Walking The Coleridge Way | 51 miles In The Footsteps Of Poetry

[Music] my [Music] bye [Music] i am stood in never story there's some road works going on over there but this place is rather exciting because this is right on the edge of the quantock hills aonb which was the first amb to be designated in england so area of outstanding natural beauty behind me you can see this sign it is closed at the moment but this is college cottage the reason why i'm stood here is because i'm about to head out and walk the college away so it's designated in 2005 as a long distance footpath is waymarked starts here in neverstowy heads up to exmoor national park and finishes in linmouth on the coast so we get a bit of southwest coastal path walking as well now initially i was planning on walking this trail in two days but i've decided to take it a little bit more allegedly uh so we're gonna be doing it in two and a bit days not entirely sure how long it's actually going to take because we are going to world camp now i say we i'm going to come over here and i can introduce my hiking friends for this trip so it's abby it's anna and it's anne so you recognize these guys from uh different shows that have done anna's obviously very experienced long-distance backpacker and uh the pro of the group shall we say officially also what did i w wild camp leader chief of world camping and this is anna's first first long distance trail which is super exciting how are you feeling about that pump okay that's what you do i mean the best company i could ask for there you go yeah now the weather does look like it's potentially going to get a bit sketchy uh in a couple of days so we'll just see how we go but it is advertised as an easy trail so we're just gonna have a little bit of fun are you guys ready yeah yeah yeah all right let's head off along the trail coleridge lived in neverstowy from 1797 to 1799 and his cottage is a popular tourist destination leaving the cottage behind we found a sign by the clock tower in the middle of the village here we are linton that's where we're headed for in however many days time 52 miles that way with these people let's go yeah i thought it was 51. did i yeah i always add on one cause i'm probably gonna get lost [Laughter] heading west through the village we passed the remains of never stowy castle a norman moton bailey although little is visible today we were in good spirits as we embarked on our new adventure i love how we're just walking down the middle of the road it's like the three of us like how cool is this [Laughter] yeah that antennae here is the first quill so the quills are what we're following on this trail so obviously samuel coleridge was a poet in the 1700s he actually only stayed here for a few years but what's quite nice is we are going to crisscross different settlements where coleridge and wordsworth friend stayed i am no poet i don't know very many poems but let's just see how artistic i can get with this film maybe i'll throw a few in as we continue along the trail they found a skeleton everything on the trail is worth photographing so good um don't die hmm so we are using this map which is a zigzag map it's yellow by the footpath series so there's actually two for the collar ridge way and it's one to 16 as anna's beautifully demonstrating another story so followed the road this is is this where we're turning out oh yeah yeah yeah yeah follow this little puffy thing and go that way and that goes completely up there fine fun this is a nice little river yep just climbing up this hill field hill hill field incline uh awesome views coming out over the coast you can see there two big square blocks kind of like blue lego bricks that is hinkley point a nuclear power station hinckley point has recently gained a lot of media attention as a point c has been added as an upgrade making it the first nuclear power station to be built in the uk for over 20 years providing low carbon electricity for over 6 million homes what's that lurking in the trees oh it's a nan [Laughter] very helpful sign we seem to have struck lucky it is just started trying to rain under the trees so all is well now i alluded to our rough schedule earlier we are doing this in two and a half days in truth we don't really know how long it's gonna take um as i mentioned we are wild camping we are hoping to do about 16 17 miles today uh find somewhere pitch up sort of half eight nine ish tomorrow just see how we go and then on saturday so do this time we'll finish the walk at linton obviously there's in it is a linear route uh so my dad is going to come and pick us up on the coast of eximer and drive us back to another story that's how we're managing this uh so there's a little bit of logistics but otherwise the plan is very flexible let's just see how we get on the route took us through woodland dark in the overcast skies and then out onto the heathland of the quantock hills just one of many of the varied landscapes we would travel through on our journey this is the sacred food of backpacking this is a bilberry look how big these are they're really really big actually very very good quality builders and the bushes are ripe with them look at that one one must always savor the first billboary i did quickly actually that's a good bilbray i mean that's proper quality bilberry production right now bilberries can be found across many native landscapes and upper heath or mountain areas here we were actually within cecil oak woodland distinguished by tall gnarly trees different from english oak in that the acorns are attached to the outer tweaks rather than the stalks so anne chief navigational professional has randomly highlighted no wonderfully highlighted that we may have accidentally taken a wrong turn completely my fault you can tell by the hand stains we've had an incident with billboards only of course um so we have taken this turning um left as opposed to right and we're coming down towards holford which is actually genuinely a really nice cube so we're just going to drop down follow that into whole foods coomb and then we can pick up the way again so we're just