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Find incredible coastal views and great places to eat on the North Devon coast

There’s never been a more important year to get away and treat yourself and the coastlines of Somerset and North Devon are perfect for that escape. With outstanding restaurants and high-end hotels, you can be pampered and, better still, let someone else do the cooking.

Visit Dunster Castle and experience the olde-worlde charm of this medieval village

The high cliffs, deep valleys and huge bays of the coast where Somerset meets North Devon is dramatic and atmospheric, especially so in winter. 

Dunster is one of the most intact Medieval villages in England and you’ll find it huddled in the foothills of Exmoor National Park and overlooked by its own craggy castle. The handsome main street – in December the air laden with the moorish smells of mince pies and freshly baked cakes - winds its way slowly uphill, its shops draped in Christmas decorations. Explore the old yarn market area and pop into Made in Dunster which features seasonal gifts made in the next-door workshop along with local artwork. 

For a light lunch try the Chapel House Tea Room where you can recline on mismatched furniture and dive into excellent home-made scones. The Exmoor coast is home to around 20 food producers, ranging from local grass-fed beef to honey and blueberry producers. An outstanding store for pies, cheeses and other take-home Christmas foodie presents is the Dunster Deli. You can stay in Dunster at the Yarn Market Hotel which oozes character and where the Gables restaurant draws widely on the resources on its doorstep. 

Find incredible coastal views and great places to eat on the North Devon coast Find incredible coastal views and great places to eat on the North Devon coast
Find incredible coastal views and great places to eat on the North Devon coast

Winter walks in literary footsteps and fine dining in Devon

The beauty of the coast here is hard to beat, for Exmoor’s high moorland boundaries come to a shuddering halt high above the Bristol Channel. 

A winter walk here can be spectacular, with sunsets flooding the channel and hill tops peaking out above low mists as the temperature drops. A good choice for a short walk is to take a stretch of the long-distance Coleridge Way from Porlock to the hamlets of Culborne and Oare. The trail is named for the English Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who is said to have written Kubla Khan at a farm along this stretch of coast. 

The walk shows off Somerset in a wonderful way and it’s a case of up-down, moors-woods all the way with fine views of the area’s distinctive combes (a local term for a valley). Emerging from Worthy Woods west of Porlock you can briefly divert in Culborne to St Bueno’s, which is England’s smallest church, and where a slim line of gravestones forms a guard of honour.  You can walk from one white-washed wall to the other in just five strides.

Your route then drops down into the Doone Valley, which has its own literary links with the eponymous Lorna Doone, a lusty 19th century romance by RD Blackmore. The walk down the side of the steep valley into Oare is magnificent, the light changing every few paces and cutting through a serrated skyline of beech trees. In the hamlet you will find St Mary’s church, where the novel’s heroine Lorna suffers a seemingly mortal pistol shot as she is poised to be married. 

Find incredible coastal views and great places to eat on the North Devon coast
Find incredible coastal views and great places to eat on the North Devon coast Find incredible coastal views and great places to eat on the North Devon coast
 

Another outstanding and luxurious choice for food and rest is the Dunkery Beacon Country House Hotel, set back just 10 minutes’ drive above Dunster in the village of Wootton Courtenay. 

Here John and Jane Bradley welcome you to one of the moor’s gems. Chef-proprietor John wins regional food awards year after year. Tasty and beautifully presented food in a contemporary setting can include Somerset rib-eye steaks followed by blackberry and apple crumble. Bread is made using flour from the watermill in Dunster.

John is careful to source as much food locally as possible, including the ruby red cattle for the steaks.  Some food is grown even closer to home:  John has two raised beds in the garden, one dominated by a big and juicy variety of strawberry called ‘Apple’, – you'll appreciate them in the fruit bowl at breakfast (they also appear in the John’s strawberry and vanilla jam). 

Herbs from the garden such as oregano and lemon balm as well as courgette and Cavolo Nero make an appearance in John’s Mediterranean cooking, inspired by Italian, Spanish and North African dishes. 

`It’s important to me to reflect their quality in my presentation,’ he says. ‘We all eat with our eyes before tasting the dish, and this lets our guests know that our great local produce has been reared and made with care by our farmers and producers and treated by me with respect.’

‘Winter can be a harsh time on Exmoor,’ he adds, ‘and it’s best to batten down the hatches on such days and light the fire, curl up on the sofa with a glass of wine and a good book.’  All of which can be done at the hotel.

By Mark Rowe