Day 9 - Exmoor

Day 9 - Challacombe to Luxborough. Another gorgeous day as we sat down to breakfast in the spacious dining room at Twytchen Farm. Our fellow guests were multinational, a german family, a Korean couple and a Dutch group. We havent seen a lot of walkers, considering the distance we've covered and that it is Easter weekend, but a good proportion have been foreign. The English dont seem to be getting out onto the hills!
We started later than usual and were very conscious that we had a long day ahead. We started on the road and before long we encountered the sign welcoming us to SOMERSET! so we are now on our third county and have covered over 140 miles of the West Country. We turned left, through a steep field and climbed towards the moorland above us. We entered a landscape of huge panoramas across rounded hills of grass, heather and sedge crossed by long fences and paths. There were also stunning views to the countryside below and best of all, the ground was dry -Exmoor can be extremely boggy and difficult to cross. There was a cool breeze from the south-east in our faces as we joined a long ride that runs for much of the length of the entire moor and we trudged happily along this for several miles, meeting a couple of groups of walkers on the way. There were a lot of skylarks and we watched then rising up from the grass, wings shimmering as they sang their distinctive song, while rising up high into the air. Progress was good but slower than on the country lanes and at one point we had to leave the path and cross a stretch of heather which slowed us further. We dropped down into pretty valley to pass Warren Farm, and after another stretch of moorland, dropped down to a road. This was narrow and there was enough traffic to make us nervous, so we were glad to drop down into Luckwell and get back on paths and lanes.
The problem now was that we were well into the afternoon, and although we had been walking steadily and only stopped for a couple of short breaks, we had a very long way to go. The countryside around Exmoor is very hilly indeed and we found ourselves plunging down through a steep field, only to rise up again equally steeply. The second time this happened, we realised we were getting very tired and had a further 6 miles to go which was simply too much, so as soon as we got mobile reception (rare in these parts) we called our B&B and they kindly offered to collect us from Luxborough, about a mile further on. This worked well, and just as we tumbled down the hill and arrived at the little church, John Brewer drove up in his Range Rover and with a broad smile, welcomed us and loaded our gear.
The welcome given us at Wood Advent Farm was exceptional: Diana immediately gave us tea and her truly delicious chocolate cake and we even had a room each! A great luxury. It was a lovely rambling old farmhouse which they run as a B&B and for winter pheasant shoots on their land. These are very enterprising, hard working and delightful people. Judy gave us a home-cooked dinner and we were able to enjoy the open fire in the spacious sitting room afterwards. We really felt thoroughly rewarded for our labours.