Langham Hill Engine House and Bearland Wood Flue

As earlier blogs tell, I have visited other sites along the West Somerset Mineral Line. Today, with beautiful weather I decided to continue with the exploration of the Brendon Hill iron mines. This was a short walk of about 2 miles. I was following trails indicated on a leaflet that is downloadable from the official web page describing this area. There is also a board in the car park for Chargot Wood on the B3224 road. The tracks are marked by posts.

Firstly I followed the short path through coniferous woods to Langham Hill Engine House. This path is easy and is officially negotiable for wheelchar users. In fact, the engine house was dismantled long ago and re-constructed at Burrow Farm Mine a couple of miles away. Only the foundations and lower parts of the walls remain. Even so, this is an interesting site.

Langham Hill Engine House

There are railings surrounding a rectangular area, presumably where the mine shaft was, but nothing can be seen amongst the vegetation. The steam driven engine here served the purposes of pumping water from the mine and raising wagons full of ore.

There was an aerial ropeway that conveyed the ore to the Mineral Line. A length of rusty steel cable still present at the site is reputedly a relic of this.

I retraced my steps to the car park and found the start of the Miners' trail. This path leads through the woods, in places sharing its route with forestry roads. It is difficult to gain a full impression of the terrain because of the trees, but there are some steep valley sides. The information board shows two adits as well as the Bearland Wood ventilation chimney. I am not sure that I found both adits. The first candidate was where wooden staircases and decking has been constructed to take the route past a steep drop. Below this I could see a depression and hear water running from an opening into a steep sided gully. Because of the steepness of the land around the gully, I was not able to get a good look. This seems to be more of a drainage feature than the entrance to a mine. Further on I found a more convincing adit. Wooden decking has been erected in  front of it so that it is easier to approach in wet conditions. It is not possible to enter the mine. There is a substantial fence and I could see steel bars a few yards inside the tunnel. Looking up, it was possible to see Bearland Wood ventilation chimney through the trees. I could see that I would have a substantial climb to reach this structure.

Entrance to an adit

  The rest of the walk was mostly on a wide forestry track. This was easy walking, but uphill. In fact the route climbs well above the chimney and the latter is reached by making a detour. It is worth the effort though. Apart from the interest in the structure itself, due to a tree free area around the chimney, this is the only place on the Miners' Trail where you can get a good long distance view There are also a couple of wooden seats. It would be a good spot for a picnic.

Bearland Wood ventilation chimney

A fire would be lit in the base of the chimney and this would draw the foul air out of the mine workings below so that fresh air would be pulled in from the entrance. I do not think that flammable gases such as methane were a problem in the iron mines, but smoke from candles and fumes from the use of explosives must have been a hazard.

The rest of the walk, having  retraced the diversion, is along the forestry poad back to the car park.

This was a short walk, well within the capabilities of most people, that provided another part of a picture of what the area was like when the Brendon Hill iron mining was underway.

Woody Bay and Heddon's Mouth 4th July 2011

View Woody Bay and Heddon's Mouth in a larger map

This was a circular walk of 6.75 miles that took me 4 hours including stops and local exploration. The weather was sunny and warm throughout. I used the well tried but large Ordnance survey 1:25000 Outdoor Leisure Sheet 9.

The aim was to visit Woody Bay for the first time. I had been close to this remote location several times but had never quite got there.

My intention had been to catch the open top bus that runs from Minehead to Lynmouth in the summer and to walk to Woody Bay and back. I have almost done this before, but ran out of time before it was time to get back for the bus. Today I would return on a later one. On arriving at Minehead I saw that the queueat the bus stop was so long that I stood no chance of a seat on the open upper deck, if getting on the bus at all. So I decided to drive to the area and do a different walk.

I started from a car park near Martinhoe, about 250m above sea level and set off on foot. My route to Woody Bay beach was tortuous due to the steep terrain. I passed through pleasant deciduous woodland before reaching the Woody Bay Hotel. From here a path almost doubles back on itself before emerging near the grounds of Martinhoe Manor. There is a wooden signpost here that gives directions to Iceland, Russia, New Zealand and America.

