B2B Day 2 West Buckland to Simonsbath--Uphill all the way

For an OS map of today's walk (11.4 mi; 18.4 km; 1,908 ft total ascent) click here.

We enjoyed breakfast at Huxtable Farm—Sara had Scotch pancakes and Ken had an omelette and sausage, all delicious. We also enjoyed meeting the other guests at breakfast—Geoffrey and Sue who were on holiday and taking in an art show locally, and Doerte and Jutta who were walking the Tarka Trail.

We stopped briefly in the church at East Buckland—constructed in the mid-Victorian era along with a local school.

East Buckland Church

Today on BBC Breakfast, there was a news story on its being exactly 200 years since Queen Victoria was born. So Sara took a photo of this post-box from Victoria’s era (see the V R for “Victoria Regina” at the top?). She loves finding post-boxes with VR or GR on them—usually they are like this one, built into a wall so that they are not easily changed when there is a new monarch.

V R post box

We enjoyed retracing the route we shared with friends in 2013. This time, however, we did not get lost in the forest pathway. It was well waymarked, which we hadn’t remembered, and it was the lower path we took rather than the upper path we took the previous time. We sat on the upper path on plastic bags to eat our delicious (and ample!) packed lunch from Huxtable farm. A man walking his dog came on the path behind us and asked if we were having a sit-in protest, but we weren’t. 

Because Ken woke with a scratchy and sore throat, we made the decision to shorten the walk slightly and walk the roads the rest of the way. It seemed like a long, long climb uphill, with a 20% grade at first. It was a warm, sunny day, and we drank almost all of the water we brought, so we were glad that the Poltimore Arms was open. 

The Poltimore Arms

We had heard that the owner was a character, and he was indeed friendly and unique. We each had a pint of lemonade and used the bathrooms, which involved borrowing an electric torch/flashlight to go down the hall and find them (and use them), because he does not have electricity, just a generator which is turned on when necessary. There were several people inside, and it was a jovial atmosphere. We then set out on the road again to go uphill again. At one point, we had to pull to the side while a tractor herded sheep from one pasture to another. 

We did get some good views near the top, as the land changed from lush green to dry golden moorland.

The final stretch of the walk was downhill, to a bridge that crossed into Simonsbath (pronounced “Simmonsbath”). We were greeted by a set of flags by the road, including Canadian and American flags, and then turned right to walk to the Exmoor Forest Inn, where we are staying.