Vote now for Samphire Festival

Samphire Festival, the small, but delightful festival on the top of Porlock Hill, has just received great news:  They have been nominated in the UK Festival Awards in three categories.

Please pop over to the Festival Awards website and vote for Samphire Festival in the following categories:

Your vote will make a difference!

***VOTE NOW ***

We at Exmoor4all would also like to congratulate Samphire Festival for being nominated as “Best New Festival on the Block” by the Independent Festival Awards.  This is not a public vote, so all we can do is keeping all our fingers and toes crossed!

 

***VOTE NOW ***

Date for the Diary: Halloween is coming….

Hallowe’en is coming….

Hitch a ride with us from Minehead…. into the deepest Exmoor, where mists rise from the valleys and ghosts linger behind trees. Bring a torch, and at the end of the path a totally gruesome dinner awaits you… but there might be other guests…. you will hear them… you will feel them… can you see them?
Will you be brave enough?

Join us for a totally gruesome Hallowe’en experience, served up with a delicious 3-course-dinner in one of Exmoor’s most picturesque settings. It’s all happening on 28 October 2017, starting at 6.30pm in Minehead….

Find out more…

A gallery of happy dogs on Exmoor

As Wednesdays are also known as #WoofWoofWednesday on Twitter we asked our wonderful Exmoor4all community to share photos of their dogs enjoying Exmoor.  It didn’t take long (30 seconds I think!) before the first photo appeared in the comments, swiftly followed by another 120.

So here is the beautiful collection of happy dogs on Exmoor:

The Game of Scones

While the Battle of the Cream is still raging in the poll we posted yesterday, we have a new issue which is troubling our readership. Plain scones or fruit, that’s the new question. So let the Game of Scones begin.

Thank you to Periwinkle Cottage Tearoom in Selworthy for coming up with the brilliant #GameOfScones – so here are two of their photos to help you make up your mind. You could, of course, pop over to Selworthy now and actually try both their plain and fruit scones. They are open till five!

 

Secret Location Dining on Exmoor: A Mediterranean Feast

Join us for our second Secret Location Dining event for an evening of good food, a stunning location and a bit of a mystery where we are going to take you!

If you are dreaming of a sunny holiday in the Mediterranean, of eating delicious, freshly prepared food in a Taverna with a glass of wine while watching the sun go down over the sea – then this is the event for you.  Our South African Chef Sam and his team will serve up a delicious Mediterranean buffet to remind you of hot evenings in Spain or Greece. Hopefully the Exmoor weather will do the rest!

And here is the new menu:

Starter (Sharing Platter)
A selection of charcuterie from Somerset Charcuterie
Served with –
Cheese Stuffed mini peppers
Olives
Hummous
Grilled Haloumi
Dolmades
 Focaccia
Breadsticks

Mains (Buffet)
Smokey Albondigas with tomato salsa
Yoghurt marinated chicken skewers cooked on the BBQ
Lebanese style lamb kebabs
Stuffed sweet peppers (v)
Patatas bravas (v)
Tabbouleh (v)
Greek Salad (v)
Vegetable couscous with harissa dressing (v)

Dessert
Honey pistachio tart with yogurt.
Baklava

Your Ticket includes:

  • Transport to and from the venue
    (pick-up from West Somerset Railway Station in Minehead at 7pm)
  • A “Travel Bag” with a 20cl bottle of Prosecco and a few other goodies to enjoy on your scenic journey to the venue
  • A choice of Pimms or Raspberry Prosecco Cocktail on arrival
  • Home-made Lemonade
  • Half a bottle of wine
  • The full menu (see above – and possibly even more!)

PS We are hoping to be able to dine al fresco. But if it is too cold, to wet or too windy, then we will retreat indoors and admire the stunning view through large windows!

 

Foodies invited to join in with Exmoor Food Festival

EXMOOR rCENTRER- A dining CelebrationA FOOD festival designed to help showcase Exmoor’s top chefs, growers and producers launches next month (February, 2017), and more restaurants than ever have signed up for the Exmoor Food Fest.

Top pubs and restaurants will be offering specially priced menus on selected days during February to encourage diners to eat out as part of the Exmoor Food Fest.

“It’s an event to showcase the very best the region has to offer diners and it is a celebration of all local produce and the culinary expertise we have here on our doorstep,” explained Paul Berry, patron of award-wining gastro pub The Swan in Bampton, who is also one of the chefs taking part in the VIP launch at the Luttrell Arms in Dunster.

Restaurants are offering a special Exmoor Food Fest deal during February with two courses priced £10 and three courses £15.

The Exmoor Food Festival runs throughout February and is organised by Elke Winzer who is also behind Exmoor4all, an online platform for all things Exmoor related, including an online shop, and the Exmoor Markets.