An interesting sign

A more immediately useful sign indicates that the beach is to the right.
The track descends to a hairpin bend and leads to Woody Bay cottage which is above the beach. A footpath leads down to the shore, crossing a wooden bridge and then rough cobbles.

I visited as the tide was towards low water and the beach was not that wide. There was shingle and a little coarse sand exposed. At High Water ther would be very little except rock. That said, with the offshore wind and warm sunshine this was an idyllic spot. To the east a vertical cliff rises from the shore. A house is perched on top of it. They must have a good view, but it looks precarious and a northerly winter gale must be quite hairy.

In the late 1800s there was a plan to turn Woody Bay into an exclusive holiday resort. This was when the hotel and the scattered villas were built. A jetty was also built and the remnants of it can be seen at low tide. However, the scheme foundered and the area has changed little since.
Having explored the Beach, I was faced with a steady climb of about 150m, along the Coast Path route, retracing my steps for the first section. The Coast path leaves the zig-zag road back to civilisation and continues through the wooded slopes above the cliff edge. There are few gaps in the trees, but when more open country is reached there are spectactular views along the coast, particularly to to east.

Woody Bay

I could clearly see the Valley of the Rocks and Foreland point beyond Lynmouth. The sea was a delightful turquoise colour.

Looking east from the coast path west of Woody Bay

The path soon curved inland to negotiate a valley while not descending. As it turned back to head up the western side of the valley there was a mossy waterfall. It had little water, but must be more spectacular after a rainy period. The path climbed up to some rocks before continuing to a place above Highveer Point, where it turned abruptly to the south to follow the valley of the River Heddon. A view of the straight, steeply sided valley was soon obtained. The route then descended steadily , crossing scree for a stretch, before joining the path to Heddon's Mouth.

Heddon's Mouth viewed from above

A visit to Heddon's Mouth beach from this point meant a detour adding about a mile to the walk, but it had to be done! This is a well known tourist destination but is completely unspoilt and only reachable on foot, the shortest route from a road being about a mile long walk from Hunter's, in or by boat. About a quarter of a mile from the beach, there is a footbridge with a sign directing you to cross it. If you ignore it and carry on you can still get there but need to cross the river on stepping stones.

Approaching Heddon's Mouth beac

The beach is another pebbly one with rocks to either side. The structure west of the river mouth is an old lime kiln. The river crosses the beach and in places disappears among the pebbles. Today it was warm and the sea looked inviting but I did not have any swimming kit with me. However, it was a great place to get my packed lunch out.

After refreshments I started back up the valley towards Hunter's Inn. The valley is unusually straight and in the lower part is flanked by scree slopes. The rocks here are sandstones from the Lynton Beds of Devonian age. I stumbled upon (almost literally) a fossil coral in a rock on the footpath. It is a pleasant walk, in places next to the river.

Having reached Hunter's Inn I decided I had time for a quick pint and was pleased to find a good range of real ales, some locally brewed. The one I tried was very well kept and just the thing on a warm day. I was now set up to take the lane to the side of the inn that climbs steeply towards Martinhoe. This was a bit of a slog, made less pleasant by increased traffic due to another road being closed, but after about half a mile I came to Manacott Farm on the left. Sheepskin rugs were on sale here. The farm entrance is the start of a footpath that avoids about half a mile of road walking. The path led through the farmyard to a gate marked with a yellow patch and continued through trees near a stream before reaching sweet smelling meadows with views inland for a change.

St Martin's Church at Martinhoe

The route emerges onto a lane, called "Berry's Ground Lane" on the map, and Martinhoe is soon reached. This hamlet has a church and once had a school. The school building is now a private house and the rectory is a hotel. An old hand operated water pump is still to be seen.
Continuing along the lane I was soon back at my starting point.

Although not as intended this had been a very satisfying walk taking in some interesting locations and stupendous coastal scenery.