Exmoor House in the media...

‘Cosy, welcoming guesthouse in Exmoor’s highest village, with excellent food’ is how BBC Countryfile Magazine describes Exmoor House. The article, recently added to the Countryfile website, is about walking the very scenic Coleridge Way section between Wheddon Cross and Porlock.

Exmoor House also features as Paul’s Top Pick of places to stay in the online travel guide Somerset & Exmoor Great Escapes (you'll also find us in the 'Unique Places' and 'Walking' sections). 

Produced by greentraveller with Visit Somerset and Exmoor National Park, the guide is packed full of ideas for all sorts of things to experience in our wonderful county, with something for everyone. The accompanying booklet and video - both of which you can view from the Great Escapes web page - will give you even more ideas and inspiration.

 

In the new edition of Hilary Bradt’s book 'Slow Travel in North Devon & Exmoor' is a lovely review of our food. Here’s an extract: "The meals are the essence of home cooking, with a small menu carefully created with truly local ingredients, and good vegetarian options". 

Hilary says of the book: "No other guidebook to the region goes into anything like this level of detail and I think I have achieved my aim of inspiring even local people to say 'I didn’t know that!'." Find more details at Bradt Guides.

Feeling inspired to visit Exmoor? Escape to Exmoor House Wheddon Cross!

The Coleridge Way: a walk through Exmoor in Somerset and North Devon

The river at Lynmouth

Exmoor’s wonderful scenery has inspired many artists and poets, prominent among them Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In recognition of this, the Coleridge Way walk, starting at Nether Stowey in the Quantocks (where the poet lived for some time) opened in 2005, attracting many walkers to discover the area. Previously a 36 mile walk, entirely in Somerset and finishing at Porlock, it now continues to Lynmouth, taking in some of the North Devon part of Exmoor too.

The new section of the walk was launched on 21^st May, and I joined other people from the tourism industry, local communities and organisations including Exmoor National Park and local councils, to walk part of the route. The weather was absolutely perfect, with the waters of the Bristol channel looking as blue as I’ve ever seen them, and spring flowers blossoming along the route.

Starting at Broom Street, near Culbone, we walked down past Oare, taking a short detour to join more people at the Lorna Doone Inn, Malmsmead (more literary associations!) for a cream tea. There we met some very special guests: members of the Coleridge family, including the poet’s great-great-great granddaughter, who cut the ribbon to officially open the path.

The route notes now include the new section and they have been rewritten to make it easy to follow the walk

A glimpse of Cutcombe Church from the Coleridge Way

in either direction, starting at any point along the way. View and download all the details (with or without maps) from the Coleridge Way website

The Coleridge Way passes through our village, Wheddon Cross & Cutcombe, making Exmoor House an ideal place to stay whether you are walking all or part of the route.

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.

Exmoor House, Wheddon Cross, Somerset: reviews of our guest house

We’re famous! Well, getting there we hope… You may have spotted some reviews and mentions of Exmoor House in various publications (both in the paper-based press and online) over the last year. We love to blow our own trumpet(!) so in case you missed them, here are a selection of comments:


Exmoor Visitor 2011:
”Showing the way with their green credentials is the award-winning guest house Exmoor House in Wheddon Cross. In 2008 the business received a Best Performer award from Green Tourism and at the end of last year went on to achieve a Green Tourism Gold, the first one on Exmoor.”
The Exmoor Visitor is an essential (free) publication for anybody visiting the National Park; it's packed with useful information. We keep a supply at Exmoor House for guests to help themselves. The 2012 edition will be out soon.

