The Doone Valley 23 May 2012

View The Doone Valley 23 May 2012 in a larger map
This was my first walk following a period of generally atrocious weather in April and the first half of May.

The morning was misty but the sun came through when I reached the top of Porlock Hill and the temperature started to climb.

The feature known as "The Doone Valley" and the surrounding area  is the inspiration and setting for R D Blackmore's romantic novel Lorna Doone. I have never read the book, but it is set in the 17th century and features a clan of outlaws who lived in the then remote valley. It seems less remote now. Its upper part does not have vehicular access but is a popular walking route and the fictional Doones would get plenty of visitors these days.

There is a car park at Malmsmead which costs £1.50 for the whole day. This hamlet lies at the entrance to the valley. Near here, Badgworthy (pronounced "badgery") Water, the river that flows down the north - south oriented Doone Valley joins Oare Water to become the west flowing East Lyn river. In the Doone Valley Badgworthy Water forms the boundary between the counties of Devon and Somerset.

From the car park I headed up a lane that is signed as the way to the public right of way up the Doone Valley. There is a private path that runs closer to the river in the lower part of the valley. The toll is 50 pence.

Badgworthy Water near Cloud Farm

Where the lane turned sharply to the right the public path continued straight on, The path descends to the river bank near Cloud Farm which has a camp site and a tea room. Beyond Cloud Farm there is no more habitation in the Doone Valley today. The water tumbles over rocks and has some quite deep pools .

A little further on there is a stone memorial to R D Blackmore whose novel, published in 1869, must have introduced Exmoor to many Victorians and today lends its title to many cafes, shops, hotels and so forth. A more modern example is Goathland, on the North Yorkshire Moors, which was the setting for the TV series "Heartbeat".

A good place for lunch

The path then entered  Badgworthy Wood. Oak was the predominant species and the trees were just coming into leaf.  It was time for lunch and I found a good spot by the river.  Continuing up the valley I came across a wooden structure built across the watercourse. This was a set of gates that were hinged so that they could open downstream. There were stock proof fences on the banks either side of the gate so I think the idea is to stop livestock using the shallow water to cross the boundary. The gates would open in times of flood to allow debris to pass downstream.  The temperature was rising by now and the shade provided by the trees was pleasant

Hinged gate

Beyond the woodland the valley became more open and the countryside started to take on an upland nature with scree slopes on the opposite side of the valley.

Badgworthy Water south of Badgworthy Wood 

 After a while my route started to climb above the level of the river and turned westward into Hoccombe Combe, a tributary valley. Other paths, including the long distance Samaritan's Way (south west) continue to the south.  Below the area where the paths diverge there are a number of grassy hummocks. These are all that remain of an abandoned medieval village. This remote settlement seems to have been in decline at least since the 15th century.

The next section of the walk climbed steadily, but not steeply, onto high moorland. Not far beyond the old village site I came across a herd of Devon Red cattle with several calves. As the name suggests, this hardy breed has a rich deep red-brown coloured coat.

Devon Red cattle 

On the moorland the path became rather indistinct and braided, but as visibility was good and the sun was out, I was able to keep heading in the right direction. Having grazed the 400 metre contour near Withycombe Ridge the path became more obvious as it descended to Lankcombe Ford where it crossed a tributary of Badgworthy Water. It then climbed back onto the high moor. I turned to head north onto a track that was signed to Malmsmead.

Open moorland

It was about half a mile further on that something went wrong and another half mile before I realised. According to the map Ordnance Survey OL9) I should have arrived at another ford but there was no sign of it. I had missed the point where the footpath left the made up track that I was walking on and had headed west rather than north. I came to a point where the track turned abruptly to the north - west and this would have brought me back onto my intended route. However, I decided to take a path that carried straight on and then follow a contour. This worked and brought me back to the lane on which I had started but further along. It was hard work as I had to climb into and out of a couple of deeply incised valleys.

It just remained to walk down the lane to Malmsmead to end what had been a very pleasant walk. My intended route had been 6 miles in length but, because of my error, I ended up covering 7.5 miles.