Exploring Exmoor in your classic car

Straddling Somerset and Devon, the vast open spaces of Exmoor contain some of Britain's most dramatic and windswept landscapes, and some of its most beautiful driving routes.

There's plenty to tempt you to this magical region in your classic car – Dunkery Beacon, Tarr Steps, Porlock Weir, and the twin villages of Lyton and Lynmouth to name just a few. The coastline also boasts the highest sea cliff on mainland Britain, the hauntingly named Great Hangman.

Indeed, there's something about Exmoor – a certain timeless feel, glimpsed for example in the winding streets of the traditional resort of Ilfracombe – that seems to lend itself well to a traditional touring holiday in a classic motor.

Pack the bags, peruse the maps, make sure your insurance for your classic car has you covered for some white-knuckle coastal roads (more on those later!) and Exmoor will be a happy hunting ground for you.

We're going to lead you, first, along a couple of Exmoor's most beautiful drives, before zooming in on a few of the region's many extraordinary features that you should catch along the way.

Scenic drive 1: Lynton to Dulverton

We'd recommend taking a trip from the delightful town of Lynton, near Exmoor's Bristol Channel coastline, to Dulverton, right on the moor's southern fringe. This beautiful drive samples many of Exmoor's delights.

The early parts of the drive will be characterised by some wonderful Exmoor views, all the way to Simonsbath, the village near the centre of the moor. The typical Exmoor landscape features gently undulating hills, covered during summer with a mix of heather, gorse and bracken, and broken up with wooded river valleys.

Its other feature is its emptiness: you can find yourself gazing across miles of open countryside with not another soul in sight.

Shortly before you arrive at Dulverton, divert off the B3223 to take a look at the Tarr Steps. This ancient ‘clapper bridge’ (formed by arranging huge slabs over stacks of stones) crosses the river Barle between Withypool and Dulverton. There is some debate about the bridge’s age, with some archaeologists speculating that it may date from the Bronze Age (3300-1200BC), and others claiming it as Medieval.

However old it is, at 55 metres the Tarr Steps is the longest bridge of its type in Britain. Some local legends have it that the Steps were first laid by the devil, and that he wouldn’t allow locals to use his bridge – one black cat that attempted the crossing disappeared in a puff of smoke halfway across. These days, less menacingly, there are some lovely circular walks in the woods that surround the Steps. There are toilet facilities and dedicated parking spaces, here, too.

Dulverton itself is a pretty town, and a great base for exploring Exmoor. Architectural highlights include the Georgian Town Hall on Fore Street, and the five-span Medieval Barle Bridge. Three Iron Age hillforts also surround the town. Before you leave, stop off at The Tantivy café/deli for some replenishment, or to stock up on goodies for an Exmoor picnic.

On your return to Lynton, you might want to mix things up a bit by passing through the pretty village of Winsford, with its thatched cottages.

Should you need to fill up with petrol before setting out, or refuel on your return, we’d heartily recommend a visit to Barbrook Filling Station at Lynton, an award-winning petrol station that stocks groceries and products from a host of local businesses – as well as a decent hoard of motoring supplies and accessories.

You should catch glimpses of Exmoor ponies along the way, too. These handsome beasts are native to Britain, and a few hundred roam Exmoor as semi-feral livestock. They are not as common as they once were, though, and are classified as ‘endangered’ by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Hardy, stocky and well-insulated against the cold winds that whip across Exmoor, these ponies are used elsewhere for various equestrian activities. The free-roaming Exmoor population, however, helps with the conservation and management of much of Exmoor’s wild pasture, which is a rich natural habitat for various wild flowers, insects, birds and mammals.

Scenic drive 2: Lynton to Ilfracombe

Another beautiful drive, though also one for which you’ll need your wits about you, is the coastal route from Lynton to the seaside resort of Ilfracombe. Here, you’ll be hugging the coast for much of the route, and some sections are narrow and vertiginous – so our advice is to take the drive slowly and enjoy the scenery (principally the road ahead, of course). And, most definitely, make sure your classic car insurance has you covered in the unlikely event of any misadventures.

You’ve got lots of options along the way for places to pull over for a pit stop and a gaze at the views. We’d recommend Mother Meldrum's Tea Gardens (open from spring to autumn), right in the heart of the evocatively named Valley of the Rocks just near your start point of Lynton.

The Valley, which you’ll pass through on your drive, is an imposing landscape filled with striking geological outcrops: it has various literary associations, including its appearances in that Victorian romantic potboiler, Lorna Doone. It’s also noted for the herd of feral goats that wander the valley.

Another pretty tearoom and garden nearby is the Lee Abbey Tea Room, a gorgeous cottage tearoom and garden connected to the nearby Christian community.

Any rock-pooling enthusiasts among your party, meanwhile, should demand a halt at the beach at Combe Martin, which has some excellent pools. If you like your café locations out of the ordinary, head for the brilliantly named Storm in a Teacup at Watermouth – a sweet little hostelry in a converted boat.

