Articles about places and experiences on Exmoor that provide more background information and insight to make a visit more interesting.
This post is written by our Marketing and Social Media Officer, Sue Windley, who is off to pastures new with a love of Exmoor that she’ll be sharing far and wide. One aspect of this special region she noticed people mention frequently was the variation of colours to be found. Let us know what your favourite colours of Exmoor are (ideally with an image) and we’ll share on our Twitter page @ExmoorNP.
This post has been written by our Moor to Enjoy Project Coordinator, Lucy McQuillan. Lucy has a background in community development over 21 years working with families, young people, groups with learning difficulties and older people on the Scottish Inner Hebridean Islands, and at the Lake District National Park Authority, Campaign for National Parks (CNP) and Exmoor National Park Authority. Through these various roles, Lucy has seen the benefits that being out in nature has on people’s mental health and quality of life. She also believes passionately that the more people understand and experience, the more they will campaign and work to protect our only home Planet Earth. Once you’ve read the article, please contact Lucy to start planning your group’s visit to Exmoor and experience all the below points for yourself – Exmoor National Park is good for you!
Exmoor National Park’s first Dark Skies Festival is truly underway, with most events sold out and participants not being put off by the remnants of Storm Brian! Launched on 19th October (Exmoor National Park’s 63rd birthday as we came into being on 19th October 1954) and running until 29th October, the festival celebrates Exmoor’s status as an International Dark Sky Reserve.
The landscape and wildlife of Exmoor has long been an inspiration to writers, poets and artists. From the Romantic Poets who “discovered” the drama of the Exmoor Landscape in the late 18th century to the modern day when the “Poetry Box” project produced “Over 5,000 poems harvested from passersby.” (plus three marriage proposals!). Some choose to weave Exmoor directly into their stories (think Lorna Doone) whilst others found their imagination set free by the locality (Coleridge conceived Kubla Khan whilst staying near Culbone). So here’s a view into the few of the many literary greats inspired by the drama of Exmoor.
Recent visitors to Exmoor National Park’s HQ, Exmoor House, may have noticed a series of Exmoor-centric paintings which we had on temporary loan from local artist Jo Minoprio (Moorland Art). They will now be available to view as part of the “EXMOOR TO THE SEA” exhibition at Landacre Gallery, starting this Saturday (23rd), running until Sunday 8th October between 11am and 6pm. In preparation for the opening, we decided to get a view from Jo as to what inspires her art.
The Exmoor Society has just announced their 2017 Pinnacle Award winner – young Exmoor entrepreneur, Nick Hosegood, an arborist from Luxborough. The Exmoor Society Pinnacle Award, which was set up in 2011, is open to young people aged 18 to 27, and offers up to £3,000 for an idea for an Exmoor-based business venture in agriculture, forestry, conservation, horticulture, craft or tourism. Through this award, the Exmoor Society aims to provide opportunities for young people to stay in the greater Exmoor area to demonstrate how beautiful landscapes and livelihoods can go together. Continue reading
We’re delighted to be able to share excerpts from a post written by Tim of Travelgarb blog about his recent visit to Exmoor with three generations of his family (with ages ranging from 9 to 90!).
The Public Health England South West Health & Wellbeing Team visited Exmoor National Park in June 2017 for a team building and away day! The team, who work to promote the health and wellbeing of the population across the South West, were keen to chat with the Exmoor National Park team, and experience the wellbeing benefits of Exmoor’s open spaces for themselves!
A project to refurbish our cherished historic signposts driven by local people and parishes was given a boost by being awarded Heritage Lottery Funding late in 2016 for a two-year project to December 2018. This allowed the appointment of Charlotte Thomas to act as a co-ordinator and enabler for the project based at the National Park office in Dulverton. This article introduces Charlotte and explores the distinctive character of Exmoor’s cast iron finger posts.
National Parks Week (24th to 30th July) provided the opportunity to discover, discuss and share the differences our National Parks make to each of us. We asked the question “What makes Exmoor National Park special for you?” – below are just some of the responses and images we received as to why these 267 square miles mean so much to each of us.
Exmoor Views 