Date for the Diary: Exmoor4all ‘Taste of Exmoor’ Summer Lunch 09 July 2014

May 15, 2014May 15, 2014

Wednesday, 9 July 2014, 12 o’clock

Join us for our delightful Exmoor4all ‘Taste of Exmoor’ Summer lunch.

Andrew Dixon is putting together a buffet lunch, highlighting the culinary delights Exmoor has to offer. Come along, network, chat or just eat – everybody is welcome.

Tickets are £15.00 per person (drinks not included).

Book your place now.

Letter from Exmoor: THE OLD WAYS – Exmoor Walking Festival 2014

May 15, 2014May 15, 2014

This post was originally published by Davina Jelley on the Number 7 Dulverton blog.

On Friday I led a walking book club special as part of the North Devon and Exmoor Walking Festival which is now in it’s fourteenth year. Walkers were asked to read The Old Ways – A Journey On foot by Robert Macfarlane, which seemed a very apt choice for a walking festival, particularly as the route I had chosen would include two beautiful holloway tracks.

The weather was perfect for walking, bright, a slight breeze, not too warm and dry and so I guided the group to Dulverton’s alternative venue, our favourite book club spot, the den that is situated on the site of an old hill fort in Burridge woods.

r Wal

There were plenty of fallen logs for us all to find a spot to sit amidst the emerging bluebells. The book met with a mixed response, some found it far too in depth and intellectual, others thoroughly enjoyed his style of writing and sense of place. Personally I loved it. I tend to steer away from non fiction, so was a little tentative about starting this book. What if here was the first book club choice that I would be not be able to finish. My fears were immediately alleviated as I was lost in his magical description of a nighttime walk in hushed snow and keen to read on.

Discussion over it was time to continue on a walk and chat in smaller groups about the book, had it inspired our walkers to walk on their own, plan longer walks, walk in different countries or perhaps write about their own journeys on foot.

Not all the group were keen to tackle the steep climb that leads to Court Down, so we said our farewells at Marsh Bridge and they walked along Northmoor Road with the River Barle to accompany them back into town – leaving the keener walkers to continue on the advertised route.

Reading The Old Ways has sparked an inclination to read other non fiction nature writings. Although why I was perturbed I don’t know, as I loved Roger Deakin’s Waterlog, sometimes it’s good to be gently reminded and nudged back into forgotten territory, surely that is the beauty of a book club. On my list are a couple of proofs that look interesting including Meadowland by John Lewis-Stempel and just published Dip by Andrew Fusek Peters.

Thank you to all who joined us on The Old Ways walk, our regular book club members and those who were discovering the woods around Dulverton for the first time.

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If you’d like to find out more about Number 7 Dulverton and join their Walking Book Club, then please pop over to their website. The next walk will take place on 31 May 2014.

Get out and about at Watersmeet

May 15, 2014

Periwinkle Tearoom

May 13, 2014

National Trust Selworthy Tearoom. Photo by Rosie Schneider

PS 20% discount for Exmoor Club members at the Periwinkle Tearoom and the NT Selworthy Shop where Rosie Schneider’s photos are available for purchase.

Gold for Calvert Trust Exmoor in the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2014

May 13, 2014

Tuesday 13thMay 2014

Calvert Trust Exmoor is very pleased to have been awarded Gold in the “Access for All Tourism Award” category and Highly Commended in the “Tourism Experience of The Year” category at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2014, which took place at Cheltenham Racecourse last night.

Calvert Trust Exmoor is a charity running a fully accessible 60 bed residential outdoor activity Centre catering for people with physical, sensory and learning disabilities of all ages and levels of ability, together with their families, friends and carers. Activities on offer include canoeing, sailing, horse riding, wheelchair abseiling, accessible cycling and archery. Over 3,600 guests took a residential break with Calvert Trust Exmoor last year. A further 5,000 visited for day activities.

Calvert Trust Exmoor was the only organisation in the country to be a finalist in two categories at last night’s awards, and is also the only Visit England 5 star accredited activity accommodation in the country.

Tony Potter, Chief Executive of Calvert Trust Exmoor; “This is fantastic news that recognises the consistent hard work that all of the Calvert Trust Exmoor team put in to deliver an excellent experience for all our guests. The South West had a very strong showing last night; it’s been a privilege to be a part of the South West success at these prestigious awards, to fly the flag for the disabled community and for that to be recognised at national level!”

Commenting on the Award James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said “We received hundreds of applications of an exceptionally high quality making the competition for a Gold Award extremely tough. It is therefore a tremendous achievement for Calvert Trust Exmoor to win a Gold Award, the highest accolade for Excellence in Tourism which VisitEngland can bestow. They have raised the bar for excellence for others to aspire to and I warmly congratulate them on their exemplary contribution to tourism in this country.”

This national award is the culmination of a run of awards for Calvert Trust Exmoor in the last few months, from Gold in the Visit Devon Awards in November 2013, a 1st place and “Winner of Winners” in the North Devon Business Alliance Awards in December, and then two Gold’s and ‘Winner of Winners’ in the South West Tourism Awards in January.