Finally, Ilfracombe itself is a proper English seaside resort. Take a saunter down Fore Street, which meanders from the working harbour up to the town centre and High Street. Fore Street retains many of the cottages, workshops and inns that were built along its length as Ilfracombe grew as a fishing harbour during the Middle Ages. Down near the harbour, the George and Dragon has catered to thirsty fishermen and others since 1360; the nearby Prince of Wales has an original well within its precincts.

Don’t miss the harbour itself, jutting out into the Bristol Channel on its own little promontory. There has been a fishing port at Ilfracombe since the 12^th Century, and possibly before – and a settlement of some form for longer still. It’s still a working harbour today, with fresh fish and seafood arriving daily.

Ilfracombe also has its share of fine beaches, from isolated coves to expanses of golden sand with crashing surf. Standout beaches include The Tunnels, where a network of hand-dug tunnels guides visitors to some beautiful, secluded beaches and (more of that timeless British seaside feel!) a Victorian bathing pool. Just to the east of town, Hele Bay – a sand and shingle cove within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – is a wonderfully relaxing spot.

Other Exmoor sights

We’d certainly recommend a visit to the secluded hamlet of Porlock Weir, where you can park the car, wander around among the boats and along the rather evocative saltmarsh with its wheeling gulls and piping oystercatchers, then clamber over the shingle ridge down to the beach beyond.

Porlock Weir is a peaceful spot nowadays, but it was once a fairly busy port: for centuries the sea was a far easier route than any coastal paths along this section of the Exmoor coast. During the 18th and 19th centuries, goods including corn, flour, bricks and oysters left Porlock for the busy port of Bristol further up the Bristol Channel – and indeed, oyster farming has returned to the Weir in recent times, thanks to the community project Porlock Bay Oysters.

The nearby town of Porlock itself is also well worth a visit. You may – or may not – wish to leave Porlock, heading west back onto Exmoor, via Porlock Hill. This vertiginous slope will certainly put your classic car through its paces: climbing 725 feet (221 metres) in just under a mile, it can boast of the steepest gradient of any of the UK's A-roads. At its steepest point, a warning sign advises motorists of a gradient of 1 in 4. A nicely challenging workout for your classic, in short: it’s a good idea to make sure that your classic car insurance is up to date. Cover through the specialists at Lancaster can include breakdown recovery if your classic needs a helping hand to get home. On the other hand, if you don’t fancy it, a parallel toll road does the same journey at a gentler gradient.

If you have time to leave the car and set out on foot, the nearby church at Culbone is well worth a look. Believed to be England’s smallest church, it dates largely from the 12th Century and is still in use today, despite the fact that parishioners face a two-mile walk from the nearest road access, at Porlock Weir. It’s a beautiful walk, though, and the church that awaits you at the end is incredibly evocative.

Other Exmoor recommendations include a walk up Dunkery Beacon, the moor’s highest point, for some panoramic views of the windswept landscape around. You can approach the Beacon by leaving Porlock east on the A39, and then following the signs: there’s a car park near to the hill itself. A good time to go will be in summer, when the soft purple heather and vivid yellow gorse will be in flower. A stone cairn marks the summit (520m above sea level) and a compass ‘points of interest’ marker will tell you what you can see – which, on a clear day, can include Pen y Fan, the highest point of the Brecon Beacons.

We’d also recommend walking any sections of the South West Coast Path as it passes along the Exmoor coast. The sections at Bossington and Lynmouth would both make ideal short coastal walks.

Dunster castle

Last but definitely not least, the village and castle at Dunster are definitely worth making time for.

Dunster Castle was first built, in timber, as early as the 11th Century, and has witnessed several expansions over the years – most of them by the Luttrell family, who have owned the castle since the 14th Century. Today’s castle is largely a later manor house, but traces of the medieval fortress linger on – including a Great Gatehouse and several towers. If your nerves are up to it, you can visit the crypt and learn about the various ghosts that are said to have made the castle home down the centuries. Once you’ve had your fill of that, there are 15 acres of gardens to wander in – and some 680 acres of parkland beyond.

Down the hill, meanwhile, Dunster village’s charms include the octagonal Yarn Market (Dunster was a prominent centre for woollen and clothing production as early as the 13^th Century) – and the views of the Castle, looming above the village’s pretty main street.

Classic car insurance to cover your Exmoor adventures

We hope we've introduced you to some of the charms of Exmoor – a wild, beautiful region with a wonderful variety in its landscapes, from Porlock's windswept salt marshes to the gentle woodland and river scenery around Lynton.

Another feature we love about Exmoor is that many of its special places, from the ancient Tarr Steps to the tiny, remote church at Culbone, evokes the past in vivid detail. Much like your classic car, we'd imagine. And, like those magical places, your vehicle should get the very best protection it deserves, which will allow it to be enjoyed by future generations to come.

That’s where the specialists at Lancaster come in. Benefits of classic car insurance through Lancaster can include:

• Historic rally cover
• Static show cover
• Limited mileage discounts
• Choice of repairer
• 24-hour claims helpline

Give your classic car the protection it deserves and contact us for a classic car insurance quote today.

Policy benefits, features and discounts offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.