going to miss this little stretch um along the top is that okay with you yep we're blue blazing we commit to walking and then this happens look i know there's so many do you like them i hate them oh i don't like them at all are you picking them for me then clearly not [Laughter] [Music] oh it was lovely to walk down the comb into halford with a canopy of broad-leafed trees sheltering us from the drizzle and a gravel track leading the way river crossing hold hands face the current yeah we've just popped out here which is on the edge of halford in this stream basically i grew up playing in and would come here as a kid paddling building downs such a nice spot as you can see being utilized quite nicely uh anyway gonna head down into whole food now pass by the house was worth used to stay in um i think we will buy it anyway and then carry on through the contour kills halford is a peaceful place home to just under 400 people there isn't a huge amount to see but the holford comb hotel is a popular stop-off for walkers in search of a brew otherwise most folk tend to head to the green to enjoy a picnic on a sunny day [Laughter] it's very high that's nice such cute houses heading out of the village we passed by an old dog pound dating to the 16th and 17th centuries it was likely built to house stray dogs to prevent them from causing trouble in the grounds of the al foxton estate al foxton house was built in the 18th century and was home to william wordsworth and his sister dorothy from 1797 to 1798 during their time of friendship with coleridge during world war ii it was used to house evacuees but later it switched hands a number of times through various sales until it fell into the hands of the al foxton park trust for use by the tri-ratna buddhist community parts of the estate are still undergoing restoration i just found some hazelnuts and they appear to be healthy uh like full of nut full of nut uneaten can we see yeah so white and soft just like when you buy a soft coconut and it has all of the water stir inside and then what you can actually hopefully do let's get a piece out to get a piece out use another piece scrape it out of there nice just a little bit of nut what does it taste like has a little bit of um sourness to it but generally sweet again well these trees are kind of a maple and you see how incredible is that trunk system and the root network there amazing nice little shelter if you're a little bunny and it's raining and then go up possibly part of some old walling system actually look at this hello the rain is really trying to set it now so we thought we'd just stop in the shelter patch have a bite to eat drippy oh coming down after leaves we decided to take a short break as the rain got heavier sheltering under the trees it felt good to just sit and be still with nature all around us so we can absorb the sounds and the smells and really just relax into the pace of the trail we all have birdhouse pack like trousers and they're all going on one pair two pairs three pairs let's just leave it like that big old flares listen to style tired of the 90s you are yeah that's when i was born [Laughter] right then soldiers we good to go good to go the enthusiasm is real great that's enthusiasm for all of us at once on to bicknoller now along the path these guys sheltering from the rain oh i'm sorry it has kind of stopped raining run away run away you see down there a view that's a good sign that the weather's cleared you might be able to hear in the background we're dropping down to the a39 we've got a little stretch following that and then our next destination is the village of bicknoller um big northern post is named after it just can you see that woodpecker oh yeah in the tree it's uh nice walking so far the weather has decided to not rain on us now that we're fully geared up so it's a good thing really right it's good yeah we don't mind yeah just getting just getting opinions we'll just have to strip off them we will yeah too hot see that almond night uh where's summerslay coastal park there's our third long distance coaster park so far so collage way with the consult greenway and now this one it would be [Music] why did i roll my trousers up mistake 101 we both slept at the same time ninja moves during this trail i was actually playing around with a new camera the dji osmo action cam although it was already playing up and causing a lot of issues still despite the rain and dodgy tech we were having a good time we even spotted a herd of deer likely roe in the fields nearby and eyed up the short poems that we would find on the edge of fences and benches we are dropping down to the a road that we've been following for a while this is near west contours head rain is doing whatever it's doing not entirely sure and there's a pub that's all i have to say with a deer outside of it west contoc head also known as sin audrey's is well known for its old medieval church which was entirely rebuilt in 1856 and rededicated to some etheledrina an anglo-saxon saint but with the rain we decided we wouldn't stop and look in the church and instead continued on along the path passing the windmill in and then off along a quieter road leaving the main road heading along a less main road the avenue the exact pressing on through west contoc's head now uh pretty soon we're gonna turn off so the road will continue on to big knowledge and we're gonna sort of follow a footpath and then drop down into the village itself we left the buildings behind us in exchange for more ancient woodland where we found a rather interesting construction hiding beneath the shrubs what is it scary oh man it's a well whoa it goes right down so you see we found this well here the water is right there but i have no idea i'm not letting go how deep that goes down wow that's cool the outside of it just this random hot thing there we go what have you found on a resting spot is it a good resting spot do you approve i think very good very good very good naving with the crew the aa crew a a a the triple a cruise hey hello [Music] skirting alongside the edge of this fence you can see the views