Snowdrop Valley Exmoor: tearoom, lunches and dinner at Exmoor House

Exmoor House at Wheddon Cross is for locals as well as visitors to the area! Once again we're opening the Exmoor House dining room as a daytime tearoom for Snowdrop Valley (our 2014 dates: 1st February to 2nd March inclusive). Come and enjoy our fabulous mega ploughman's lunches or some delicious soup. Popular sandwich fillings include home-smoked breast of chicken and real corned beef (not like the stuff that comes in a tin). There are home-made cakes and teacakes, and of course our sweet and savoury cream teas. 'The best scones I've ever tasted', says Julie atThe Wedding Genie. Find her review of Exmoor House here:
http://theweddinggenie.co.uk/2011/10/21/alternative-wedding-venue-exmoor-house/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2BTheWeddingGenie%2B%28The%2BWedding%2BGenie%29

If you are taking part in an excursion, for example the West Somerset Railway's Snowdrops and Steam days (more details: http://westsomersetrailway.vticket.co.uk/product.php/33/snowdrops-steam )   you might like to combine it with lunch at our place. Booking is advisable.

Remember that you can enjoy our great food in the evenings too: we’re open for dinner most days during the year. Frank the chef combines lovely local ingredients with expert cooking and everything is home made, including bread, ice creams, and our famous proper pies (‘exceptional evening meals’ – Hilary Bradt, Slow Devon & Exmoor). Advance booking is essential as we plan each day’s menu around our dinner guests’ dietary requirements and preferences, to make sure everybody has a good choice. To go with your meal, we’ve a nice selection of wines (including some from Exmoor), local beers, Somerset ciders…

Planning a celebration? You can reserve sole use of our lovely dining room for private lunches at any time of year, subject to availability of course. The minimum number is 4 people; maximum about 12. We’ll devise a menu to suit your group. Call Rosi and Frank on 01643 841432, we’re happy to help. 

Try Exmoor House and find out why our food and hospitality get rave reviews.

Never been to Snowdrop Valley? Here's why you should go there:
http://www.exmoorhotel.co.uk/snowdrop.htm

Business networking opportunities in Exmoor and West Somerset

Running a small business can sometimes be rather isolating – especially for those who work from home. We are all so busy with our day to day work that we literally don’t get out much. However, it’s good to talk (as they say) with people in a similar situation – and that is not the only benefit of business networking. Through attending a few networking meetings, we have made some really good contacts, discovered new promotional channels for our guesthouse and got access to some very useful training. Here’s some information about two local networking groups of which we’re members.

Clara Lawrie - who runs the very informative West Somerset and Exmoor news and events website http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Somerset/Minehead/TA24 - has been the driving force behind West Somerset Means Business, which started up in 2011 and is going from strength to strength. Local businesspeople meet once a month over breakfast at the Reading Room in Minehead. There is a visiting speaker and the opportunity for each person to briefly introduce themselves and their business to the rest of the group. For more details, and to book your place at the next breakfast meeting, email Maureen Smith: rismoch@hotmail.com

If you haven’t yet been to the Reading Room, then do give it a try. It’s a friendly café with a community ethos (e.g. books and crafts to buy, local information, internet access and a variety of events and courses): http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Somerset/Minehead/TA24/Businesses/Cafes-and-Coffee-Shops/The-Reading-Room

Earlier this year, Elke Koessling-Winzer of CultureLine set up Exmoor4all, which aims – through extensive use of social media - to promote Exmoor as a wonderful place to visit. Part of this project is a scheme called the Exmoor Club, offering discounts and special deals across Exmoor to visitors and local residents alike. More details, including information on how you can get involved, at http://culturelineuk.wordpress.com/projects/ 

There are now also regular informal Exmoor4all TweetUps (i.e. face-to-face meetings of people who have ‘met’ on twitter) for local businesses, over coffee and biscuits at The Culbone, near Porlock: http://www.theculbone.com/ (a very good place for a spot of lunch, by the way).

Exmoor has a vibrant business community, supplying a huge variety of products and services. These kinds of get-togethers (both on and offline) give us all the opportunity to learn more about what other businesses do and explore ways we can work together. They are a great way to bring in new custom for ourselves while supporting other local organisations and at the same time promoting this beautiful area where we live. Everybody wins!

Discovering the Old Mineral Line, Brendon Hills, Exmoor

It seems hard to believe now, but the Brendon Hills on Exmoor were once a centre for iron mining. Whole settlements were constructed for miners and their families, although most of the houses and industrial buildings have since disappeared or remain only as ruins. There was also the West Somerset Mineral Railway (or Old Mineral Line), which was built to take iron ore to Watchet Harbour, ready to be shipped to Newport in South Wales.

The route of the old railway included the Incline, a very steep slope down which wagonloads of iron ore were lowered by means of cables; the empty wagons were hauled back up again. The remains of the Winding House, which housed the machinery for this, are by the side of the road near the Beulah Chapel, shortly after you turn down the road towards Wheddon Cross.

Beulah Chapel is interesting in itself. Standing at the road junction of the B3190 and the B3224 near Raleghs Cross, it is all that remains of a mining village where at one time several hundred people would have lived. The congregation were Bible Christians, a North Devon and Somerset splinter group of the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

Some suggested Old Mineral Line walks

From the car park just off the B3190 near Raleghs Cross, you can take a short walk through the woods to see the Incline, continuing if you like towards Comberrow and Roadwater.

At Chargot Woods, a few miles from Wheddon Cross, there are walks taking in the Bearland Flue chimney (which was, literally, a lifeline for the miners) and the former site of Langham Engine House.

