A Letter from Exmoor: A Day Out at Knightshayes Court

February 20, 2013

BY JEN PERKS

Knightshayes was stunning in the spring sunshine on Sunday! Lots of spring bulbs which were absolutely beautiful, particularly the snow drops! First we decided to have a wander around the grounds and find one of the geocaches located on site. Tom, our son, enjoys a challenge and geocaching is an activity that gets us all out into the fresh air but with a purpose. This particular cache was located in a lovely spot, but we can’t say where or that would be giving it away! If you haven’t tried geocaching its a great family activity and you can visit www.geocaching.com for more information.

Following some fresh air we visited the house originally designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat Amory family. The house was absolutely amazing and full of very rich decoration and treasures! The butterfly trail was great for us, because it ‘slowed’ down the children and meant that as a family we could learn more about the history of the house. For me, the most interesting room was the Burges Bedroom which was redecorated in 2002 following the original Burges scheme by the National Trust. I think it
was probably partly due to the volunteer guide who was so enthusiastic and explained the design and furniture in such an interesting way. The story behind Knightshayes is fascinating and it’s definitely worth asking the guides lots of questions!
The children they enjoyed the animals throughout the house in various paintings, carvings and ornaments. Probably the piece the children were most interested in though, was the table in the drawing room with a central hole, which was originally designed to have a grape vine growing through it, so people could sit and pick and eat grapes! They thought this was a fantastic idea!
Thanks for a great day – we are members of the National Trust, but this was our first visit to Knightshayes and we will definitely return!

Click here to find out more about Knightshayes Court.

A Letter from Exmoor: A visit to the Valley of the Rocks

February 15, 2013

Peter Stephens is a professional photographer based in Exeter, with strong links to Exmoor. Here is his account of a visit to the Valley of the Rock:

The stunning view over the Valley of Rocks on Exmoor National Park, North Devon. This spectacular ‘dry valley’ is unlike another combe on the north coast. The valley which was probably created during the Ice Age has spectacular weathered rock formations with names such as ‘The Devil’s Cheesering’, Castle Rocks’ and ‘Ragged Jack’.

I last climbed this rock to take a panorama back in 2006, you can see this image here. It’s a beautiful spot, and if you are mad enough to climb up to this spot you’ll have an amazing view – not that I’m recommending you do at all, please don’t it’s not safe.

After carrying my heavy pack pack up with my camera gear in I was shattered, why I decided to carry it all up I don’t know – well I have a few nice shots so yes it was worth it. When I got to the top I sat there for a while and took in the view (while catching my breath back). After taking a few shots from this location, I had a look at the rock previously scaled to take the panoramic photograph. It looked different than I remembered and quickly decided that I would be mad to climb up and told myself no, take one from the spot I was standing. Looked around…. and the rock I wanted to climb was in the way of part of the view, so only one choice but to climb up. Grabbed my Benbo 11 tripod with the camera and panohead and climb up a little way to the rock. At this point there was a sheer drop to my left, had to climb around a few bolder’s with my camera and tripod – not much fun. Finally at the bottom of the bolder I had to work out how to get me and my gear up 10 foot of rock. Fortunately there is a little ledge I could reach to put my camera on while I climb up, and eventually I was there. This was the really scary bit…. just about all around is a sheer drop, as you can see in the interactive image above.

Managed to bring myself to stand up on the rock, thinking “what the hell am I doing up here” – set the camera up, took the photos and then realized that I had left the memory card in the other camera…. great ! Usually I have a card in each of my cameras, but had used one up earlier that day and for the first time ever had a card fail on me. So only one card left, which was back in the other camera in my bag. So laded the camera down on the rock, climbed back down again to get the card and back to take the shot for real. Finally got the shot in the bag as you can see above.

Looking at it now I’m glad I climbed up again, such a lovely view of the Valley of Rocks from here. Wanted to take some more around the area but didn’t have the time, will be back again though as I’m often in North Devon for one reason or another.

It’s well worth a visit, has some lovelly walks around the area and only a short walk away from Lynton and Lynmouth.

A Letter from Exmoor: Countryside Music

February 6, 2013

Guest blog by Robin ‘Hopcott’ Watson

Enjoy local music traditions after exploring Exmoor and West Somerset traditional arts, crafts and glorious natural countryside

Exmoor and West Somerset is well known for its unspoilt countryside, dramatic coastline, historic buildings and craft but is perhaps less well known for the thriving music traditions still very much alive within its local community.

For those that know where to look, hidden away in the pubs and clubs of Exmoor and West Somerset, often off the beaten track, you can still find the sort of countryside music that has been making pulses beat faster in English rural areas for centuries.

So, after a leisurely day enjoying the beautiful Exmoor countryside and local arts and crafts, why not relax with a pint of ale or glass of wine

and a meal to the sounds of traditional music with the locals?

In the good old fashioned way, much of the music is provided by amateurs so expect the odd blemish but the local musicians are more than likely to give you a cheery welcome and make you feel at home. If you are an acoustic musician yourself, you may well be invited to join in and play along with them because traditional music is social music and it’s all about people getting together to have fun!

The photo (top) shows some local musicians playing some tunes and singing some songs at the Washford Inn, Washford, West Somerset (Saturday 2nd February 2013) but, for up-to-date details of local traditional music sessions, the Somerset and Dorset Folk Diary (or SaDFolk) at http://www.sadfolk.co.uk/weekly.php gives details of weekly events. Look down the page for ‘Half Pace’ to find the regular Exmoor and West Somerset traditional music sessions.

Of course, if you are around Minehead Sea Front in West Somerset on a sunny day, you may well also see one or more of the local musicians enjoying the sunshine and keeping Exmoor and West Somerset music traditions alive outdoors which, of course, is probably where all traditional music began.