Couldn’t wish for Moor...
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thinking the addition of motor assistance takes the challenge out of it.
The hills here don’t mess around and the ground gets seriously mushy – but it does make it easier for mixed groups to ride together and means you don’t have to be a hardcore athlete to enjoy it.
Exmoor Adventures offers a range of activities, from kayaking and paddleboarding to tree-climbing and coasteering, all making use of the area’s varied landscape and surrounding shores.
Dan French, who set up the firm just over a decade ago, tells me how the e-bikes have been a hit with all age groups.
Today he guides me and two fellow riders on a three-hour trek that sees us crunching up and down forest tracks, bouncing and sliding along a muddy moor, and even getting off a couple of times to carry our bikes across plank bridges.
It’s October and the leaves are still a fiery weave of rust and amber. And while it rains a few times, every now and then the clouds clear, revealing snaps of brilliant blue.
The pandemic restrictions mean recently chances to escape and seek adventure have been extremely limited.
For many of us, getting outdoors when possible for a dose of fresh air has been our saviour and solace – and how grateful I’ve been for the pockets of green on my doorstep, and the health to embrace them.
But the urge to roam has nipped hard – and, after a morning on the bike soaking up the wilds of wintry Exmoor, I feel reborn.
Back at Locanda, after rinsing off my mud-soaked kit and warming up with a quick shower, I refuel with coffee in the reading room.
It also houses the bar, two armchairs in a bay window facing out to sea and three seriously soft sofas by a big open fire.
There’s a record player and stack of vinyl and bookshelves almost as eclectic as the art on the walls.
“It’s all stuff we’ve collected ourselves over the years, or handed down from family,” Cindy tells me.
“A lot of the Italian antique furniture in the restaurant comes from Pio’s family. We wanted to make it feel like a home.”
And it does – albeit a stylish one with seriously good food. This is Cindy and Pio’s first hospitality venture.
The couple quit their London city careers a few years back, armed with a lifetime of honing skills in interior design (Cindy) and food ( former banker Pio – although remarkably he’s self-taught, from eating out a lot and replicating restaurant dishes). They also had a pretty clear vision of what they hoped to create.
“A restaurant with rooms really, and we knew we wanted to be somewhere wild,” says Cindy.
They didn’t want to be anywhere too “done” though, and they “wanted to offer something more intimate and soothing,” Cindy adds.
Their search led to a tired seaside cafe – a blank slate for a redesign, with five spacious ensuites plus space for Cindy and Pio to make it their home. For Pio, being able to source local, sustainable ingredients was also important – as was the rich local pickings, with oysters fresh from Porlock Bay, huge stretches of salt marshes sprouting wild samphire, and even a local coffee roaster.
They opened in 2018 and already have a string of repeat guests. Even at full capacity it’s never crowded, but in the pandemic, when allowed, they’ve been operating at reduced volume to enable social distancing. My two-night visit comes just in the nick of time before England’s second national lockdown. Surrounding villages are all storybooksweet brick cottages, proper tea rooms, and friendly locals.
Porlock Weir is weeny, just a few streets of houses, one pub and a small row by the harbour where I spot a sign for pizza and a pottery (both closed today). Backed by dense wooded hills and the endless heather-topped moors and grassy heaths of Exmoor, it really does have a touch of the wild.
The bubbling rocky
bay brings a fierce sea breeze and all year round you’ll spot surfers out for the late-afternoon swell. After my coffee, I take a walk and end up sitting on a rock to watch them. The third rainbow of the day streaks the sky. Then, just like that, greyness descends and the heavens open. Sheets of Skittles-sized hail pelt my cheeks and in seconds I’m drenched.
It’s only a quick dash back to the Locanda where a roaring fire awaits. I curl up with my book and an aperitif before Cindy calls me and the other couple of guests to our tables.
My starter arrives. That plump hunk of porcini now lies on my plate in artful slivers, so fine they’re almost transparent. It tastes all the better knowing hours earlier it was still in the ground, yards away in the woods.
After a morning soaking up the wilds of Exmoor, I feel reborn
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IWAS rifling through a kitchen drawer looking for a battery when I stumbled upon my old boxed Omega watch. I knew it was in need of repair, but I never seemed to find the time to get around to getting it fixed.
I dusted-off the box and opened it up to reveal my muchloved old Omega.
I knew that if I just put it back in the drawer it would be out of sight, out of mind...and forgotten about for another few
years.
So, instead, I got in touch with Martin Kaye. I have used them before – they gave me a fantastic price for some scrap gold – and I thought they might be interested in the watch, as I suspected it might still have some value.
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The service is hassle-free, professional and trustworthy, and the money went straight into my account later that day as promised. I highly recommend Martin Kaye to anyone who wants to turn their valuables into cash.”
Alan Laird received £2080 cash for his old – and broken — Omega (inset above)