Bookings

Enquiries have picked up hugely over the past week. Keep them coming and book yourselves in for a stay in Exmoors Dark Skies reserve. Don't forget we are a charity owned bunkhouse and run specifically to meet our Trusts objective of enabling as many young people as possible to explore the wilds of Exmoor. email us on Stay@ExmoorCentre.co.uk

Thanks

A few photographs from this weekends Working Weekend. We had a great bunch of people along this time and got a fair bit done. We will be doing it again in the near future so keep an eye on this blog or follow me on Twitter @willbowden for updates.

Sausages cooking for lunch

Henry and Jaqui repairing benches

Supervising I think this is called...or skiving, not sure which.

Trying to get warm again, Saturday was very wet and cold out there but Sunday was excellent weather

Chairman of Trustees John Gale putting in a hard days work, even at 86!

Tig and Strop the Patterdale Terriers helping with the digging.

Weeding the BBQ area

hearty lunches are an important feature of Exmoor Centre Working Weekends!

Lee and Thomas working on the generator shelter.

BBQ area finishes and much smarter, we just need a few dry days to get the tables re-stained now.

 John Gale working hard again assited by daughter Liz with supervision by Tizzy.

Busy Weekend

This weekend ahead (18/19Feb) is the first Trustees Working Weekend of the year out at The Exmoor Centre. These occasions are very informal and act as an Open Day so anyone drop by to see whats out at The Centre and have a cuppa by the river. 

We have a list of jobs to complete over the weekend, these range from plumbing jobs to weeding.We also need to build a new enclosure for our now rarely used generator to free up some space in the drying area at the rear of the building.

One of the jobs I am hoping to get done is to build some bird boxes and maybe an Owl box. We have acquired a lot of salvaged timber to make these and downloaded some plans. Long-term we want to install cameras into the bird boxes for visitors to the centre to be able to log into with their laptops.

Come and join us if you at a loose end this weekend, we are at SS736 458 a few miles south of Lynton. Walk to the Centre from Hillsford Bridge, Stock Common or Dry Bridge Car Park on the B3223. Cheriton is the nearest tarmac to be dropped off but there is very limited parking there. You cannot drive to the centre but we will be running a shuttle out at 10am and back at 4pm from Hillsford Bridge by Land Rover.

Campfire area to be cleaned up

Fences to be checked over.

Hoaroak Cottage

A few miles up the valley from The Exmoor Centre bunkhouse lies a lonely deserted farmhouse called Hoaroak Cottage. The Exmoor Centre management team of Will and Jonny Bowden are descendants of the Johnstone family who lived in the cottage from 1886 until 1904 and are actively involved with researching the cottages history through The Friends of Hoaroak.

For more information about this fascinating building and the people who lived there please visit - http://www.hoaroakcottage.org/The%20Cottage%20and%20Surroundings

The Friends of Hoaroak and The Exmoor Centre hope to be able to offer guided walks out to the cottage later in the year so please get in touch to register your interest and we will keep you informed.

The Rising Sun Gentlemens Walking Club visiting Hoaroak Cottage.

A morning stroll

First of this years snowdrops

I took a stroll out to The Exmoor Centre this morning to collect a few tools I'd left behind last week. I took a few photographs to show you all what its like out there today. It was perfect Exmoor weather to be out there, bitterly cold with the ground frozen solid. There is still a fair bit of snow above about 250m, certainly enough to be sledging of the north facing slopes. With this cold weather set in for a while and the centre available for the next few weekends now is a great time to come here and explore the wilds of the moor, before heading back to the centre to fire up the wood burner and watch the spectacularly clear night skies we are enjoying at the moment.

Email us at stay@exmoorcentre.co.uk for details and availability

Heading out over the ridge towards the Exmoor Centre

The Bunkhouse this morning, frosty and some snow left. The solar panel is thankfully clear so we are generating free electrickery!

Bit chilly for a dip in the river this morning.

Snow on the picnic tables

Arty frozen puddle shot

Plenty of snow left for sledging

Frozen puddles and the view to the east from the ridge

Hidden Exmoor

Our part of Exmoor is well hidden and far away from the usual tourist honeypots. Even in the height of summer its rare to see people passing by. Those that do are usually on horseback and trekking from one of the local stables or hunting with one of the local packs. Mountain bike riders passing have been on the increase since full suspension bikes have been popular, the steep rocky bridleways around the centre are a challenge for even the experienced and we have several cycling groups who stay at the centre regularly. Below are a few photographs of where we are the first two are of the valley we are in looking south.

