Press Release: Summer Fun in Exmoor National Park

ENPA

Summer is here at last and there’s plenty to enjoy out and about on Exmoor in the next couple of weeks, including:

 

A Wild Night Out in Simonsbath – 12th June 2013 8:30pm-10:00pm

Everyone is welcome for a Wild Night Out in Simonsbath. Join the Heart of Exmoor team as we venture out on the lookout bats, stars and moths. Hear the bats with our detectors and see them in flight. Please bring a torch, warm clothing and stout footwear. ‘Bat Burger and a Pint’ and other food deals available pre event at the Exmoor Forest Inn, and lots of lovely local accommodation.  Children must be accompanied by adults. Food, toilets and parking are available locally.

Meet at Exmoor Forest Inn. TA24 7SH, on the B3223.   Ring 07875 565823 to enquire about accessibility. For more information visit: www.heartofexmoor.org.uk

Location: Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath, Somerset. TA24 7SH

Booking not essential for this free event, but would be helpful. Contact: 01398 323841 / 07875 565823

Twilight on Dunkery: Tuesday 11 June, 4.30pm.  Everyone is welcome, including four legged friends,  for a gentle Dunkery potter discovering more about the Moorland Classroom resources covering the site. David Rolls, Education and Outreach Officer for the Heart of Exmoor scheme says: “We have now had over 4000 young people accessing the Moorland Classroom. All the resources are free and there is travel bursary to support schools and community groups. Just Google Moorland Classroom! All are welcome at this event, but we would especially be pleased to see teachers and educators. Please book for free event by ringing Tel: 01398 322164. Mobile: 07875 565823.

Everyone is Going Wild on Grabbist!  Saturday 15 June from 10am to 4pm

Go Wild on Grabbist 2013. This free, action packed fun day for all ages is based at the Dunster National Park Centre and on Grabbist Hill, Minehead.

This year will feature ‘Iron Age Re – enactors from the  ‘Dumnomika’ tribe, Exmoor ponies, story tellers, face painters and  bush craft, with lots more all weather options.

David Rolls, Education and Outreach Officer for the Heart of Exmoor scheme says:  “Grabbist is an amazing place. Everything is free and can even help with transport costs for community groups to attend. This is also the best time of year for spotting the extremely rare heath fritillary butterfly. Please wear outdoor clothing for this event”

“There is also Go Wild Bunting competition this year.  We are asking people to produce a producing a piece of paper bunting with a drawing on it following the theme of ‘Butterflies and Bugs’. Anyone who brings along their bunting to the event will also receive a small prize, with additional prizes for the winners”.

Admission is free, with toilets and refreshments available in Dunster.  Free welcome activities and guided eco walks to Grabbist departing from Dunster National Park Centre, TA24 6SE, throughout the day. Please ring 01643 821835 / 07875 565823 to enquire more about this event. More information at www.heartofexmoor.org.uk

For more information about events on Exmoor throughout the year visit:  http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/visiting/events

ENDS

Letter from Exmoor: In Coleridge’s footsteps

Coleridge Way Story Boxes

Story Boxes

Project leader – Christopher Jelley
Project duration – 3rd June 6th September 2013

Monday 3rd June and the final of the 6 story boxes will be installed for the summer of 2013 along the Coleridge Way. The concept is simple, find one, read the story so far, add a paragraph or drawing but no more, then leave for the next walker. Return as often as you want but you cannot add more unless someone else has put their mark in the book. Books will be exhibited as part of Somerset Art Week in September as well as Coleridge Cottage later in the year. Two of the books have been started by guest Authors Jackie Morris, (Author Illustrator) and Taffy Thomas (UK’s first Storyteller laureate), and endorsed by Rosemary Middleton, a direct descendant of Coleridge himself.

Jackie Morris’s web site http://www.jackiemorris.co.ukOn the Story TrailJackie Morris is an author, illustrator and artist. She lives and works in a small cottage by the sea in Wales, UK. She loves colour, cats, birds and flight, walking, reading, magic and dragons, kites, dandelion clocks, dogs and horses ( especially the black and white heavy footed kind with great liquid eyes) and many other things.