now really opening up um i don't know what the weather's doing i keep saying that because i really don't uh just sort of i'm thinking about the route so far just watch that wire guys and um questioning why it sort of skirts along the edge of the contact hills because you really don't get to see the best scenery and views that it has to offer um heading over the top around big knowledge post is genuinely a jolly nice walk with the views down all the different coombs but i'm complaining it just feels a bit random anyway pretty soon we'll be turning off the hills themselves and down into big nola so basically into the views that we can see cheers further along the trail and we pass by an old quarry the quantocks hills are largely formed of rocks from the devonian period and in the northwestern areas hangman grits dominate a sandstone rock red in colour that has been quarried for road building over the years from the quarry we drop down into bitconnella a small collection of classic country houses and home to the church of saint george and the independently run bicknoller shop here's the main road a358 looks like we're good to go we've got a railway line stop look listen cross don't stand these were the tracks of the west somerset railway the longest independent heritage railway in the uk at 20 miles in length what are you guys talking about night shade where's the night shade and there's a master of information here growing in the hedge fund yeah an interesting plant you see yeah there were a huge number of plants flowers and just general wildlife species everywhere we looked and plenty of gently flowing streams too it was a really lovely part of the world to be walking in further on and we found ourselves looking back over the quantock hills we were now in the middle lands between the area of outstanding natural beauty and exmoor national park hashtag hiker problems good effort i don't think i'll fit with my pack oh no i don't want to be the only one who can't have been gone the easiest solution my friends is to use the other gates i've spent enough of my life wedged in the corner of gates [Laughter] is it fun is that enjoyable they're just very enjoyable it's so dense it's very very dense well we found your happy place [Music] [Laughter] stamford brett yet another little village along the way the church here dates back to 1300 and is a designated grade two listed building there are motive war memorials in the graveyard remembering locals who lost their lives during the first and second world wars many of the buildings in the village though had been made into family homes such as the old school which had been renovated oh love finding these no you can't call anyone but you can get an education nice thick hedge here and there is the sign oh look an old water pump there it's always nice to stumble upon these things so many hidden gems in all of our little towns and villages check out this path the water is clearly cut or underscored the terrain here and there's this big gnarly hole as you do when you fill in it then the hangman's grit iconic red color was really visible throughout the lands even in the gray afternoon light it stood out seriously boldly we found lovely wildflower meadows living in the hedgerows there was so much to see all around us and to be honest walking was pretty slow we just had to stop and take it all in it's very very soft look it's like a fancy christmas tree [Laughter] what did you find [Music] so cute we have reached a road this road is going to take us down into monk silver has anybody got the time 7 40. it is 7 40. thank you very much um and we are starting to prick our ears up and open our eyes in search of somewhere to pitch up tonight we have a couple ideas but first up let's just get into the village and then we can discuss further plans monk silver sits right on the border of exmoor national park and its name means monk's wood in old english the village pub the naughty arms serves locally sourced food but otherwise it's a sleepy place or at least it was at 8pm in the evening we are currently on the hunt for water so we're just dropping into the church trying the old churchyard trick just gonna see if there is a pipe with water in it okay first person to find a pipe wins oh and always has equals cakes wherever we go thank you very much oh you can try one yeah yeah so let's try from youth no you'll like it if you don't like it [Laughter] this is on camera echoes cake celebrations yet another church to investigate this building was of mixed heritage and is dedicated to all saints in 1583 sir francis drake married his second wife here interesting given that it was really quite little foraging with anna what have you found very blacks berry blacks blackberries mm-hmm yeah we have successfully got water from the church and it was really nice because there was a sign inside saying that we could get water so that was a good feeling uh we've now left the trail and we're heading along the b road um and at some point we're gonna pick up a track on the right into the forest where hopefully we can just find somewhere flatish to pitch up for the night just down a quiet road was the coombs siddenham country park and a historic 15th century manor house set in 500 acres of estate nowadays it's a pretty run-down place undergoing restorations but upon reaching the grounds anna unexpectedly shed her pack and legged it to follow a groundskeeper who was bombing about in a little tractor it was a really comical thing to watch human chasing vehicle across hayfield she did pretty good though hello how did that go smiley one who has so much ridiculous energy went well yeah yeah he normally does not encourage it yeah but behind the white's behind them i think we can walk down here i have to say i do find it hard the idea of going and asking someone permission to count but that is one of the benefits of having an anna in your life um so she exhausted this spot on this farm um now while camping is actually illegal in england other than dartmoor you can legally camp there but of course if you have permission you can camp wherever you want and