Winter Challenge at Selworthy

15 miles and up to 2,350ft of ascent.

The guided walks will be chosen from the following itinerary:

Countisbury Common to Holnicote, via Oare, Culbone and Porlock

Starting from Barna Barrow high above Lynmouth Bay, the route drops down to the valley of the East Lyn River to visit Oare Church where Carver Doone shot Lorna Doone at the altar – RD Blackmore’s grandfather was the rector of Oare, and the author based many scenes in Lorna Doone on places he had visited during Exmoor holidays. It’s then up and over Culbone Hill to Culbone Church, the smallest in England and once at the centre of a leper colony, before a stretch on the South West Coast Path brings us down to the onetime trading port of Porlock Weir and the busy village of Porlock.

Distance 15½ miles with 1,950 feet of ascent.

Stone Cross to Lynmouth, via Larkbarrow, the Doone Valley, Watersmeet and the Cleaves

Starting from Stone Cross near Exford, this scenic cross-country walk wends its way over high moorland and through the upper Badgworthy valley, passing farmsteads destroyed by war-time military training, and a medieval village wiped out by the Black Death in 1348 and later adopted by RD Blackmore as the setting for the robber encampment in Lorna Doone. The route drops down to Watersmeet, one of Exmoor’s beauty spots famed for its river scenery and Victorian fishing lodge. Then over the Cleaves, an up-and-down section of path high up on the side of the East Lyn valley, before dropping into Lynmouth, an old fishing port transformed into a tourist centre with a wealth of pubs and teashops.

Distance 15¼ miles with 1,500 feet of ascent. 

Holnicote to Dunster the long way round – over Dunkery Beacon

A mixture of estate and moorland paths take us to the viewpoint of Webber’s Post overlooking the Horner valley. The route then contours around the northern slopes of Dunkery Beacon – with the prospect of deer sightings – before arriving on the summit from the far west: at 1705 feet Dunkery is the highest point both on Exmoor and in Somerset. Then it’s down into the valley and through the typical Exmoor village of Wootton Courtenay before the ascent of Grabbist Hill (which may or may not have stimulated the writing of the hymn All things bright and beautiful) with excellent views both inland and up the Bristol Channel. The walk finishes at the medieval village of Dunster, noted for its yarn market, castle, and other historic sites.

Distance 15 miles with 2,350 feet of ascent.