All the beauty of the spring went for happy men to think of all the increase of the year was for other eyes to mark. Not a sign of any sunrise for me from my fount of life; not a breath to stir the dead leaves fallen on my heart’s Spring.”
R.D. Blackmore – Lorna Doone
Today is the final day of our walk and takes us for nearly twenty miles over Exmoor and down to the coast at Lynmouth. From Hawkridge we cross the Tarr Steps, an ancient clapper bridge across the River Barle, and then follow the Barle valley northwards to Withypool.
From here we continue to follow the river and its pleasant wooded valley. The track then gradually climbs up onto the open moorland taking past the old mine workings at Wheal Eliza.
We dip down into the valley and through the village of Simonsbath, through a conifer forest and up onto the open moorland again.
At Exe Head we stop to look for the source of the River Exe. The best we can find is a patch of waterlogged turf; but even great rivers have to start somewhere. The sun is high in the sky by the time we climb up onto the Cheriton Ridge; our final major ascent before we gradually descend towards the coast.
We pass the National Trust property at Combe Park and then take a green lane which follows the valley down towards Lynmouth. At this point two of the riveted lacing eyelets on my right boot decide to part company with the rest of the upper. But no matter, I can see the sea and it’s all downhill now. Having travelled across two moors, from the English Channel to the Bristol Channel, we complete our 117-mile walk by dipping our toes into the sea at the end of the breakwater on Lynmouth beach, before going off in search of a celebratory pint.
All pictures ©Bobby Seal
Many thanks for the account of the walk and the pictures. Now too old to walk much anymore it was a pleasure to read of your travels across the country and think of the many such walks I made in my younger days across the Sierra Chica of Córdoba in Argentina when working at the Bosque Alegre astronomical observatory. Keep up the walking and observing, perhaps after the new boots are broken in. Cheers, Jaime
my memoir “Foxtrot” now available from Friesen Press Bookshop
Thanks Jaime, lovely to hear from you. The walk was in 2013 and I was frustrated while writing it that I couldn’t remember as much detail as I would like to have included. Yet stuff from decades ago I remember in crystal clear detail. I guess they call it aging!