he's given us permission so we're camping here we have water from the church we're happy people yes yes very happy very happy all right let's get some ten stuff then we can have some scoff skittish job done [Music] [Laughter] go perhaps the most satisfying part of any walking day is when your boots come off apart from when you're sharing a town with someone who has to stick with your stinky feet why are you mine yeah your mind always out stink yours well these new socks held up quite well i was wearing these bridgedale ones they're just the trek light i mean they've fluffed up a bit oh i mean yeah you tried the black ones i'm not sure i feel about the blue anymore i mean that is quite blue and it is quite pretty the black is quite it's quite it's quite calming yeah how do you feel about the socks we can see it appear how do how does that feel for you um i don't know walking socks are always even everything else is odd what yeah how many notices i never wear even salt yeah but that's why if we have the same pair of socks we've both worn them for only a day true but we will try it i'll try it deal cheesy high foot sweaty feet [Laughter] hello hello how's our house in the middle of the field yeah yeah do you like the house it's a good house can i hang out my socks on the washing line no keep them outside please no they are new and you've only worn them a day but they're still wet they are sad oh come on corny normally when i'm on the trail i eat uh ration packs are dehydrated so this is real termite this is ridiculously light i mean this weighs 121 grams it's got 400 and no 509 calories in it so that's a decent chunk you see how it's really compact there packs away super nicely in the bag but when you're on a short trail like this um you can bring luxury items because you only have to carry them for a day or two so we brought these so this is just some random rice thing peruvian style it literally weighs double 220 grams so in theory i could have two ration packs and a little bit extra for the weight of this but it's kind of exciting because we can just eat these straight out of the packet and it's something with a little bit more nutrition so let's see how we get on with these smell it oh that does smell so good so what's yours to make so much hoey tomatoey tomato this smell nice viewers have got to be included right yeah oh they just smell good as well it's kind of like tomato soup yeah smash mash cheers cheers [Music] good morning folks we are leaving our campsite through that leave no trace no one even knows we were there goodbye campsite it's been a good night and we're heading off on to day two on the college way where are we going today nobody knows but we're hopefully gonna get to around poorlock uh which is where we'll sort of join the southwest coastal path that's about 20 21 miles away so we'll see how we go plenty of time uh setting out just and about half by seven now eight o'clock okay thanks for that how are you guys feeling good yeah great a-okay hey okay [Music] all right cool so we're gonna head back up to monk silver back to church just refill our water and then we'll head off along the trail back at the church let's resupply on some liquid around the corner here is the tap i heard a noise around here just going to investigate in a graveyard you can never be too sure oh look at this it's a nana i'm still alive what's going on here i'm dead walking there i'm a dead woman walking what are you doing i'm refilling the water oh yeah yeah because we're thirsty we are we are extreme thirsty hikers yeah back on the trail we headed on up through some woods again dark in the overcast weather it was muggy too so the streams and little waterfalls proved to be refreshing got the sign here so the blue is the brighter way yellow is the footpath still heading to road water that's our next settlement two miles away that way also folks i would like to point out this situation here do you see this yes this is cloud but this this is not cloud this is blue sky happy days okay this is not my camera that's wonky this is genuinely just an incline but where are we going on the incline i'm happy to go this way yes we have raspberries picked on the road oh man that is a good raspberry all right very much proof look raspberries they're perfect you know you can just go around everywhere we looked there was an abundance of life and color and further along the views opened out and we could see a patchwork of fields and woodland it really was a green and pleasant land always interesting walking past these old field boundaries here you can see interlaced with the trees there's this stone work quite slatey yeah i wonder how old these are though when they took seed and grew it is going to be interesting when we get to exmoor um so we're very close to the national park boundary now and much of exmoor is called the eczema forest is it covered in trees no it is not it's just the time used for ancient or old hunting grounds um when the royalists and the uh sort of very famous wealthy people used to go out and hunt stags in the red deer that live on exmoor and they are still monitored and managed actually because if their populations get out of control just as in scotland then they can really um tear up the the moorland and the small shrubs that are growing through because a lot of them are very delicate very sort of ankle high in size so they need to be managed and looked after see that the rock with the uh oak tree clinging on really nice in this sort of uh cleared forested area those beautiful pinky purple flowers this rose bay willow herb often grows taller than me uh in america it's called fireweed this is really quite common especially this time of year and i love when it goes to seed because the wind blows and the seeds just float over your head sort of feels like it in a cloud there's some hair just coming through to seed so fluffy shiny light price what is that it's a pokemon a pokemon did you catch it no oh it's run away it jumps out sad time this last catches pokemon in the most remote places in the uk the next settlement along the way was road water