An Exmoor mystery: the wishing trees of Tarr Steps

If you've walked from Tarr Steps along the banks of the Barle river, you will no doubt have spotted a number of tree trunks with coins hammered into them. You might even have added a coin or two yourself.

Seen from a distance, you could almost imagine the trees to be scaly dinosaurs. I guessed that they must be 'wishing trees', but nobody I asked could confirm that, or tell me anything else about them.

One of Exmoor's wishing trees

 Then the other week I spotted a blog post by Elke Koessling-Winzer at Exmoor4All .

She says:  'For centuries and across cultures, people have attributed trees with special powers. In some countries, trees are covered in red ribbons or notes, and throughout the UK, coins play a special role.  One of the money trees can be found near Tarr Steps on Exmoor.

The wishing tree is studded with coins, hammered in by villagers and tourists with the help of stones. People used to believe that sticking a coin into a wishing tree would pass an illness to the tree – and onto the person who pulled the coin out again.  The custom goes back to the beginning of the 18th century; one of them, an oak wish tree in the Scottish Highlands, gained fame when Queen Victoria visited it in 1877.

So far we have been unable to find out how old the wishing tree is at Tarr Steps...'

Some of the coins do look as if they've been there for a very long time. If anybody knows more about this rather intriguing mystery, please tell.

Shorter, flatter walks on Exmoor (part 2)

Here are some further ideas for Exmoor and Somerset walks for people who don’t want to – or aren’t able to – do more strenuous walking.

Horner Woods

foxgloves in Horner Wood

Start from Horner village and follow the (mostly level) track into the woods; walk as far as you like, then back the same way. There are two (seasonal) tea gardens in the village, near the car park, for refreshments after your walk. Horner Wood is very atmospheric, and rich in both flora and fauna.
Find more information about the woods here:

http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/encyclopedia_detail.php?ENCid=549

Snowdrop Valley near Exmoor House

Snowdrop Valley

When the snowdrops are in bloom (February to early March) there is a park & ride bus from Wheddon Cross down to the valley. The rest of the year, you can drive down there via the narrow lane and use the pull-in car park, which has space for just a couple of vehicles. There’s a flat, even-surfaced there-and-back walk in the valley itself; you could make it a circular walk by returning on the other side of the river (gentle slopes, more uneven ground).

Washford to Watchet (or vice versa)

Follow the line of the old Mineral Railway. You could combine this walk with a trip on the West Somerset Railway as there are stations in both Watchet and Washford.

Tarr Steps

Tarr Steps, Exmoor

A favourite spot for picnics. For an easy circular walk: go down to the river from the car park near Tarr Farm (quite a steep slope), turn right along the river path without crossing the Tarr Steps clapper bridge, then in about a mile cross the river via a footbridge. Walk back on the other side and cross back over the river via the clapper bridge. If you don’t like the idea of walking across Tarr Steps, then you could just walk along the river and back again.

Walking from Tarr Steps

Frank & I don't get out much when things are busy here at Exmoor House; but we had a free afternoon last week and went over to Tarr Steps - hadn't visited this part of Exmoor for a while. We did part of the Tarr Steps/Withypool circuit. Thought we could cross the river partway along, but in fact it's not possible so we returned the same way and came down the hill again! It was the most walking we'd done for a while... We saw deer (Bambi & his mum) and a rabbit too (must've been Thumper), as well as lots of birdlife - and sheep of course. There are the remains of some really old hedgebanks, which are very picturesque, all overgrown with moss. Some of the leaves are just starting to turn, but in general everything's still looking quite green. The heather continues to hold its own too - Dunkery Beacon, as seen from our dining room, is still very purple.