Advertisement
Wild Exmoor pony
Indifferent to passers-byWe drove up to
Exmoor, which is wide and almost flat. The ground cover is short with patches of low bracken and wild flowers, mostly heather and cowslip – purple and yellow again. There is also Cross-leaf Heath, with very small, very pink flowers.
The ground is boggy from all the rain yesterday, but this is apparently unusual. We have to watch our feet, which is difficult while taking in the beauty of the scene. The hills covered with bracken surrounded the heath, showing lovely contours and shades of green.
We were lucky enough to see wild
Exmoor ponies. They were amongst the sheep that graze the moor. The ponies are stocky with particularly thick necks and distinctive green muzzles. Their coats are warm brown or dappled. One was grey-white. Their manes flounce in the wind. They don’t seem bothered by our walking by at a respectful distance.
At the eastern end of the moor, the land drops into the
Doone Valley. Historians think this is where the real Doone family lived. Andrew did a credible job of extensively telling the story of
Lorna Doone to Barbara, who hadn’t read it. I heard enough to remind me – each time when
Valley of the Doones
Fictional place turned real I caught up after taking pictures.
The Doone Valley has a warm, sheltered, microclimate, so beeches and bushes grow near the stream. A popular bridle and walking path led us out, through woodland, to a farm house tea room. For the first time we encountered lots of other walkers, all entering from the more popular end, where we arrived for lunch.
After lunch we visited
Oare Church, which claims to be the location of the fictional wedding during which Lorna Doone was shot. After visiting a pair of donkeys, we strolled through more wooded pathways and across a sheep farm. All the sheep ran away from Andrew and Barbara, which had them running toward me while I filmed. This field decanted us into a Lorna Doone shop where souvenirs could be bought – as if I don’t have enough with all my photography!
Jane picked up the guiding to lead us along the
East Lyn River. This is a very civilized path from which no one could stray, but it was pretty. This led to the end of our walk! We took celebratory photos and headed back to the hotel for a much-needed shower. Andrew and Jane joined us for
East Lyn River
Dappled shade dinner, after which we watched my video of the day.
View map of tour to date.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.673s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 36; qc: 142; dbt: 0.2934s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Lorna Doone...
One of my favorite books. I named my cat Lorna Doone. I visited Doone Valley and Oare church with my family in the 1990's.