Upstream of the centre the river runs slowly and there are a few really deep pools, ideal for the brave to tackle some wild swimming.

This is the main access to the centre, it is steeper than it looks in this photograph and can be extremely hazardous in a vehicle in wet or snowy conditions.

The last obsticle to tackle arriving at the centre is the river crossing. The stepping stones are regularly washed out so can't be relied on, there is a taught rope across the stones to help steady you but it is wise to arrive in wellingtons or waterproof walking boots and paddle through the shallows just downstream of the stones.

Working Weekend

We will be having a working weekend out at The Exmoor Centre over the weekend of 18/19th February. Everyone is welcome to join us for a spot of weeding, digging and nailing with a good deal of tea drinking and cake eating thrown in. Please get in touch if you would like to come and help or just have a nose around and see whats out there. Contact details are on the latest newsletter which can be found online at - http://www.exmoorcentre.co.uk/newsletter2012spring.pdf

A few pictures of the neighbours

 I've decided to build up a file of wildlife photos taken at or nearby the Exmoor Centre. Here are the first batch that I have come across whilst trawling the files. These are all very frequent visitors to the site.

A Meadow Brown Butterfly.

A Pheasant, a very vocal bird if disturbed.

Red deer, always alert and difficult to get near to.

Heron. These very large birds fish daily in the river at the centre.

Starlings. These are often seen in huge numbers in the fields and in the mature Hawthorn Trees to the south of the centre

Blackbirds are always around and very vocal.

Buzzards are nearly always in the skies over the bunkhouse.

A female Chaffinch, thought of as garden birds they also frequent the woodland at the egde of the moor

A male Chaffinch

The Great Tit, another 'garden' bird that enjoys the wild life on the edge of the moor.

Exmoor Pony. Supremely adapted to Exmoors climate. Inquisitive, headstrong and above all tough little ponies.

More snow on the way?

We love snow at The Exmoor Centre. The bunkhouse is high on the moor in a still secluded valley so its almost always frosty on winters mornings, however snow makes it a lot more exciting. Snow shows you just what a huge amount of wildlife is wandering about, there is great fun to be had following footprints of badger, fox and deer to see if you can track them down. As you can see from the photo there are some great sledge runs too. Book yourself in and pray for snow!

 

The river crossing arriving at the centre.

Perfect snowman making weather.

Now is the time to visit

Exmoor has the most amazing colours on show at this time of the year. The Exmoor Centre is the most amazing place to take advantage of the shorter days of winter due to its location within the darkest area of Exmoor's Dark Skies. Exmoor is now a world recognised area for stargazing so bring warm clothes and a telescope and explore not only Exmoor but the whole universe!

Improvements at The Exmoor Centre

This year we are trying to add more play features around the site, we have installed a cargo net between some of the trees that not only provides hours of exhausting fun for kids but acts as a great daydreaming hammock by the river for those who visit without kids in tow.

We have several other features in the planning stage and will update you as and when we find the time to install them.

Also new for this year is the instant hot water system. After several years of trying to provide a 'green' water heating system we have had to admit defeat for the time being. Wood fired water heating proved to be too uncontrollable without the benefit of a pumped system to discharge excess heat to radiators. This meant boiling water was feeding back to the cold water plastic tanks above the bunks, there have been cases at other centres where this has led to tank failure drencing the hapless victims below in scolding water! This was not a situation conducive to a good nights sleep so we have been on a mission to find an alternative. Initially we fitted an immersion heater running from our diesel generator, however this took time to heat the water and meant visitors had to live with the din of the generator running. Finally we have found a more elegant solution and Exmoor Heating have installed and commissioned a Bosch Instantaneous gas fired system. This is both economical and blissfully simple to use, just ensure the gas is on then the system just self fires when the hot taps are turned on and provides hot water within seconds.

Last winter saw the installation of a larger woodburner and underfloor insulation. For those who remember the old wood stove and draughts this has been a revelation. The whole building is easily heated due to the woodburners huge 10.5kW output. The new woodburner also includes an oven making cooking at the centre easier than ever.

In the next few weeks we are hoping to get the outside campfire area improved.

...more to follow...