There’s an easy walk between Washford and Watchet along the route of the Old Mineral Line. In the Market House Museum at Watchet you will find a lot of historical information and a fascinating collection of old photographs.

To discover more about this amazing chapter in Exmoor’s past, visit http://www.westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk/welcome/

Exmoor walks with a railway theme

We recommend two excellent little books of walks from stations along the West Somerset Railway (see details below). Most of the walks are not particularly long, so are ideal for us when we have an afternoon off! Here are some we’ve done recently.



Moorland path, Woodcombe, North Hill

Minehead
The South West Coastal Path begins at Minehead (marked by a sculpture of a giant pair of hands holding an equally gigantic map) and there are several other good walks from the town too. This is an easy one of about 5 miles which you can start from the railway station or the centre of town; it goes through The Parks area, up past the ancient farmstead at Bratton Court, via woods and moorland to Woodcombe and back down the hill from Higher Town to the town centre.

On the beach near Blue Anchor

Blue Anchor, Carhampton and Dunster
We combined two walks from the books, to make one of approximately 6 miles. Starting from the station end of Blue Anchor Bay, we walked parallel to the railway line for a short way before branching off through the fields to Carhampton. Then up to the top of the village and via the Deer Park to Dunster. Through Dunster, down the hill to Dunster Station and the beach; follow the seafront path all the way back to Blue Anchor.



Near Chapel Cleeve



Washford, Old Cleeve and Kentsford
This one is a little over 4 miles. Starting from Washford station, you follow the route of the old Monk’s Path for part of the walk; there is also an old sunken lane, some road and track walking and a woodland path. Take some time to look around the church at Old Cleeve, which is utterly charming. Eventually you’ll end up on the trackbed of the Old Mineral Line, from where you can walk back to Washford or, if you prefer, on to Watchet.



These walks are all taken from:
Country Walks from West Somerset Railway Stations
Some more Country Walks from West Somerset Railway Stations
By Audrey & Ron Short; updated by Malcolm & Natalie Short
Pub. West Somerset Railway Association
Available from the Buffer Stop shop at Minehead station
We have a copy here of both books here at Exmoor House; guests are welcome to borrow them during their stay with us.

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.

Somerset wanderings in the Brendons & by the coast

The Brendon Hill Methodist Chapel (also known as the Beulah Chapel) celebrated its 150th anniversary on August 6th & 7th with an open weekend and an exhibition about its history. More info about the chapel can be found at http://exmoorencyclopedia.org.uk/contents-list/34-b/176-brendon-hill-methodist-chapel-beulah.html

We were there on the Sunday and joined a guided walk led by Phil Gannon. The weather was not the best so we had to cut the walk short, but we learnt some fascinating stuff about the West Somerset Mineral Line. It’s whetted our appetite to do one of the longer walks that are offered throughout the year – see http://www.westsomersetmineralrailway.org.uk/

Afterwards we went to Watchet for a wander round the harbour and a look round the very interesting museum in the old market house: more information at http://www.watchetmuseum.co.uk/ Then tea and cake at Chives café and deli (highly recommended!). Their website is at http://chives-deli.co.uk/

On to Binham Grange at Old Cleeve, where we’d been invited to a private viewing of the Gallery4Art summer exhibition. There’s an amazing collection of paintings, sculpture, ceramics, jewellery and much more by this group of local artists. It’s on until 29th August (open 1030 – 1700 every day). If the thought of browsing some beautiful works of art (many of which are for sale) isn’t incentive enough, there’s also a programme of workshops on various arts and crafts running throughout the event (booking is advised for these: visit http://www.gallery4art.co.uk/ ). You can also enjoy morning coffee, afternoon tea or a fabulous lunch at Binham Grange.

Minehead grows on us!

When we first moved to West Somerset, the main attraction was Exmoor itself; we’d lived in cities all our lives and were ready for a change. Moving to a tiny village was certainly that! We enjoy village life: the sense of community, people looking out for one another, stopping for a chat with neighbours…


Minehead is our nearest biggish settlement; our first impressions were not that positive (OK to do a top-up shop, but rather resort-y). We now know that this was rather unfair. Scratch the surface and there’s a lot more to the place; you have to explore a bit to discover its character.

Yes, there are the chain shops you might expect to find in a town of this size, and the normal satellite retail estates with supermarkets and DIY-type stores. On the seafront (again, as you might expect) are amusement arcades, bucket-and-spade shops and all the ice cream, candy floss and chips you can eat.

Go further into town and you’ll also discover interesting, thriving independent shops among the usual suspects (if you’re staying at Exmoor House you can pick up a Minehead Shoppers Guide from us). On Friday mornings there’s a local farmer’s market.

Attractions and things to do include a long-established links golf course, the Regal Theatre and the West Somerset Railway. Butlins (you can’t miss it, with its millennium dome-type structure!) now has the only swimming pool in Minehead. Off The Avenue (the main street that goes down towards the sea) are the Blenheim Gardens, a pleasant place to mooch around, with a café in summer.

Along the promenade towards the harbour, passing old coastguard’s and fisherman’s cottages, you’ll find the start of the South West Coast Path, marked by a sculpture of hands holding a map. Past the harbour is a small nature reserve, leading on to hill and coastal walks. Go up to the old town and North Hill and you’ll get another perspective, with stunning sea views, more pretty old houses and cottages and the famous Church Steps. While you’re there, do visit the church itself.

For me, the main shopping streets, the beach area, the harbour and the old town all have completely different atmospheres; to get a true picture of Minehead you need to take the time to visit them all.