through which past the west somerset mineral railway which transported iron ore in the 19th century from the brendan hills to watch it on the north coast collar ridgeway continues on follow road and take next path on the left wow thank you it's very helpful there's even a code thing to scan in case we get confused public footpath tree borough lane one and a half miles it seemed that every landscape transition revealed a new treat for us in this woodland anna found a beautiful little jay feather striking blue white and black then it was on through even more farmland to be honest we were grateful for the quality of the signing along the trail otherwise we most certainly would have been walking a maze of a route these two here they're a bit lazy well you want me to pull you the rest of the way i'll give it a try meet me [Music] that's me that is well done oh we're at the end now cup of tea see the house is behind so that's luxboroug i'd sort of joined with kingsbridge which we're heading to now um again this place featured on the mineral line which we mentioned earlier the iron orders mined around here that's so sad can you even see i think he can see that's some serious crunching oh flies you're nice doggy on the edge through farms and fields we walked in the muggy afternoon heat it was pleasant enough though not hugely stimulating it's been a lot of field walking so far today uh thankfully it hasn't rained too heavy so the grass is quite dry otherwise we'd have soaking wet boots and navigation has been up and down but being good i'm enjoying being out i've got a pretty bad stomach ache actually for some reason so pace is a bit slow but well let's see what happens with this rain shall we what with the intermittent rain we all donned waterproofs and then further along could see the shadow of dunkery beacon the highest point on exmoor national park at 520 metres above sea level by this point i was hardly able to sand what with the pain in my stomach but stumbled onwards into wedding cross in search of somewhere to rest the pain was excruciating and we seriously considered calling 999 for fear that i had ruptured something i had collapsed in a heap in the porch of the church of saint john the evangelist and we read that a fetal position could be helpful after a couple of hours the pain began to ease and we decided to head back onto the trail much to my relief it was a very odd blip i'm still not sure what happened but i was very glad to get through it okay things have taken a slight turn away from what was expected um as you just heard in the voiceover we are at the church here and as you just saw in the video i've been caught up here for a while um with a very very uncomfortable and painful stomach i think that's probably the worst pain i've ever felt in my adult life um i'm talking to you now because obviously i'm sat up i'm feeling a lot better anna has stayed with me and looked after me and just been the best human ever um and we have sent anne on and chosen to go on to where we're planning on while camping tonight so she's gone on and will just drop us a line depending on the situation um and we'll meet her at camp so the jury is still out as to how this walk is going to go because my stomach is not very happy at all but i'm keen to press on i mean it's probably gone six now so we've got a couple of hours and i think it's about four miles it is exciting because we're going to go over dunkery beacon which is the highest point um in exmo national park so we'll head up over that um we are going to like take a slight deviation from the main route which sort of does a v shape around x at the edge of the common we're going to go up over the top and join the during the little road and then we'll drop down to the valley where we're going to camp that is the plan are you ready to get ready i am you are yeah question is are you i'm going to do my best that's what we do in life right things it's our best try we try keep trying just keep swimming just keep swimming [Laughter] bye church thank you let's go i can stand up free i'm never taking that for granted again straight down yeah here we go dunkiry dunkery beacons three miles away so basically up there somewhere uh and then our campsites on the other side of that actually i'll tell you what is nice having left wedding cross because we're now on the other map so there's uh two maps for the college way north and south and this is the one that's going to take us all the way to linton tomorrow first of all we have to find an am yeah somewhere [Laughter] yeah so tom's path no horses have you got that on the map yeah it should be yeah we've come around here here and we're cutting off along this yeah exactly why it's called tom's bath i don't know i don't know either maybe it's abby and anna's path now maybe it is do you have a pen on you shall we just change the change the os map and the sign deal crossing the road straight over that's pretty really nice view down the valley i mean this is classic exmoor now also the weather is classic expo this is a cool little path though into the trees but then i learned a german you learn english yeah it's true we could just learn exactly we have a new chief of navigation oh you might regret it no i'm loving it so there you go beautiful clear day there's the track you see yeah cool the malls around dunkery beacon are extremely historical and they formed part of the royal forest of exmoor established by henry ii and has also got several burial mounds near the summit dating to the bronze age all right so we mentioned already duncan beacon over there 500 meters or so above sea level highest point in the national park may i may not be able to see that small vehicle that's white blending in quite nicely with the horizon that's the road we're aiming for very nearly there we have black stuff underneath our feet it goes by the name of tarmac well actually that's the brand but still i'm not here to advertise tarmac i'm here to advertise the colorado we are on the college way actually that's a lie i'm lying to you a lot today we've taken a slight diversion i think i've already