Churchinford to Tatworth
1/7/17 We managed to get the second walk of the series done eventually. Planning these, regardless of our availability, is not easy as it is not a recognised path. We'd like to walk off road as much as possible, but sometimes what is supposed to be a footpath just isn't there. This makes timing the walks to get to the pubs with reduced opening hours difficult. Anyway, enough moaning.
We needed a lift to Chuchinford as public transport doesn't exist for the village. We headed south east along Moor Road towards the border and down to the River Otter before climbing up the other side. We then took our first footpath and successfully emerged the other side before crossing a busy B road and started down to the River Yarty. Our second footpath started ok, but once at a farm, the path disappeared. We looked for a route across a stream, but couldn't find the correct way. Eventually we did emerge at Whatley, but had lost 20 minutes in the process and were late into Bishopswood.
The Candlelight Inn was bathed in sunshine and the beer was nice. We had pints of Exmoor Gold (4.5%) and Fraid Not (4.1%) for £7. The village had a well-to-do feel about it, as did the pub.
At the bottom of the village, within feet of Devon, we turned right into a field that was signposted to the A303. However, a couple of fields later we came across a field of frisky Longhorn cattle with calves. So we headed up the hill, back onto the road and towards the A303. We crossed quite easily for a Saturday morning in July and were soon back passing were our path would have come out. A road walk around Cinder Hill and we successfully took a couple of footpaths before spotting Howley on the next hillside. Another path took us through a large farm yard, past the bloated body of a dead cow and up to the Howley Tavern.
This seemed like a nice village pub, with a mix of clientele. We had another pint of Exmoor Gold (4.5%) and a Cornish Bitter (3.5%) for £6.80. We didn't have time to dwell though as we knew we were cutting it fine to get to the next pub.
We headed uphill out of the pub and then turned onto Southay Lane. This seemed particularly steep, but we soon crossed the A30 and continued onto Shell's Lane. We were heading for Wambrook via some footpaths at Lancin Farm. The first of the footpaths was through a field full of crops, so we kept on the road as it wasn't much of a detour. The second one was less obvious and so we started at the wrong point and went wrong from there. We ended up in Lilymoor Copse which is an overgrown bog full of rotting vegetation. We eventually scrambled out and returned to the road leading to the Cotley Inn.
Disappointingly, it was seven minutes past three and the place was locked up. We had to continue up another Green Lane and across some large fields, correctly on footpaths now, to join Bounds Lane. At Copse Stile, we went through a timber yard and found our way onto some footpaths down to the A358. Soon after entering Tatworth we could see Ye Olde Poppe Inn ahead.
We had pints of Tanglefoot (4.9%) and Fursty Ferret (4.4%) for £7.20. It was a hot day, we had walked a long way and they went down easily. We did try to play pool as well, but we were so bad that we didn't finish before having to leave to catch the bus. For once, the fare home was even reasonable.
We needed a lift to Chuchinford as public transport doesn't exist for the village. We headed south east along Moor Road towards the border and down to the River Otter before climbing up the other side. We then took our first footpath and successfully emerged the other side before crossing a busy B road and started down to the River Yarty. Our second footpath started ok, but once at a farm, the path disappeared. We looked for a route across a stream, but couldn't find the correct way. Eventually we did emerge at Whatley, but had lost 20 minutes in the process and were late into Bishopswood.
The Candlelight Inn was bathed in sunshine and the beer was nice. We had pints of Exmoor Gold (4.5%) and Fraid Not (4.1%) for £7. The village had a well-to-do feel about it, as did the pub.
At the bottom of the village, within feet of Devon, we turned right into a field that was signposted to the A303. However, a couple of fields later we came across a field of frisky Longhorn cattle with calves. So we headed up the hill, back onto the road and towards the A303. We crossed quite easily for a Saturday morning in July and were soon back passing were our path would have come out. A road walk around Cinder Hill and we successfully took a couple of footpaths before spotting Howley on the next hillside. Another path took us through a large farm yard, past the bloated body of a dead cow and up to the Howley Tavern.
This seemed like a nice village pub, with a mix of clientele. We had another pint of Exmoor Gold (4.5%) and a Cornish Bitter (3.5%) for £6.80. We didn't have time to dwell though as we knew we were cutting it fine to get to the next pub.
We headed uphill out of the pub and then turned onto Southay Lane. This seemed particularly steep, but we soon crossed the A30 and continued onto Shell's Lane. We were heading for Wambrook via some footpaths at Lancin Farm. The first of the footpaths was through a field full of crops, so we kept on the road as it wasn't much of a detour. The second one was less obvious and so we started at the wrong point and went wrong from there. We ended up in Lilymoor Copse which is an overgrown bog full of rotting vegetation. We eventually scrambled out and returned to the road leading to the Cotley Inn.
Disappointingly, it was seven minutes past three and the place was locked up. We had to continue up another Green Lane and across some large fields, correctly on footpaths now, to join Bounds Lane. At Copse Stile, we went through a timber yard and found our way onto some footpaths down to the A358. Soon after entering Tatworth we could see Ye Olde Poppe Inn ahead.
We had pints of Tanglefoot (4.9%) and Fursty Ferret (4.4%) for £7.20. It was a hot day, we had walked a long way and they went down easily. We did try to play pool as well, but we were so bad that we didn't finish before having to leave to catch the bus. For once, the fare home was even reasonable.
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