Behind the Scenes with Julia Bradbury and The Outdoor Guide filming in Devon
Dear Diary …
Day 1
This week we’re filming ‘where Exmoor meets the sea’ – captured perfectly by this photo…
After our drive from Cheshire, we’re beginning our time in Exmoor at the Lynmouth Pavillion Café with freshly baked pies straight out of the oven – just what we needed to refuel for our week of walking and filming!
The Pavilion Café is just above the Exmoor National Park Visitor Centre.
Off to Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway where we start our walk for this episode of Britain’s Best Walks!
Day 2
Today we met at Lorna Doone House run by Neil and Sharron Hobbs, our base camp for filming along the river…
Whether the sun’s in or out, the views from Lorna Doone House are stunning. What’s more, they are pet-friendly and make a cooked breakfast that really takes some beating!
After walking down the hill from Lynton where Julia, the crew, and The TOG team are staying, we meet the River Lyn early on in this walk. Inside the gorge, you would hardly believe that the sea is just over the cliff side!
Day 3
Our route has opened up from the river valley to some breathtaking countryside views… The skies are huge and the gently sloping hills of Exmoor seem to go on forever.
We spotted some of the beautiful Exmoor ponies, the semi-wild horses native to Britain! Sadly these ponies are now classed as ‘endangered’.
We just couldn’t resist popping into the lovely Longmead House to see if there was any room at the inn… sadly there wasn’t but owners Lauren and Henry opened up their dining room just for us! The food was so scrummy and home-cooked, we felt very spoilt after our day walking…
Day 4
Base camp for today and tomorrow is National Trust Watersmeet Café
This National Trust café is particularly special having served coffees and cream teas to visitors ever since 1901!
It’s extremely pretty here – there is a little bridge over the river that we got some nice shots on, and the lush woodland surrounding the house created a wonderful, greenish lighting for our filming.
We met up with retired National Trust ranger, Julian Gurney and had a nice chat.
And here’s the waterfall at Watersmeet – literally where the east and west branches of the River Lyn meet!
We’re getting sleepy! see the demise of cameraman Jan below…
Time for us to head back to the Chough’s Nest Hotel to get some shut eye before our last day of filming tomorrow!
Day 5
Where has this week gone? It feels like only yesterday we arrived in Exmoor…
We’ve seen some amazing views, met some extremely interesting people, been wined and dined by the delightful locals and walked a pretty fantastic walk (several times around – blame the weather).
Obligatory pint to end our Exmoor trip at Rising Sun Hotel in Lynmouth and looking over the dramatic scenery, saying farewell to Exmoor!
Quote of the Week
‘Give us ‘moor’ of Exmoor!’
TOG Tip of the Shoot
Evenings can be so cold – bring plenty of warm socks and snuggly boots to prevent numb feet!
