Exmoor's variety, part 1: Water

Exmoor National Park is not only incredibly beautiful, but incredibly varied. Some people hear the word ‘moor’ and think ‘bleak’ – but I want to show you that on Exmoor this is very far from the full story.


I’d intended to make this post about scenery and landscape in general, but this is such a huge subject that it needs breaking down into several episodes. So this time I’m going to concentrate on one theme – water. Who doesn’t love picnicking by a river, or relaxing by the sea?
 

 The river Barle at Withypool

 The moorland is criss-crossed by many small rivers, e.g. the Barle...







...and there are areas of marshland, rich in wildlife.

Porlock Marsh

Wimbleball Lake at dusk

We’ve a lake (a man-made reservoir but none the less attractive for that) at Wimbleball.








And Exmoor National Park has an amazing coastline, from Minehead

View from the Valley of Rocks, Lynton

to Porlock, from Lynmouth to Heddon’s Mouth and many places in between. Beaches, high and rugged cliffs, dramatic ravines, charming harbour towns…
 

Walking to Heddon's Mouth

There are plenty of water-based activities to choose from on Exmoor, including coasteering, kayaking, fishing - and of course coastal walking or cycling.





Find some ideas at Visit Exmoor

Six things you might not know about Exmoor

1. It’s not exactly where you may think it is

Most of the National Park (two thirds of it in fact) is in Somerset - although many people seem to think of it as being in neighbouring county Devon, home to the remaining third.



2. It has prehistoric animals

(No, not the Exmoor Beast! Or perhaps, who knows?) Exmoor ponies are one of our oldest breeds of animal, and their ancestry can be traced way back http://www.exmoorponysociety.org.uk/history_of_the_exmoor_pony_.html  



3. It’s a great place to see the stars

Exmoor is Europe’s first Dark Sky Reserve, making it a wonderful place for astronomers and anybody interested in stargazing: http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/environment/landscape/dark-skies/stargazing



4. It contains many natural wonders: animal, vegetable and mineral

Several thousand red deer live here – the largest concentration in Britain – as well as a huge variety of other wildlife http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/environment/wildlife-and-ponies

Ancient woods at Horner have rare species of lichen

http://exmoorencyclopedia.org.uk/contents-list/41-h/549-horner-woods-exmoor.html

Exmoor has the highest coastline in the country, and the highest sea cliff (at Great Hangman).



5. It has record-breaking and unique trees

Woodlands on Exmoor contain some species unique to the area (such as varieties of whitebeam).

The longest stretch of coastal woodland in the country can be found between The Foreland and Porlock.

Nutcombe Bottom, near Dunster, has England’s tallest tree (a Douglas fir) and also England’s tallest magnolia http://www.dunsterestate.co.uk/dunster_wood.html 



6. It is absolutely beautiful!

Incredibly varied, too. But don't just take my word for it... pay a visit and see for yourself.



This post was inspired by a survey conducted on behalf of Exmoor National Park, about what people who have not visited the area think of Exmoor. You can find the survey results at

http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/244472/ENPA-Non-Visitor-Survey-report-2012.pdf