All participating restaurants are entering the Taste of Exmoor Awards. The public is invited to vote for their favourite dining experience online.  The Exmoor Chef of the year will be crowned at an awards ceremony on 27 March at Butlins.

For further information about restaurants participating in the Exmoor Food Fest, please go to www.exmoorfoodfest.com

exmoor-food-fest

5 things to do in Lynton & Lynmouth this Summer

The twin towns of Lynton & Lynmouth are in the middle of the rugged Exmoor coastline with Lynton 500 feet above Lynmouth and the two towns connected by a cliff funicular railway. Five reasons to visit Lynton & Lynmouth this summer include open air Macbeth, the most scenic of Devon cream teas, a new arts trail, scenery that influenced the Romantic Poets and riding a water powered funicular.

See Macbeth in the Valley of the Rocks

New for this summer is the Pleasure Dome Theatre, an open-air theatre set in the dramatic and beautiful scenery of The Valley of The Rocks near Lynton.  The Pleasure Dome Theatre are an artistic collective with the aim of using the natural landscape of the area to make Exmoor a cultural destination as well as a tourist hub. Their first performance is Macbeth which will be running from August 2nd until the 20th.

Enjoy a scenic Cream Tea at Watersmeet

The National Trust’s Watersmeet House is a 19th century fishing lodge with a beautiful Edwardian tea garden. Living up to its name, Watersmeet is where the East Lyn and Hoar Oak Water meet and cream teas can be enjoyed overlooking the rivers and spotting herons and dippers. Watersmeet is also located along some of Exmoor’s best walking and so makes a great spot for a mid-hike rest.

Indulge in Exmoor culture on the Arts Trail

Exmoor Arts Trail is a new concept which makes it easy for people to engage with art, craft and photography on and around Exmoor. Through-out the year visitors to Exmoor can use a web page with a clickable map that shows participating venues on the Trail including art and craft shops and galleries, eateries which have art on the walls, art and craft workshop venues and artists and artisans with studios which are open to the public.

Take a ride on a water powered funicular

No trip to the towns of Lynton and Lynmouth would be complete without a trip on the water powered Cliff Railway, formed through an Act of Parliament in 1888 which gave perpetual right to extract up to 60,000 gallons of water a day. The funicular is an exciting way to travel between these two historic towns. Enjoy stunning views of the North Devon Coastline as you glide up and down the 862-foot length of track from Lynmouth nestling at the foot of the cliffs to Lynton perched 500 feet above.

Channel your internal Romantic poet on the Coleridge Way

Walk up to 51 miles through the stunning Somerset countryside of the Quantock Hills, the Brendon Hills and Exmoor, a landscape that inspired Coleridge to produce some of his best known work. At Lynmouth the path links with the South West Coast Path National Trail. A delightful 30-mile circular walk can be made by walking from Porlock on the Coleridge Way to Lynmouth and returning along the coast path. 

For more information on Lynton and Lynmouth visit http://www.visit-exmoor.co.uk

‘Bogtastic’! – Tuesday 26 July 2016

NEWS FROM EXMOOR NATIONAL PARK

A free, fun family adventure day for all ages around Simonsbath and Blackpitts, Exmoor National Park

 “I held my first glow worm”; “Amazing fun, very informative”; “fantastic free event”; “lots of muddy but happy people”
Bogtastic visitors

This  ‘drop in’ event will feature the Bogstacle course, stream dipping, live bats, the opportunity to visit one of the South West’s last remaining operational water powered sawmills, and lots more all-weather and undercover activities. There is something for everyone! Entrance is free, although some activities may request a small charge. There are toilet facilities and food available on site – parking at Simonsbath, follow the Bogtastic signs.

Held during UK National Park’s Week and in the month of International Bog Day, Bogtastic is the South West’s biggest and best bog festival celebrating the special qualities of Exmoor’s bogs, heritage and wildlife. Over 400 people attended last year!

The UK has 20% of the World’s blanket bog and Exmoor is fortunate to have some of this rare and fascinating habitat.  This unique and internationally important landscape is often considered to be the UK’s equivalent of Brazil’s exotic rainforest. Not only is it home to numerous endangered species and a carnivorous plant, the sundew; it naturally stores carbon dioxide and water.

Exmoor National Park ‘has some of the finest and unique examples of bogs in the UK. Bogtastic is a festival of fun and learning – a great opportunity to learn more about this special landscape and Exmoor’s amazing wildlife and heritage’ Morag Angus (Exmoor Mires Partnership).

Bogtastic coordinator Lucy McQuillan says: ‘Bogtastic is great fun for all ages so do come and join in the fun, please wear outdoor clothing, wellies and bring spare clothes.”

For further information on Bogtastic please contact: Lynmouth National Park Centre on 01598 752509. If you’d like volunteer at this event please contact Patrick Watts-Mabbot on 07973 727469|
or visit www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk
or the Facebook page www.tinyurl.com/bogtastic16.  #Bogtastic16.