mentioned we have decided to cut across the top of dunkery hill into the cloud it seems or somewhat of a cloud uh and now we're gonna reach the sort of spot height that the road goes to it's about four four five and then drop down the other side to rejoin the trail just saving us a little bit of time today uh i mean it's probably quarter to eight half or seven quarters to eight so i think it's allowed how's navigation going chief nav officer well it's really all right because we're just following the road right now yeah there's not much you can do wrong show you that it looks like it drops off the end of the world though it's getting late we're getting weary we're on our way to camp but alas our progress has been stalled by one thing and only one thing bilbrays look at them all did you find some yummy my girlfriend has been sick the whole day she needs some good antioxidants you can ok such a bad light look how nice wild bilbrays oh wow raspberries oh it's a tough one it is i picked the bilberries for the health reason yeah uh-huh i picked them for the sure everything i mean look at them they are pure happiness it is very true but then raspberries okay yeah today has definitely been a day of two half no three thirds this morning i woke up i felt good then i felt bash and now i feel good again billboards are good it's really nice to just be out on their heath even though it's quite late it feels pretty good um just feels good i feel good uh this afternoon pain in my stomach kind of freaked me out a little bit i really didn't know what was going on but lying uh in the fetal position in the church porch clearly worked some magic and i feel optimistic that we can finish this walk tomorrow so tomorrow is about 18 miles it's another long day but let's finish up today let's get to camp did you get some more billboards wow did you eat them maybe that's enough i only picked about seven or eight oh yeah that's okay you're worth more than seven away oh that's a tongue oh look classic eggs more happy days can you see just about through the mist wooded valleys ah if only it was sunny right now although this is quite nice because there's no one else here webber's post nice good reference on there very good onwards mysterious shaped object that is intriguing me it's kind of like an apple core it is an app or something cool anyway cool a hot yeah all right oh yeah ah i missed that bit okay so we're just walking through the woods we're looking for a path on the left now it's about half eight so apart from the left is going to take us down uh to horner water there's a river and hopefully but it's quite a long descent the past should switch back um and then we'll find some way to camp down by the river at least that's the plan well we got here some hot thing shelter seed commemorates noel vinson allen mbe writer and founder of eczema national history society ooh alfred rouse writer photographer and conservationist loved and cared for these hills as we got dedicated to the staff of the holland coat estate exmoor society this is nice and then over here writer and president of eczema society and blank abby and anna of wild so you can see there's obviously this path coming along here water is down there there's a sign saying horner water which is a nice clue what do you think all right it's your decision follow it or not no it's not why is it my distance because you're doing now now down there somewhere wow see right down the valley there so we're going right to the bottom by this rather steep path just a little bit in the trees tohono tucker's park thanks tucker [Music] [Music] okay i'm assuming she's gone okay dark now yeah let's look left foot yeah this is naturally flat there she might have just camped here it's so nice down here today [Music] would have been nice in the like afternoon sun if there wasn't all right we're down by the river now we just have to find an anne um no signal here so with a guessing game footbridge let's go up river for a few minutes okay yeah so it's just this side doesn't look like him but it clears up doesn't it does it oh well i i see him in this side literally yeah yeah hi hi how do we get to you over the bridge okay we're coming and we're coming you don't need a phone no you just have to have logic make a plan that's it so good no phones today it will act yeah oh my heart feels so happy [Music] look oh hang on there's something lurking in the trees what is that in the trees what is it what is it what's that it's an on oh that's a nice find hi this is a nice this is all right i'm happy to camp it can we get to the river yeah but can you get down to it i think so day two done you look cold it's getting a bit chilly all right let's get some stuff up oh sorry i love you one bottle at a time saw your micro squeeze we're gonna use it to filter the water into these bottles oh yeah the midges are out just push it just squeeze but don't force it too much yeah it's slow yay this is one of the fastest filters on the market as well so good morning folks and welcome to the woods this is our pitch last night i had to say feeling a little bit rough this morning it was a rough night uh my head went into imagination mode it was a very strange noise coming from the trees and the wind rubbing it sounded like metal um ana tried to reassure me that was a gate my head was having none of the reassurance uh we're up and getting ready to go now so today we'll take us into linton on the college way i'm actually just going to hike in the trousers that i normally sleep in because i also had a bit of a tick infestation last night i was covered in the tiny dicks they're obviously very ripe in this area i probably got plenty on me right now and i like that and calls them hitchhikers which is a cool name it makes them seem a little bit less scary but we're just packing up and getting ready to go it's obviously really beautiful here you couldn't really see it last night but just this secluded spot in the woods we've got the river tumbling down alongside we were filtering using the sawyer micro squeeze last night and we'll filter a little bit more this morning