Saturday 16th Mosely to Burlescombe near Tiverton

Saturday, we got onto the M5 and drove to Tiverton between Exmoor and Dartmoor as Caroline (the Aussie publican we met) said the moors were very worth a visit if our time was limited.

B&B at Burlescombe


We got to Tiverton 'round lunchtime and found that accomodation was almost impossible to find. Eventually the nice little man in the Tourist Information Centre found us a B&B in a pub at Burlescombe not far away. We took it for 2 nights and headed out there and booked in. It was still early afternoon, so we went for a drive through the moors of Exmoor (or a small part of them!).

Ponies on the Moor

It was beautiful, so remote and so unspoiled. I loved seeing the (semi) wild ponies ans the scenery. We visited Cleve Abbey
Cleve Abbey

and Tarr Steps which are an ancient clapper bridge. Clappper bridges are made of granite slabs and stones and most are over 500 years old (many are believed to be much older than that too).
Tarr Steps


We had fun driving our car through the river beside the steps to continue along the road. It thought it was a 4WD for a few minutes! I have to say I hated the tiny roads though. They are so narrow and have huge hedgerows either side. The hedgerows often have stone or compacted earthwalls behind them and as the passenger I seemed to get way to close to them at times. We spent a huge amount of time on the trip backing up to allow oncoming traffic through or hoping there was no oncoming traffic as we often couldn't see. The scariest thing on a one laned road that is used as a two laned road (with parked cars thrown in) is to meet a double decker bus coming towards you!!!!!
One of Those Wonderful Roads