Where can you find delicious food and fantastic service coupled with breathtaking scenery? A place that takes in moorland and coast, with great walks, quaint villages... Oh, and for good measure, to arrive at your destination you need to "navigate" a one-in-four gradient hill with a hairpin bend, which made me feel like I was Lewis Hamilton in my little Fiat 500.
The answer is at The Culbone, on Exmoor, in the heart of Lorna Doone country.
Best described as Exmoor's restaurant with rooms, The Culbone is based just outside Porlock. It is a little piece of heaven plonked right in the middle of the moor.
Offering a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, there is a young welcoming team of staff ready to enhance your dining experience, either by adding theatre to your chateaubriand with the chef at your table carving, or giving you the minute details of your food. I was told that the fabulous mussels delivered to the table were caught in Brixham that morning by Jacqui who gets up at 4am. Jacqui's early rising and the talented chef in the kitchen was definitely to my advantage, as the mussels were the biggest, juiciest and tastiest I have ever eaten!
The team have been creating "The Culbone Experience" since August 2011. Head chef Jack Scarterfield is forging the way in theatrical dining and cookery courses as part of the transformation. A room has been specifically designed offering various lessons from cooking the perfect Christmas dinner to butchery and seafood extravaganza demonstrations.
There is also the chance to hold your very own chef's table in this intimate setting. Jack will enthral you with a sumptuous dinner, influenced by his international travels, or by using the freshest locally-sourced produce available: namely beef from the Big Red Cow Farm (a ruby red Devon herd) and the freshest fish from Jacqui at El Pescadero.
The management team have built a great feel-good community ethos for the locals, by offering various discounts on food, accommodation, cookery courses and chef's table evenings and even a free taxi return to Porlock on Friday nights for diners of four or more. Current partnerships with The Culbone include Experience Exmoor, who will take you on an Exmoor Safari trip or a dark skies safari, and Exmoor Falconry just outside Porlock. They are in talks with the local college and hoping to give young apprentices hospitality experience and are also in the process of getting a community allotment started in their grounds.
Our timing at The Culbone could not have been better, as the team had just heard they had been crowned as South West of England champions in the 2012 Countryside Alliance awards. The winning criteria for the awards was the place in the heart of the community The Culbone has taken. For example last year, when the Exmoor Food Festival was cancelled, they stepped in and held a mini festival; they have also helped the local cinema to remain open by offering supper and cinema nights.
We took a trip to Lynmouth, just 15 minutes along the road and a drive that shows off some of the most rugged and beautiful British scenery. It is rare in Britain that you have the magical pairing of moors and coast, so driving along the windy and steep cliff road was a real treat (another one-in-four gradient at some points and another Lewis Hamilton moment).
Along the route there are a few bays you can stop to take photographs on the way down. Once in Lynmouth there are the usual touristy shops but on the bridge, in the centre of the village, is the National Park Information Centre, run by a very helpful woman who suggested a walk from Lynmouth to Watersmeet along National Trust land so the pathways and steps are fairly clear. Although some areas were muddy, wellies or walking boots do the trick, allowing you to enjoy the stunningly beautiful woodland and deep river gorges where the East Lyn and Hoar Oak Water meet.
The walk from Lynmouth to Watersmeet House and back is just under four miles. Once at Watersmeet, have your picture taken by the beautiful waterfall and enjoy a cream tea at Watersmeet House, a National Trust property.
In the opposite direction from The Culbone is the pretty village of Porlock and a little further on is the medieval town of Dunster. Dunster Castle is owned by the National Trust and once through the impressive gatehouse you will meander through the gardens until you arrive at the castle – once a lavish country home during the 19th century belonging to the Luttrell family. The gardens boast spectacular views over the Quantock hills of Exmoor and across to the Bristol channel.
Dunster has charming shops and tea rooms on the high street, where you can while away the time over a delicious mochaccino.
On our way home, about three quarters of an hour away from Porlock, we stopped at Wheddon Cross to visit Snowdrop Valley. The timing of our visit was spot on as the valley had only just opened two days previously. If you have time, clothes and shoes that you do not mind getting muddy and are fairly agile, I recommend the walk down: it is fun, in a mud-sliding way, and once you are at bottom, the view of snowdrops is spectacular!
You can walk for a mile along the paths that entwine through the blanket of beautiful snowdrops and then catch the bus back up the hill.