um and then we'll get ready to go so first stop is pool lock and then basically it's uh just a long road hike to linton [Music] back over the bridge we are going to follow the river down into porlock this morning as opposed to climbing all the way back up to the trail so we are skipping a little bit of walking but pretty much just a couple of kilometers at most further downstream there was actually a campsite where likely guests would not get quite so covered in ticks the bridge down to the river over the little bridge again so cool one of the things i really love about exmoor is it just seems around every twist and turn there's something new to discover whether it's flora and fauna or whether it's some kind of historical archaeological site i mean if you only open your eyes there's so much to see here love it finally we had made it to porlock there is evidence that the village gains its name from the 10th century name meaning enclosed by a harbour after all it does sit out on the coast we noticed that the place had a number of historical pubs and inns and plenty of quirky independent stores too the church dates from the 13th century and houses the 15th century tomb of john harrington who fought alongside henry v in france during 1417. so just headed up the main road there straight ahead that is porlock hill so it's one of the steepest hills in england uh one in four and if you can't get up here you're advised to use this whole road but it's like half hidden bends so steep and it always smells of burning rubber here oh yep didn't need to inhale that deeply polo queer has been a small port for hundreds of years the inhabitants being mainly fishing families many of the men built their own boats usually about 20 foot in length and pictured them there look hauling actually they're crabbing that's fun trade main trade was exporting flour and corn bark for tanning bricks pit props the welsh coal mines and oysters for bristol wow then over here we have this fantastic view of the eczema coast now in the sunshine further on and the views opened out across the coast exmoor has a very remote coastline and has the most extensive broad-leafed coastal woodlands in britain it certainly makes for a stunning sight the hedges were also impressive boasting wildflowers of every kind and colour deserving of attention and appreciation all of the walks now that we've passed paul locke is familiar territory to me done a lot of day walking around here uh a bit of camping and i produced a few films so you can definitely head to the exmoor playlist on my channel to find out and watch some of the day walks around here but the weather seems to be coming in now as i'm sure you can hear uh the others have just put their coats on i'm a bit more warm blooded so unless it's pouring down i tend to just handle it anyway we're getting there uh heading on towards colbone church and orford now they're our next two destinations just uh heading up now a little bit higher sort of a sea fret coming in actually i don't know if you can see i'm behind she's busy catching pokemon priority land priorities apparently it's a big day in pokemon man okay all right get slow oh yeah slow down can you see the sign sign what sign all right we're here it's the main a road that cuts across the moors here on exmoor um we're gonna cut across it nice and easy still following the yellow quill you see here so we're heading to all church now that's going to take us down into dune valley and that's going to take us on to the eastland river you can see here orford one and a quarter miles by now we really were in the heart of exmoor's rolling green hills and open heathland bracken gorse and heather it was a full 360 immersion of beauty all right we've dropped down off the common and into the edge onto the edge of orford so very close to dune valley very uh popular part of eczema obviously famous for lorna dune and the story of lorna dune i was gonna pick up the trail now and head on towards marm's mead and then on towards eastland river down in to london itself thank you all right then brendan church sits two miles out of the village it always reminds me of the story of lorna dune since i came here on a school english trip once further down the road was the cloud farm campsite one of my favorite campsites in the south west recently it's been taken over by the national trust so it might be a little different but in truth it's the landscape that makes it stunning and that can't have changed too much here we are then mom's mead absolutely love this place jolly good cream teas if you want to see a good cream tea watch my video where i do a walk from ram's moon and there's the ford come check out the bridge there's such nice daffodils here in spring as well the 17th century bridge crosses bagworthy river and nearby is the eastlin and all water rivers too again much of the settlement has been brought out by the national trust and was undergoing restoration as we pass through here we go we have made it to brenden so this is where we cross over to the other side of the valley and we begin our journey along the east lynn river right down to linton it's a very familiar stretch of walking for me lots of family time here the dogs love it i tend to bring people who enter into my life on their first walk with me here this is a really nice walk from county gate up along the coastal path so um let's get this done last little bit of the colorado at brandon we stopped for a snack indulging in some biscoff biscuits that anna had sneakily brought along and pistachios because why not then it was on and over the river the bridge marking the boundary between brendan and countessbury waters meets two and a half miles let's go um it's all happening so we are on the final four and a half miles of the way so we have left brendan i'm heading towards waters meat which is a very uh popular spot owned by the national trust the old fishing lodge there about two and a half miles away and then from there it's about two down to linton uh so there's a lot of interesting stories along this stretch of path and um i'm sure i'll share some of them