The Romance of Exmoor and the North Devon Coast
Exmoor and the lush, sheer coastline of North Devon may be the most famous landscape never visited. Atlantis, Avalon, Camelot and Shangri-la: For most people, Lorna Doone Country has that same mystical quality. It’s a place to be imaginatively conjured rather than actually explored. Unlike its mythical sisters, though, Exmoor and the Channel coastline do exist—it’s just difficult to get to them. Perhaps that’s one of the elements that make the region so charming.
Train lines don’t run to this part of the country; even Brunel would have had a hard time building a line along this coast. There’s really only one way in and out of the area; that’s the A39 west from the M5 at Bridgenorth. This is not dual-carriageway, but a country drive through the hedgerows of West Somerset. You might detour through the village of Nether Stowey for a visit to the cottage of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (in season) or a bit of refreshment at the Ancient Mariner pub across the street.
A couple of miles before hitting the coast at Minehead, the medieval village of Dunster is something not to be passed by. Park in the convenient lot on the outskirt of the village and walk down an unspoiled, cobbled medieval street (complete with early-17th-century timbered Yarn Market) to Dunster Castle.
Minehead has long been a seaside playground for West Somerset. One of the three remaining Butlins holiday camps dominates the seafront.