Hike report - 2009

Encouraged by Phil, we made our third trip to Somerset, and on his recommendation it was to tackle the Quantock Hills, not the Mendips as we had previously done in 1971 and 1998. An excellent idea that had an added benefit, for Phil, of not having far to travel from his home near Taunton.

Our base for the weekend was the Lorna Doone Guest House, one of the many B&B’s in Minehead. Geoff arrived first but waited for Graham B and Peter who had travelled with Phil from his home. After settling in we went off to book tables for our Chinese meal on Friday and our Indian meal on Saturday.

The Hairy Dog had been recommended for food and beer, but they had stopped serving food at 8.00pm. Despite Graham’s dislike for tomatoes we ending up in an Italian restaurant called Fausto’s where we had quite a pleasant meal. We returned to the Hairy Dog for a drink and met the North London contingent, who had been held up by fog on the M4, on our way back to the B&B.

Friday

With our goal for the day being to hike a coastal section of Exmoor we walked into town and along the seafront to the start of the South West Coast Path, marked by a sculpture of a huge pair of hands holding a map of the South West.

We continued along the seafront, past the old harbour and into the woods, following the coastal path up above the town towards North Hill and onto the moor.

It was at Culver Cliff we had a choice.

We could walk along the ridge, continuing towards North Hill and enjoy views of Dunkery Beacon (at 519 metres, the highest point on Exmoor) to our left, and of Selworthy Beacon (308 metres) ahead of us. Otherwise, we could take the coast hugging path which was signposted as the “Rugged Alternative Coastal Path”. Of course we chose the ‘Rugged’ route mainly because it sounded exciting and we wanted to be closer to the sea.

It was a choice that some of us later regretted as not only did we have a strong wind in our face, as we followed the muddy path up and down a lot and over a stream, but we also had to cling perilously to clumps of heather in an attempt to avoid sliding to an early bath in the Bristol Channel.

The South West Coast Path website describes the Exmoor section as “one of the harder sections”. They are not kidding. The Exmoor coast is a glorious spot, but whether many of us truly appreciated it as we scrabbled for grip around the coastal combes is open to question.

We stopped for packed lunch in a small stream valley at Western Brockholes; it was a bit sheltered from the wind that we had been walking into all morning.

After lunch we followed the edge of the NT land to Hurlestone Point arriving at about 3.00pm. From here there was a superb view across Porlock Bay.

After a short photo session it was time to head back. Instead of using the planned route via Allerford we started with a gentle climb to Selworthy Beacon trig point and then followed the official South West Coast path, which was fairly flat and straight with the wind behind us.

We made good time and, just as it was getting dark, arrived back via the wood and through town, unsuccessfully looking for a café where we could get a of cup of tea.

After getting cleaned and changed at the B&B we went for our Chinese meal at the Golden House. We were their only customers and once we all left they shut.

It was then back to the Hairy Dog  to round off a memorable, if not exhausting day, with a couple of pints.

Saturday
Today’s circular route started and finished at Holford, on the edge of the Quantocks. After a hearty breakfast we left the B&B, minus Peter who was not feeling well, having in fact left the Chinese restaurant early the previous evening. However, at the car park we met up with Graham H who had just arrived to join us for the rest of the weekend.

We set off in a southerly direction through the woods, following a large group of ramblers for a short while. We walked via Lady’s Coombe to Dead Woman’s ditch, having on route, met up again with the ramblers who were having their picnic and where a helicopter was carrying out the evacuation of an injured horse rider.

Approximately a mile further on we turned south west towards Little Quantock and then dropped into the pretty village of Crowcombe. It was here that we had an excellent lunch, washed down by several pints of Exmoor Ale, at the Carew Arms – a lovely old coaching inn on the old main road.

It was about 3.00pm and with some reluctance that we finally left the warmth and shelter of the pub.

We headed north east following the path through to Crowcombe Park Gate.  Here we turned north west to Halsway Post and had a long walk over the moors.

We returned to Holford via Somerton Combe and Hodder’s Combe, this last section being done in the dark as we didn’t reach the cars until about 6.00pm.

Having had a very successful day in this beautiful part of Somerset, walking in the wooded combes of the Quantock Hills, we returned to the B&B.

After our curry dinner at the Taj Mahal Tandoori in Minehead we headed for the Hairy Dog. However, we could not get in due to the crowd and ended up at the York where it was not much better because of the live music. As a result we went back to the B&B fairly early.

Sunday

We packed and settled up, and enjoyed another full English breakfast before we left our accommodation, having been well looked after by our hosts Warren and Sue Eglese.

We returned to the Quantocks for the final morning walk.  Having parked just to the south of Lydeard Hill (364 metres) we had a relatively short walk north west to Will’s Neck (384 metres) at the top of Bagborough Hill.  During the steady climb we were passed by several members of the Quantock Orienteers who had arranged an event for that day.

At the trig point we enjoyed breathtaking views over the fertile Vale of Taunton Deane and watched some people trying to round up some horses with 4x4s.

After trying, unsuccessfully, to pick out Phil’s home village from the panorama before us, we made our descent back to the cars.

To complete the weekend we returned for another superb lunch at the Carew Arms where we were treated like regulars.