Get in Quick

We have had a cancellation for the weekend of 20-22 April. Phone your mates, get a crowd together and book yourselves in for an Expedition to The Wilds of Exmoor!

The bunkhouse sleeps 16 and theres camping space outside for hardy souls. The centre is located a kilometre along a bridleway across open moorland so no car access but we can transport your luggage and kit out there by Land Rover for a modest fee.

Stepping stones to the bunkhouse

We are on the edge of the high open moor in one of the most remote valleys on Exmoor. Its the idea place to base an expedition to the wilds of the moor with places like the remote and atmospheric http://www.hoaroakcottage.org/ and many mesolithic sites to hunt out.

The stunning view from above the bunkhouse at our boundary

water water everywhere

Panic set in last week when we thought the bunkhouse spring had dried up!

This does happen most years but only for a brief spell during the summer usually. Bizarrely it seems to coincide to within 48hours of the drying up of a stream several miles away that I cross most days on my dog walk, as this stream is still trickling along Ok I thought it worth a bit more investigation. Getting to the source of the bunkhouse water is easier said that done. It is in a small combe high above the centre and 300m or so to the north. There is no footpath to it so its a case firstly of vaulting a barbed wire fence that is 6" higher than my inside leg measurement then battling through fallen trees and slippery slopes for ten minutes before arriving at the hidden gully and the spring.

When the centre was built the spring was tamed by means of three sided stonework wall to form a catchment tank. This is topped with a concrete 'roof' with a steel manhole cover for access. Looking inside you see the crystal clear water trickling out of the stone and into the clay lined tank. From here a plastic pipe takes the water down to the bunkhouse. The problem was the clay lining had failed slightly meaning the water level had dropped to below the intake pipe level. A quick redistribution of clay saw the water level rising again. For good measure I found some heavy stones and used them to weigh the intake pipe down a bit further.

The spring drying up is a constant worry over the summer so we have had an idea. We are looking to get a 1000litre tank to store water in the woods near the spring. This will hold a few days worth of water for the centre and hopefully even with the spring running at a trickle it will have time to replenish between groups and overnight.

Judging by the amount of water falling on Exmoor today I reckon we'll be alright waterwise for a day or two now...

Team Tiny

Tiny the Pointer/Boxer/Ridgeback likes her comfort.

I've just got back from dropping Tiny and her team of humans out to The Exmoor Centre for an Easter Expedition to the wilds of Exmoor. Tiny insisted on her own seat in the Land Rover even though her bed was already taking up half the loadspace in the back.

Tiny and her four legged sidekick Budleigh (sp?) have instructed their humans to get the fire lit and were last seen tearing around the centre grounds drying off after a dip in the river. Both dogs completely over-excited and arguing over the bewildering choice of sticks available.

The humans are getting on with the sensible task of chilling beer in the river, basking in the spring sunshine and bagsying the best bunks before the rest of the group arrive during the day.

 Smallest human is busy sheep spotting, 'sheep!' (points)....'sheep!' (points), I hope she progresses to cow, deer, buzzard and heron before long or she'll drive them all bonkers by the end of the weekend :-)

Snowing again

I went to collect a groups kit from the bunkhouse today.

They've had a great time, some of them have even been in the river!

Its warm and cozy indoors thankfully as winter is back on Exmoor. On the moor heading over there were full size snow flakes, down in the valley it was flitting between snow and sleet and bitterly cold. I hope it warms up a bit before the next group arrive on Friday.

The kitchen sink

The group arriving at The Exmoor Centre today are here for an action packed few days. The have brought everything they could possibly need.

Tonight they will be watching a film outside on a big screen run from a laptop! Brilliant idea, with Exmoors spectacular night sky overhead it will be an experience the kids will never forget.

Tomorrow they have Archery to look foreward to as well as frisbie games with the great frisbie targets we took out today. They'll also be doing some fencing, swords not stakes, shame as the fencing with stakes would be more use to us with the lambing season underway!