Above the house where she lives is a rare thing, a dark sky where stars are clear and visible, and every night she walks, watching the moon wax and wain and the stars turn across the ocean of air.

Taffy is the patron of The Society for Storytelling. Taffy received The English Folk Dance and Song Society Gold Badge award in December 2010. With Taffy’s head bursting with stories, riddles and folklore, professional storyteller Giles Abbot once commented, “when Taffy goes it will be like a library burning down.”

webbers post 05With only 6 boxes and 36 miles of way marked trail I found it quite difficult to identify locations which championed the ideals of the Romantic poets and were also relatively easy to access. But I feel that I have managed just this, with Coleridge Cottage (National Trust) hosting the first in their Lime Tree Arbour at Nether Stowey.

The second box is a short walk along the Coleridge Way from Nether Stowey, and it is the first section of the trail which takes you away from vehicles and roads, giving you a better taste of the natural beauty of Somerset.

This box is along Watery Lane, a very aptly named place as the stream runs along most of the track and actually becomes the path in parts! Just where the foot path separates from the water I have located this journal, with full permission from Quantocks ANOB park ranger Owen Jones. There is no natural bench, or panoramic view point but then the tunnel of undergrowth, the trickle of the brook, and relaxed resonance of this place lends itself perfectly to the pen.

kXES5YnWzMnk6syxX7GApyFScyoBsyfVIqr1zUQy5BIAt the other end of the Coleridge Way sits box three at the Jubilee Hut, Webbers Post, which is just under Dunkery Beacon. There is a large amount of parking here, hundreds of paths to follow or cycle, just follow the Coleridge Way signs through the Sculpture Trail and you’ll find the hut. (Also QR Poetry slates here too)

Journal four is at Horner Garden Tea Rooms, so grab yourself a cream tea put up your feet and then pick up the pen. This box has some paints in as well so you can add a little illustration into the storyline.

The five is at the end of the current trail, Porlock Visitor Centre, who proudly state they are England’s friendliest visitor centre. Boxes are out in the wild all summer long, with a detailed map at http://www.storywalks.info.

Box six is a secret (I have decided at the eleventh hour to change this one as I felt the approved location was a little too vulnerable.) check the website for info.

Follow at Twitter.com/storywalks, and FaceBook/storywalks and read the blog at Coleridgeway.blogspot.co.uk

webbers postOther Coleridge Way Projects

QR Code Poetry – Key stage II pupils responding to the environment through literacy and poetry, rendered into QR codes, then laser etched onto slate and installed along the trail. June 2013 image below of Dunster First School creating QR poetry at Conygar Tower, Dunster just before Easter this year. Installation of QR slates due in the next few weeks with maps and details on the Coleridge Way section of the Storywalks website

Fly Catchers – putting Coleridge’s hand writing digitally back into the landscape which inspired him using the innovative storywalk engine. Travel to specified location to reveal manuscript on your smart phone or tablet. Summer 2013

More info on my storywalks.info website, just follow the tab to Coleridge.

Project Sponsors – Storywalks, ArtLife, and EDF Energy.

With further support from Horner Garden Tea Rooms, Cider House B&B (Nether Stowey), Porlock Visitor Centre, Quantocks ANOB, National Trust Coleridge Cottage and Holinicote Estate, Dunster Crown Estate, National Park Authority, and Forestry Commission.

High quality copies of these images and more are available from this link http://ow.ly/lh7PY

Christopher Jelley

info@storywalks.info

Facebook: facebook.com/storywalks
Twitter” @storywalks
coleridgeway.blogspot.com

XIX West St, Dunster,
TA24 6SN
01643 821657 07751609198

A wild night out in Simonsbath

205 Wild night out in Simonsbath

 

 

Wednesday 12 June 2013. 8:30pm-10:00pm

 

A gentle stroll around Simonsbath on the lookout for the nocturnal sights and sounds of bats, moths, and the stars. Hear ultrasonic bat calls with our bat detectors and see them in flight. Watch moths attracted to our moth-lamp, and keep an eye out for more wildlife such as owls and foxes. Please bring a torch, warm clothing and stout footwear. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Food, parking and toilets available nearby. Meet at the Exmoor Forest Inn, TA24 7SH, on the B3223, Simonsbath. Part of the Simonsbath Festival.

