As an artist, it’s the subtle changes of texture and colour on Exmoor which particularly appeal to me and no two days are the same. In spring the lime green of new beech leaves is set off by the violets, greys and browns of the beech bark, often against the sparkle of light on the fast flowing water of one of Exmoor’s many streams.It’s true that Exmoor’s skies are often grey but when they are, the softness of the light brings out the myriad different textures of the vegetation and when the sun shines the sky’s fierce blue pierces the eye. Clouds tumble by, grasses bow in the wind and the heart lifts.
August throws a veil of purple across the moor as the heather comes into bloom for mile after mile with the bright yellow of gorse in startling contrast. But maybe most beautiful is a crisp winter morning with every blade of grass and seed head rimmed in sparkling frost, a light dust of frost across the ground and the fiery winter bracken fading into violet hills.
Even at the height of summer the moment you move away from the “honeypot” attractions you have the place to yourself. Exmoor’s secret valleys and hidden combes are yours to explore; some of them sheltering a picturesque cottage or two, some inhabited only by sheep and Exmoor’s many wild animals. Move quietly through the woods and you may find yourself eye to eye with a red deer, surprisingly large and impressive at close quarters and you will almost certainly see badgers and foxes.
Exmoor is an ancient place where you can feel the long history of human habitation. Look carefully and you will find traces of occupation from the Bronze age onwards. Ancient hill forts may sometimes be hidden beneath the trees but all the more atmospheric for it, that bump in the field you’ve just crossed may be a medieval farm boundary and that pile of stones all that is left of an abandoned farm house.
The little packhorse bridge you just crossed is hundreds of years old, those trees clinging to the steep cliffs along the spectacular coast though they may not be tall are part of truly ancient forest and host to some of our rarest mosses and lichens. Even the Romans left their mark here.
If you stay with us at The Malt House, on the steep side of the Exe Valley, you will be staying in a building parts of which may date back to Saxon times when a building on this site probably brewed ale for sale to support the church nearby. Walk out of the door onto a footpath still part of the network of ancient trackways by which pack ponies crossed Exmoor long before cars arrived.
Or just sit in the garden, chill out and admire the view across the valley.
Gabriella Falk, The Malt House ©
This cottage is also listed in Cottage Holidays