The steep slippery track down into the valley where The Emoor Centre is hidden

Spring!

Spring has finally sprung at The Exmoor Centre. Only just though and you do have to look very carefully!

Weekends are starting to get booked up so now is the time to book yourself in for an expedition to the wilds of Exmoor. It really is the ideal spot to explore the remoter parts of the moor on foot or mountain bike, we can also put you in touch with horse riding stables within walking distance of the centre. With bunk spaces for 14 inside plus two campbeds in the living area and tent space in the grounds you can bring everyone along to enjoy the experience. The bunkhouse is remote, it lies just over a kilometre from the nearest tarmac road so access is not possible by car, we do however offer to transfer luggage with our Land Rover for a modest fee.

The remoteness of the bunkhouse means it is within The Exmoor Dark Skies Reserve (http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/environment/landscape/dark-skies) meaning if the nights are clear you will see an amazing night sky with more stars visible than you could imagine.

The Exmoor Centre is owned by a charity and run as cheaply as possible to provide accommodation for young people as it has since 1968. Email us at Stay@ExmoorCentre.co.uk for details.

Buds just starting to burst

The longer days are charging our solar batteries nicely now providing free lighting and 12v power for phone chargers and laptops.

The Pixie House.

Hide

I've been thinking of building a wildlife watching hide at The Exmoor Centre for a while now and have been mulling over where would be the best place to put it. I think I have cracked it.

The spot in the photograph below seems perfect, it is at the western boundary of the site high above the bunkhouse. I have chosen this spot for a number of reasons:

1. Its got a great view up the valley for deer spotting and is also close to the route the deer use when passing through the site.
2. Its at tree top height of the riverside trees meaning it has a clear view of birds perched in the higher branches.
3. It has an identifiable sheep track leading to it that can be easily improved for visitors to use to scale the steep hillside to access it.
4. It has a good view of the sky for spotting birds of prey, we have lots of Buzzard, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel about with the occasional rarer birds such as Harriers.
5. It will have a clear view of the flight path to where we are hoping to put an Owl box soon.
6. It gets lots of late morning and is an ideal spot for morning coffee drinking.

The plan for the hide is to be built largely with materials we can find around the site. I am starting to stockpile these ready for the next time I can get a group of victims volunteers to help.

The perfect spot to build our hide.

A Misty March Morning

I went out to The Exmoor Centre this morning to check it over after the weekends group had left.

Most of Exmoor is shrouded in mist but the centre is high enough to be above it so is bathed in bright spring sunlight. It seems the songbirds are wise to this and had all come to visit. They were all flitting about a bit but I managed to snap a few between slurps of my coffee...

The blackbird looked a bit miffed at being watched...

A female Chaffinch

Great Tit on a log

Great Tit on a branch

A male Chaffinch

On the way out to the Centre, just getting above the mist level...

Out at the Centre, still few signs of spring arriving...

Heading home, who stole the scenery?

On yer bike!

Exmoor is one of the best places in the UK to ride a bike and The Exmoor Centre is an excellent basecamp if your bike of choice is a mountain bike.

The centre is on a rocky bridleway that decends from east and west to the bunkhouse so no matter which way you arrive from you arrive laughing and full of adrenaline.

The moor has miles of bridleway to explore and the landscape changes byt the hour with weather conditions and the every changing seasons so you'll never exhaust your options for rides. Exmoor is peppered with excellent pubs with roaring fires so drying out over a long lunch mid ride is easy to plan, we can help you if you don't know Exmoor, just ask. The management team are all keen cyclists with many years experience of both cycling and the pubs of Exmoor!

The Centre can sleep 16 inside and theres space for tents in the grounds so book yourself and all your friends in for some filthy bike fun. email us at stay@exmoorcentre.co.uk

Open moorland riding on the ridge above The Exmoor Centre

Fast coastal descent dropping 1000' in 2 miles!

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.