as we head on thank you we were now entering the waters meat estate boasting a wealth of native woodland wildlife and rivers yeah i practically learned to walk on this final leg of trail it was really very familiar to me our path twisted and turned this way and that always following the east lynn river at times it was ferocious and wild and yet others placid and calming after a few miles we reached waters mead house a former fishing lodge built around 1832 we made it to waters me which is my house is there it's actually a tea room jolly good cream teas i have to say mum loves them there uh so we're crossing over the river here now eastland we're about to join the confluence point of reach the confluence point where another major river comes down and it was this one that led to the flooding disaster in linton in 1952. the lima flood of 52 occurred after a storm with heavy rainfall combined with saturated soil and flood debris caused a massive flood downstream killing 34 people and destroying over 100 buildings 420 people were also left homeless there is a memorial room in linmouth itself where articles and videos depict the devastating scene now here's a good sign to find linma one and a half miles so we're very very nearly there now loving this walk along the river i mean it's just so nice the sound in the water you see dippers and yellow wagtails you've got the rocks just uh parting the water uh there's just you know the trees where they kiss the surface of the water it is just so nice out here i love it love it love it and um yeah it's also obviously going to be a very monumentous moment to reach linma the anticipation is growing feeling a very good spirit um let's do this thing nearly there on on i saw a dipper what back there oh no i know i've been looking for them yeah i saw one we're just coming up to the site of the old mineral water factory as a bottle in the wall and a little plaque as well so it says this is the site of the linerock mineral water factory distillery in the 1952's flood it was destroyed you can see here a picture of the building i fit in here it's crazy i don't know how that fit oh yeah they made ginger beer with it until 1939. [Applause] we're nearly there anna we are how are you feeling good yeah yeah happy days yeah nearly at the end of your first trail i know that's so cool yeah feet are still attached yeah you pack yeah still attached yeah new adventure yeah nick is still attached oh [Music] yeah not new but for me second hand it's great yeah yeah good job new girlfriend is that mine yeah good i mean going strong [Laughter] happy days and anna's on a mission because she knows there's a brew at the end yeah bye further down river just before entering linmov we passed by the brand new woodside bridge built following a 65 000 pound community campaign then before we knew it the forest opened up to houses and bnbs and we were in the village itself the anticipation was seriously building blue sky happy days and now you can just see the tower on the coast coming up nearly [Music] that's where the trail ends are you proud of yourself no i'm proud of you i'm proud of you me yeah why you just took me out here and you let me survive i let you survive yeah yeah i could have chosen not to yeah you'll be all right we're going that way okay please thank you let me let you survive down the main high street which is quite shut now i guess it's five isn't it well we can only hope anne and what's our pasty let's go past the in a cup of tea [Music] oh and here it is we have made it to the end of the college way so we have the sign here uh basically this is a good place for me so i've ended here before with the two moors away as long as this trail starts at wembley goes up through devon and finally we're here linton once again i swear i'd be here at the end of the college way and i've done it but of course i did not do it alone i did it with these two wonderful ladies who i could not have asked for better comfy how are you guys feeling feeling very good feeling good yeah yeah nana very good and did you enjoy the journey we did yes yeah yeah yeah yeah a good metaphor for life so um the sun is shining now finally yeah yeah we had to go through the rain the rain to get to the sunshine yeah there you go now but honestly it's been a good trail i mean it's been a good experience because it's a it's a lesser known route um to sort of experiencing the signing experiencing the sort of field sections and how to navigate them we got through it together we did good teamwork and what i like is we all worked well together this is new for all of us and normally does all of our crazy adventures solo i usually backpack solo and of course this is anna's first trip as well so well done anna but there we go we're going to end our trip here uh anna wants to go and buy pasty before the shop shut so that is a priority and i think i'm just gonna stand and soak up the view for a little bit so guys thank you so much for watching and until next time enjoy your adventures and stay wild lindemuth really was a wonderful place to wrap up our adventure and we stood looking out over the horizon for a while silent each lost in our own thoughts then it was time to turn around and get that pasty that we all so desperately wanted a massive shout out to the bakehouse for supplying us with some delicious treats to end our travels yeah okay i think we're good to go um no you're looking good [Music]

Channel: Abbie Barnes | Spend More Time In The WILD

Views: 40,283

Keywords: Abbie barnes, Thru Hiking, Backpacking, Song Thrush Productions, Adventure, Hiking, Day Hikes, Gear review, Foraging, Walking, Mental health, wellbeing, physical health, Nature, mindfulness, Trekking, National Park, Mountain, spend more time in the wild, travel, trail, community, long distance, national trail, scotland, lake district, snowdonia, dogs, camping, wild camping, expedition, stay wild, UK hiking, Coleridge way, somerset, exmoor national park, water filter, two moors way, devon, LDWA

Id: z-H9vAg72fc

Length: 76min 42sec (4602 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 20 2021