Valleys & vistas

SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE finds a delightful springtime walk on the edge of Exmoor

- SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE

Some walks are so idyllic you just don’t want them to end. This is one such. On a blue-sky spring day it is a perfect location, dripping with birdsong. The dreamscape views are heavenly; the wildflowers dazzling, so much so that we were yellow with buttercup pollen from the knees down.

Part of the walk is adjacent to the old Mineral Line, the erstwhile 11-mile-long West Somerset Mineral Railway, which once took iron ore from mines on the Brendon Hills to Watchet. From here it was transported by sea to South Wales for smelting. The operation was unprofitable; the mines were closed in 1883 and the railway in 1898, but its heritage lives on – a memento of Exmoor’s industrial past.

Pick a fine day and prepare for a delicious walk.

WALK

1 Taking note of the ‘Directions to start’ in the panel overleaf, the walk begins at the junction of the Mineral Line and Harper’s Lane. Turn right out of the Mineral Line, uphill. In 50m turn right on the bridlepath towards Sticklepath. This is part of the Coleridge Way. The track passes through a wooden gate and continues grassily towards a house, whose roof and chimney are visible ahead. The path rises gently and enters trees. As it emerges from them, the views along the valley are beautiful. The old Mineral Line is in the valley to the right.