No dogs please.

Call 07875 565823 or visit www.heartofexmoor.org.uk for more information.

Point to Point

Point to Point with the Exmoor Fox Hounds. Photo by Victoria Eveleigh

Point to Point with the Exmoor Fox Hounds at Bratton Down. Photo by Victoria Eveleigh

Summer View

Photo by Nigel Hester

Photo by Nigel Hester

Meadowland

Photo by Rob Smith

Photo by Rob Smith – On the way between Porlock and Bossington

When the sun sets…

…this is the view you’ll get when you are in Lynton!

103 Lynton+Lynmouth Walk Sunset over Lynton

 

This photo was tweeted a couple of days ago by @LyntonWalks

Light on the Water

Photo by Rosie Schneider

Photo by Rosie Schneider

 

Looking down toward Porlock Weir and along the Exmoor Coast.

Ice cream anybody?

101 LivingTheCream Treborough

 

This photo shows Somerset based Lovington Ice Cream at Treborough Woodlands – you can follow them on Twitter @LivnTheCream.

Treborough Woodland combines opportunities to get involved in sustainable woodland management with a unique camping holiday venue. The 56 acre site in the Brendon Hills includes two disused slate quarries, areas of deciduous and evergreen woodland, a waterfall & spring and views over the Bristol channel to Wales. There is variety of wildlife and flora including several protected species.

You can experience Treborough Woodland at their open day on 16 June 2013.

 

 

News Release: Exmoor’s Hedgelaying Competition Runs Again

NEWS FROM EXMOOR NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

 ENPA

Exmoor’s Hedgelaying Competition Runs Again

 

Exmoor National Park Authority is delighted to announce the launch of the 2012/13 Exmoor Hedge Competition.

 

The competition is aimed at the landowners, managers and contractors who actually carry out the high quality hedgelaying work for the benefit of Exmoor’s farming, wildlife and landscape.

 

The hedge must be within Exmoor National Park and have been laid during the winter of 2012/13. There will be two classes, ‘Open’ and ‘Novice’ and the winner of each class will receive £200, 2nd place £100 and £50 will go to the 3rd place. The judges will include members of the Devon and Somerset Hedge Groups, who are experienced West Country hedge layers themselves. New for 2013, the winner of the first prize from the previous year will also be invited to judge, so the judging panel will be welcoming Martyn and Justin Atkins who were joint first prize winners in the open class.

 

The long wet winter of last year made conditions extremely difficult, but a considerable transformation has occurred since along many lanes and field edges as once-shady, outgrown hedges are cut and laid. This traditional management is critical in order to rejuvenate the hedgerows which are iconic features of the Exmoor landscape, reflecting our cultural heritage and supporting an incredible range of wildlife. The work is very skilled and provides employment for numerous people on Exmoor during the winter months.

 

Heather Harley, Conservation Advisor (Farming) for Exmoor National Park said: “If you would like to enter the competition you have until 28th June 2013 to submit your entry form together with at least one photo of the completed hedge. For further information or an entry form please ring us on 01398 323665 or email hjharley@exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk  entry forms are also available from the Dulverton National Park Centre.”

 

The Exmoor Hedge Competition is being run by Exmoor National Park Authority and has once again come about through the generous sponsorship of the Exmoor Trust.

 

ENDS

 

Note:  Image of laid hedge available

 

Clare O’Connor

Exmoor National Park Authority

Exmoor House

Dulverton, Somerset

TA22 9HL

 

Tel: 01398 323665

Direct Line: 01398 322244

Mobile: 07772 092128

Visit Our Website at http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk

 

Enhancing the qualities that make Exmoor special