Hidden hamlet of Exmoor:country

A coastal stroll from Porlock Weir to Culbone.

Hidden by steep hills on Exmoor's coastal fringe, Porlock Weir has somehow managed to survive the dangers of excessive prettiness. Old cottages, a hotel and a pub cluster round the harbour. Yellow-booted yachties potter on their boats, children clatter by on ponies and seriously kitted hikers argue over maps. Reached only by a narrow lane, the village has limited appeal to car-bound tourists but is a starting-point for those who like to venture off the Tarmac. Walkers, with a five-mile stroll and lunch in mind, can continue round the coast on a circuit through Culbone, an intriguing little hamlet far from any public road.

Starting from beyond the hotel, the path to Culbone climbs through open fields with distant views of the Welsh coast and briefly joins the toll road up to Exmoor before diverting into woodland by an ornate neo-Gothic gatehouse. Early in the 19th century the Earl of Lovelace built a home here for his bride, Byron's daughter Ada. A rambling romantic folly, Ashley Coombe ended as a private club of dubious repute before demolition in the Fifties. Now the path to Culbone leads through strange, dark tunnels that once shielded Ada's sensibilities from the distressing sight of tradesmen approaching her front door.

The climb is steep, up log-lined steps cut into the hillside. Long stretches of the path still wind beneath the shade of ancient oaks, with only birdsong and the murmur of the sea 500ft below intruding on the muffled silence.

The distant sound of running water deep within a hidden coombe announces the approach to Culbone. There is a drift of wood smoke in the air and glimpses of a trim churchyard between the trees. Even on arrival in the hamlet, you find few signs of the present century.

Culbone has a strange and chequered history. The tiny church - the smallest in England - is recorded in Domesday Book and over the past thousand years the isolated settlement has been an outpost of the early Celtic church, a place of banishment, a leper colony and a Non-Conformist commune. In the late 18th century it became a thriving village of foresters and charcoal burners. Now just a scattering of cottages remains.

From Culbone Church the coastal path continues towards County Gate. Just before Silcombe Farm, a narrow lane winds back towards Porlock, with exhilarating views from 900ft above sea level, before finally rejoining the toll road back to Porlock Weir. The slope is steep as the road snakes through hairpin bends down into the coombe, but a bridge across the stream gives access to a footpath through the woods that provides a safer route for walkers.

Back in Porlock Weir, the Ship Inn and the Anchor Hotel stand together on the harbour. Far from being rivals, they are under the same management; the grander looking Anchor doing all the food, with the Ship as a public bar. The hotel has a proper restaurant, with game and local sea-food, or simpler food at the rather formal bar. It's comfortable and friendly, but the Ship is a better place to quench the thirst after a long walk. The garden gives views across the bay to steep, wooded hills. Somewhere deep within those tangled branches lies Culbone; just two miles away, but in quite another world.

l From Porlock Weir car park continue past hotel and turn left on to signposted coastal path.

l Cross fields to Tarmac road, then turn right and continue 200yds to gatehouse.

l Just before gatehouse, bear right, down footpath signed to Culbone.

l Follow footpath signs to Culbone.

l From Culbone Church, continue on track, following signs to Silcombe.

l Just before Silcombe Farm, turn left on to lane.

l Follow lane for two miles and bear left on to toll road.

l Continue down road to footpath sign at Yearnor Bridge.

l Cross bridge, then turn left down woodland path

l Follow path down to Tarmac road.

l Cross road on to footpath back to Porlock Weir.

Length of walk: five miles (about two hours)

On 2 November, in our walk from the Slad valley to Cranham we inadvertently directed readers along a track that is not a public footpath. Start north from Bull's Cross through Blackstable Wood. But do not, as stated, keep heading uphill. Half a mile before the end of the wood, fork left (downhill), over two lanes, across the fields to Clissold Farm. Keep on the signed footpath to Far End. There bear right into the beech woods now owned by the National Trust. Follow the track right through, until it rejoins the route we gave at Ebworth Farm.