Exmoor at Easter - Countisbury and Lynmouth

With no Guided walks for us to lead this Easter we had the perfect opportunity to go to Exmoor, enjoy some walks and do a little fine tuning of itineraries.

To make the best use of our limited time, we had a family split (in the nicest sense of the word).


Ian and Rebecca walked the beautiful Lyn Valley down to the coast at Lynmouth and then followed the coast path uphill (very) from lovely Lynmouth to Foreland Point and Countisbury, with its pretty church and opportune pub.

The wind was bitterly cold on the coast and at gale force, with odd flakes of dry snow hitting us like little arrows. All good character building stuff!


The Lyn valley, sheltered from the wind, was much more benign and clusters of primroses adorned the grassy banks.

There is often a cold snap in March, just at the point where we're getting complacent about an early spring. Countrymen call it the 'Blackthorn Winter' as it often coincides with the blossoming of the blackthorn bush. Whenever Easter falls in March it seems to coincide with the blackthorn winter and, in reality, there is a far greater chance of snow at Easter than at Christmas.