Monday 28th April - arrival day.

After a reasonably long drive on a warm and bright day, the 19 of us on this holiday all met up at the Yarn Market Hotel in the Exmoor village of Dunster, which is near Minehead on the North Somerset coast. We met our walk leader Julian and after we had unpacked and settled after the journey, Julian took us on a familiarisation walk around the village, that was new to most of us. It is such a pretty village with its ancient wool market building outside our hotel. It has a castle, a tower folly, the River Avill with its 2-wheel water mill plus ancient bridges, the church with an exceptionally large rood screen and a host of picture postcard cottages all surrounded in stunning rolling countryside. Julian gave a talk about the village and the holiday ahead of us. We went for supper after that and then we settled in for the night.

Day 1 - Dunster Countryside Walk    10.5 miles

A hearty breakfast started the day and we gathered outside the hotel for our first walk. We were blessed with lovely sunny and warm weather. It would be a circular walk from the hotel. We headed off through the village having a second look at some of the lovely sights including Gallox Bridge that crosses the River Avill. We soon started climbing up into the woods but stopped to catch our breath and enjoy the view from Black Ball. With such lovely weather all the spring colours looked so fresh and bright. Continuing on in the woodland we arrived at the Tall Trees Trail and stopped to admire the country’s tallest Dawn Redwood and then the tallest tree in England, a Douglas Fir measuring 63 metres. We stayed there a while to hear about it and one or two tall tales too from Julian including the tiny mice who hid in the cones when danger threatened! We continued on out into the sunshine for our morning break at Timberscombe where the churchyard had its ancient Yew tree and the very attractive church had another good sized rood screen. The meadows around Timberscombe were home to many sheep and their new lambs all calling to each other as we made our way to Wootton Courtenay where we stopped for lunch. The village shop there provided tea or cold drinks or ice cream for some and we tucked into our hotel-made packed lunches. A pair of swallows on a wire provided some entertainment at lunchtime as we sunned ourselves or sought the welcome shade from the 700 year old yew tree.

With lunch over we soon turned off the road and began our biggest ascent of the day arriving finally at the triangulation point marking the highest point of the walk. Julian challenged one of us to lie on the top of the concrete marker and make a star shape with arms and legs. While most of us decided to forego the opportunity, Caroline was up for it and not only completed the challenge but went on to demonstrate her flexibility by raising her toes above her head while standing. A very impressive effort and it raised the bar for Julian’s next group up there! The MacMillan way was next and was a long and wide ridgeway track with extensive views over Minehead and the North Somerset coast all the way to Hinckley Point. We could make out South Wales in the distance too. We sat for a while basking in the warm sunshine on soft tufts of springy grass. One last climb was involved to visit the Corrygar Tower on the hill overlooking Dunster. This is a folly but now partially hidden amongst trees. Julian knew a short cut that was very steep but saved a lengthy detour on the way up. The walk down into Dunster seemed short but was picturesque. So ended our first day of walking. We couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

Day 2 - The Coast Path    11 miles

Another warm and sunny day was perfect again for our coast path walk from Minehead, at the very start of the 630 mile South West Coast Path. We were taken to Minehead by the hotel transport and after a bit of history about Minehead by our hotel manager, Anthony, we expected to start with a gentle walk along the beach but instead we zig zagged up a steep hill for quite a while. As we stopped to catch our breath, Julian told us about several of the trees that we were walking past. Oak trees, it turns out are not just deciduous but come in evergreen form too and we had been walking under their canopies. Julian had quite a grasp of trees and plants and knew what could and could not be eaten. Several plants along the way could be used as snacks but we mostly decided just to take his word for it and rely on our trusty bananas for our next break! The mischievous twinkle in his eye when telling tales of what could be eaten or rubbed into our knees made us err on the side of caution! Emerging from the woods and high on the hill overlooking the sea, we stopped to hear about a radar post used in the last war and of the women who worked there on a 24 hour basis. It was a concrete building with commanding views. We mostly followed the coast path from then as the woodland gave way to open grassland with numerous dazzling bright yellow gorse bushes in full colour and looking fabulous against the blue sky and sometimes in a carpet of bluebells. The path followed up and down along the cliff side with fabulous sea views. Although it was slightly hazy, we could clearly see the South Wales Coast and to Hinckley Point. We met a mother and son who had just set off that morning from Minehead on a 3 week walk to St. Ives in Cornwall. We were to met them later that afternoon arriving into Porlock Weir, our destination for the day. Our lunch stop was on soft grass at Bossington Hill with more lovely sea views. The half buried remains of some machinery at this spot gave us cause for speculation as to what it was. The most plausible explanation being that it was some wartime gun post. Coming round the headland after our break was the amazing sweeping view of Porlock Bay. Julian told us of the sea breach of the shingle bar in a violent storm in October 1996 and how in one day fertile agricultural meadows became flooded with sea water. From that day onwards the fields have been left as salt water marshes and a new environment is now developing. It has been decided to let nature take its course and leave it like this. At many high tides the sea floods in but the tide was out when we were there. We walked off the hill through the dappled light in Lynch Combe woods and into Bossington Village. Our route continued along through fields and then the edge of the salt marshes with its dead trees and "fossilised" hedgerows as reminders of what had been before. We made our way along the shingle bar of Porlock Beach and the large wobbly pebbles made progress a bit slow. At the end, we arrived at Porlock Weir, a pretty little fishing village where we had time for ice cream or tea and a sit down in the shade before our transport came to take us back to Dunster.

