this is where rabbits were bred for eating.

Old Mineral Line, Washford to Watchet

A more or less straight walk along part of the Old Mineral Line; only about two miles. We walked there and back, having a wander round Watchet before returning to Washford. On the way back we walked via the church, to visit St Decuman’s Holy Well - a mystical and peaceful spot - rejoining the Mineral Line route by Kentsford Farm. You could do this walk as part of a day out on the West Somerset Railway.

Clatworthy Reservoir

On the edge of the National Park, still in West Somerset, in part of the Brendon Hills. It’s a five mile walk round the reservoir; the terrain is fairly flat for much of the way although there are some up and down bits by the nature trail. I took loads of photos on the way round the lake – it’s all very picturesque. There is a lot of plantlife and birdlife to see, so it would be interesting to do this walk at various times of the year.

Car-free walking

You could incorporate Kennisham on a walk from Exmoor House via the Coleridge Way. For the Conygar walk you can get the bus to Dunster from Wheddon Cross. The bus goes to Minehead too, where you can get the West Somerset Railway to Washford, Watchet and stations beyond. In fact, the Clatworthy walk is the only one for which you’d have to take a car, as the reservoir is in quite a remote area.

Dunster: more than tea and fudge

The other week I talked about Minehead; this time I’m going to focus on Dunster, about six miles down the road from Wheddon Cross. If you’re staying with us, there’s a bus service several times a day and the bus stop is only a few yards away, so you don’t need to take the car.


Dunster deserves a good mooch around. It does indeed have many teashops (and several pubs), as well as shops selling fudge, chocolate, jewellery, clothes, books, crafts and souvenirs. We’ve had some great lunches in Dunster and have bought plenty of Christmas and birthday presents here, too.

Did I mention chocolate? If you’re a chocoholic, you need to visit The Chocolate House. More details at http://www.nutcombe-chocs.co.uk/ - and still on a confectionery theme: there’s a handily-placed weighing machine outside the fudge shop (check your weight before and after you’ve eaten the fudge?).

As with Minehead, though, look beyond the shops and eating places, and there’s much else to discover. The main streets of the village can get quite crowded with both people and traffic, but go just a little further and you’ll get an entirely different perspective and a real sense of the place’s history. A big attraction is of course the National Trust-owned castle - http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunstercastle - perched above the village and looking out towards the coast. I recommend taking the time to look round the gardens as well as the castle itself. If you feel like a slightly longer walk, there’s a path to the watermill, with the old packhorse bridge (Gallox Bridge) and some real chocolate-box cottages nearby.

Another footpath near Gallox Bridge will take you round the back of the castle, through fields behind the High Street, to Dunster Steep (where you’ll find the Exmoor National Park information office and the main car park). Dunster’s historic Yarn Market is on the High Street at this end of the village; you can’t miss it.

With the Yarn Market Hotel on your left and the Luttrell Arms on your right, take the narrow street that leads up to The Ball (some handsome houses, and photo-perfect views of the village and castle) then from The Ball turn left along Priory Green. This will bring you to the Tithe Barn, recently restored and now used for community events, and the ancient dovecote. The church has plenty of interest, and there’s also a series of walled gardens, providing a peaceful respite.

Now, how about a cup of tea?