Daily Post, June 2011:
In her article “Moor to Explore”, journalist Sarah Batley said:
”The house was once a tailor’s – there’s photos on the walls of the workers sitting cross legged on the cutting table. The comfy sitting room, with big squashy sofas and an honesty table laden with drinks, was previously the village reading room. Today owners Rosi Davis and Frank Velander run it as a thriving business – being right on the cross country Coleridge Way certainly helps. Frank, originally from Liverpool, used to be area manager for the YHA, so he knows what hungry ramblers need: a good feed. He makes his own bread and the breakfast showcases local produce, such as eggs with golden yolks from a neighbouring farm. We also ate in the first night, sampling the cheese tart that’s landed Frank prizes.”
The Daily Post is published in North Wales but articles are also syndicated to other areas: http://www.dailypost.co.uk/

Exmoor The Country Magazine, Autumn 2011:
Exmoor House featured in Simon Dawson’s article “On fire about food” (extolling the virtues of smoking):
“’I have a stove-top, hot smoker,’ Frank told me. ‘I love it and use oak chips for that very distinct oaky flavour and then maybe smoke a salmon fillet to make beautiful fish cakes, or a trout to make a gorgeous pate. But my favourite winter dish of all has to be smoked sausage cassoulet. Come in after a long walk and have a bowl of that and you feel as if you’ve conquered the world’.”
Simon continued: “Exmoor House is a complete and utter escape, a bolt hole from the stresses and hassles of everyday life. With no TVs, no internet access and little mobile reception, it’s a place to enjoy fresh, home-cooked Exmoor produce…”
There’s more information about the magazine (which is always a really good read), and updates about the area, at http://www.theexmoormagazine.com/

The Times, Saturday 29th October 2011 (Travel Section) 20 fabulous festive bolt holes:
”…At Christmas and New Year you can book the whole place for a house party, so not only do you get your own residence to share with family and friends but also – drum roll please Raymondo – someone else to do all the cooking and washing up… and with Exmoor on your doorstep there’s no excuse for not stepping out on plenty of bracing yomps o’er hill and dale.”
More info http://www.thetimes.co.uk/  (subscription necessary for this website)

The Wedding Genie’s blog, October 2011:
Julie says:
”I will let you into a little secret of a fabulous retreat which we think of as home away from home. Exmoor House in Wheddon Cross, Exmoor is just the most fabulous place to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or not! And eat the most delicious home made and home-grown produce you will ever taste…
What is also great if you want to hold your wedding reception somewhere a little more unusual and very homely please consider this an option. Frank will make you food to die for and you will have the run of the house. It is also a great place for a house party. I keep thinking about how Christmas would be here!! Pure heaven.”
Julie’s full blog post is here http://www.theweddinggenie.co.uk/venue/alternative-wedding-venue-exmoor-house/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2BTheWeddingGenie%2B%28The%2BWedding%2BGenie%29
(and if you’re planning on getting married, do have a look at the rest of Julie’s site – she provides a fantastic range of wedding planning & organisation services, with great enthusiasm, professionalism, flair and friendliness)

What’s on Somerset, December 2011 – February 2012:
Exmoor for Less: Base Yourself at Exmoor House To Explore Our Wild West (Chris Inge).
Chris bemoans the fact that people tend to think of Exmoor as being in Devon, when most of it is in Somerset! He says:
”…ignore the lemmings and approach Exmoor through Somerset. If you stay at Exmoor House you’ll be just three miles from its high point, Dunkery Beacon…”
Chris continues, about Exmoor House: ”Nothing was too much trouble: an early cup of Earl Grey and the offer of cake; advice on walks; a phone call to book Sunday lunch at a busy pub. On the wall were credentials showing a wider, more considered professionalism: four stars from VisitEngland and a commendation for their walking and cycling facilities; gold in the Green Tourism Business Scheme and Best Performer in the 2008 Green Tourism Awards. I would add two others: one for the most comfortable bed I have slept in, ever, and a second for the most unexpected reminder of a kinder, nicer era: an honesty bar…”
Read the full review at http://www.whatsonsomerset.com/WOS%20ISSUE%2018.pdf  - you can download the whole magazine – it’s a very useful resource covering events in the whole of Somerset. The review of Exmoor House is on page 6