After supper that evening, Anthony offered to drive us down to the beach at Dunster for an easy stroll in the cool air. The sunset and crescent moon in the darkening blue sky by the sea made this a delightful and memorable end to the day.

Day 3 - Porlock, Horner Wood and The Beacon     10.4 miles

 Our last day of walking saw record breaking temperatures in parts of the country and mostly continuous sunshine. However thankfully our walk would take us higher and have much better walking temperatures. We caught the hotel transport to the little village of Horner, near Porlock. Several of our number had been in this locality a few years earlier while staying at nearby HF accommodation. We set off and immediately started to go steeply up until we arrived near the top of Horner Hill. There were excellent views from here. We had passed through the edge of what is technically European rainforest. We had observed a toad warming itself in the grass beside the path on the way up. The sound of a cuckoo was heard on many occasions but never spotted, although David and Julie had seen it independently from us flying between adjacent trees. As we continued to climb more gently, the woodland gave way gradually to gorse and eventually heather as we climbed further up towards Dunkery Beacon which is the highest point in all Exmoor. We passed a small group of Exmoor ponies on the way and Julian told us that these are not owned by anyone and so are completely wild. Eventually we all made it to the top where, as expected the views were extensive despite a slight haze. We stayed there for a while and took pictures and a second snack. Moving off again, we could relax a bit as the path took a gentle downhill route. On the way down as we picked our way through rocks at  another steep section we met a young couple who were cycling that same way to the summit. Crazy, we thought, but they made it as we met them again later and they confirmed their achievement. Lunch was by a small wood on a very soft grassy area. Shade was available under trees and we could have easily dropped off to sleep in the warm sunshine. However several more miles lay ahead. Our next stop was the highest chapel on Exmoor at Stoke Pero. This was a small and very quaint building and the doors were left permanently open as swifts had taken up residence there and were flying about in the roof beams. Leaving Stoke Pero, the path dropped very steeply down to the stream at the valley bottom then just as steeply up again to Wilmersham. There we passed through a working farm with young cattle and sheep. Passing through a field of sheep one baby lamb had got separated from the flock and its mother didn’t seem to be interested. We realised that there were two lambs with the same number painted on and so we knew who the mother sheep was. We carefully coaxed the little one towards its mum without picking it up, as might have seemed natural. Eventually baby and mum were reunited and all seemed well. Whether our intervention was necessary or beneficial, we will never know. Another steep downhill and up again took us to the start of a lovely riverside stretch of the walk. In the shade from the beating sun, we arrived at a stopping point and some of us took the opportunity to take off our footwear and dip our feet into the refreshing waters of Horner Water. Refreshed, we continued on a relatively easy route to arrive into Porlock Village. We walked past its impressive church with its traditional Yew Tree that in this case was over 1000 years old. In the village we had the chance to relax with a cup of tea at the cafe or go to the pub for refreshment of a different kind! The hotel bus collected us from the car park and we went back for our final evening meal. Whilst chilling and preparing for supper we were reminded that it was May Day as the Minehead Hobby Horse came through the village with all the accompanying drums and music and crowds gathering to witness this ancient tradition. At our final briefing, thanks were given to Julian for leading us so well and after our meal, to the hotel staff for looking after us so well too.

 Friday 2nd May - Leaving day

 Our final breakfast and the sun shining warmly again started our day for most of us to return home. Some set off straight after breakfast and some visited Dunster Castle and Watermill before leaving. Simon T, Denise and Richard were treated to a personal tour of the water mill by the miller, appropriately named Mr. Miller, and witnessed the water being diverted from the Mill Race (or Leat) over the waterwheels to see the machinery start up for the day. We had been so lucky this week by having the most amazing weather.

 Report by Simon Thornhill