Exe Valley Way - Days one and two

When we knew we were moving to Cullompton I unfolded the local maps to study the terrain.  I spotted a trail, the Exe Valley Way, and we agreed it'd be the next walk we did.  Now most of the house downstairs is re-decorated, we are able to chill a bit, and start exploring properly.

Monday 25 May 2026: Exe Head to Withypool - 16.9 km

The Exe Valley Way officially goes from Exford to Starcross, but Exford isn't where the River Exe rises, and we wanted to go all the way from source to sea.  This meant starting with the extension north of Simonsbath and walking a section of the Two Moors Way.

The buses are non-existent around this patch of Exmoor and, as we are blessed with two cars, we parked one at Withypool and the other north of Simonsbath where we started walking.  A bog or two later, we found the source of the River Exe, the trail's namesake, starting high up on Exmoor.  If you look closely, you can see the words "Exe Head" carved into the stone.

It has small, but promising, beginnings.  I suppose that's how we all start out in life.

It was a super hot day so I was in full Vietnam mode - long sleeved blouse, trousers and hat.  We were going to be out long enough to be stupidly burnt if we weren't covered up.  Our route took us through Simonsbath and we arrived as the pub opened, so had a pint of coke before heading further. 

By this stage we'd veered away from the Exe (there are no public rights of way along it) and were hugging the River Barle.  Beautiful.

It was such a lovely walk - sun, water, no crowds and just the odd curious cute dog.

We eventually strolled into Withypool and stopped at the pub for another coke.  Two guys said hi to us - turned out they'd also had a drink in Simonsbath and spotted us again!

Saturday 30 May 2026: Exford to Hawkridge - 16.3 km

Today we started the Exe Valley Way properly.  

Exford is a lovely spot, although the ford now appears to be a bridge.  But renaming itself Exebridge would cause no end of confusion... (see later yet-to-be blog).

Again, another beautiful day and the azaleas/rhododendrons were in full bloom.  Climbing out of Exford, we looked back onto it.

Then it was up onto Room/Road Hills and down into Withypool via a not-terribly-great bullock encounter.  

  

Anyway, I survived (thanks JC!) and we had coffee in Withypool at a cafe with vintage petrol pumps.  34p a gallon.

JC wandered off to take photos of the bridge again.  Ah, yes, the lesser-spotted JC is seen in his natural habitat...

We then deviated from the Exe Valley Way, as its way-marked route was along a road and the Two Moors Way route, along the Barle, was far more enticing.  So enticed we were and had a wonderful walk along the Barle.  The tree trunk was incredibly comfy apparently.

We left the Barle at the ancient clapper bridge of Tarr Steps, which was busy as expected.  Lots of happy squeals from splashing kids.

Then it was a pleasant meadow walk back to Hawkridge.  I do love a long distance walk ;-)

I do like to be beside the seaside

May has been an excellent month for seeing the sea.  It started strong with the Cardiff weekend and a jog around the Bay, then a week later I had a conference in Weston-super-Mare.

Tues-Thurs, 12-14 May 2026

The conference was on the pier, which is the best spot for experiencing the huge tidal range of the Severn Estuary (second largest range in the world).  The gently sloping beach of WsM means it seems the tide is out far longer than it is in.  

I presented at the conference which went well, in particular I could hear the questions off the floor during the subsequent panel session which was wonderful.  This was so much more positive than the awful experience I had at a panel session in March where I nearly left the stage because the sound quality was so terrible.

I was there with a couple of my team so were able to split up and network voraciously bearing in mind how many people we needed to catch up on.  

I also had time to play the tuppence push game.  Even better that I was supplied a pot of free 2ps to start with :-)

On the Thursday we had field visits to Steart Marshes, where they are restoring agricultural land to less intensive farming/floodable areas.  This helps reduce the risk of high flood events for local properties.  Although it was dry when we were there, it is obvious from the water level gauge that it is not always so.

We also saw the site of the Bridgwater Barrier.  It is a far more complex scheme than you'd think, including downtime caused by archeological finds and a nesting hen harrier.  Got to love a decent site geodetic point.

That weekend Riona popped down.  It was lovely to show her our new home.

We trotted off down to Sidmouth for a winning combination of lunch out, seeing the sea and traipsing around every charity shop there.

I also took her up to see my local you-know-what.  How very cool to have one in 10 mins walk from the house.  Despite appearance, we do have a pair of sunglasses each and aren't sharing a pair.

Last Sunday, 24 May, I met with an acquaintance who had moved to the SW a couple of years ago.  We both wanted to see the sea, so met at Dawlish station and walked along the frontage to Dawlish Warren.  It was the beginning of the heat wave, a Bank Holiday weekend and the start of half term so pretty rammed.  Well, chocka for the first 4 groynes, then the crowds faded and we had a lovely walk around the Warren wildlife area pretty much to ourselves.  

Afterwards, I met JC for sofa shopping in John Lewis.  It was beautifully empty as everyone was at the beach.  Then we walked down to the Quayside for a pleasant 5 km walk around the River Exe and Exeter Canal.  

We found the Ermine moth caterpillar webs in Belle Isle Park.  Looks like they have pretty much decimated the tree.

Did I say I also like being beside the riverside...?

Cardiff - meet the parents

Last weekend JC and I headed to Cardiff for a planned 'meet the parents' weekend.  It was high time that Roger and I met our counterparts, to see how the lovely Mark (Riona's fiancé) had been nurtured.

JC and I arrived first, so Riona and I took advantage of some spare time to have a run on the Saturday morning.  I have a 10 km next weekend so it was good training and we took it nice and steady.  It was a super lovely run around Cardiff Bay with a nature reserve, barrage, harbour etc to view at pretty much every step.

 

My legs/hips/everything were unhappy from 8 km, but I trogged on.  I am a LOT more puffed out than she is!

Whilst Riona and I were pacing the streets, JC wandered into Cardiff city centre for a coffee and photo shoot.  Cardiff has wonderful arcades and JC did well to capture them people-free (his word for this is "patience").

 

We met up with Mark's parents and twin brother mid afternoon and then proceeded to have a 'proper Cardiff walk', which basically meant walking in the rain and getting soaked.

That evening we wandered down to the Bay for a lovely supper.

Sunday's weather was far more pleasant and we headed to Roath Park for a stroll.  I'd never been there but it has a lighthouse!  It's dedicated to Scott, who was the first Brit to reach the southern pole (beaten by the Norwegian Amundsen).  Scott's ship, the Terra Nova, sailed from Cardiff in 1911 hence the connection.

The extended family photo - Roger, Caitlin, Mark, Debs, Luke, Mark, JC, Ruth and Riona.

Happy families.

Rog and Caitlin left Sunday evening, then Mark's family Monday morning.  Just JC and I were left so Riona and I settled down for a quick and easy jigsaw.

We returned home via my favourite drive-by charity shop.  It has a large car park outside and has taken 3 large boxes of my stuff over 3 trips.   And, yes, I am now driving my charity stuff to Cardiff!  JC and I then visited a sofa shop near Newport to choose something for our new des res.  It's proving a lot more difficult to decide than we'd thought.

A smooth journey home and I'll always enjoy transiting this bridge.