Lower Sherdon Farm
Sandyway, South Molton, Exmoor, North Devon EX36 3LU

Contact: Carol Dimmock

Tel: 00 44 (0)1643 831266

email: carol.dimmock@yahoo.co.uk

Exmoor National Park offers thousands of acres of beautiful moorland, river valleys, coombes, forests and farmland, villages and hamlets, bridleways and common land.

Lower Sherdon Farm is situated in the heart of Exmoor, near the famous Lanacre Bridge, where the riding off-road - directly from the property - is virtually limitless. It is a small, three bedroom, working sheep farm, set dramatically into the side of a steep river valley.

The access to the property is along and up a 1.1 mile track, where it is recommended that the horses are ridden rather than driven in the horse box (the oil tanker drives to the farm but your lorry wouldn't thank you for trying. Four wheel drives are highly recommended). However, access up to that point is easy, on good roads - so don't be put off! You should plan to arrive in daylight. Your horses will be accommodated in two light and spacious stables. Carol is used to meeting guests in the pick-up and driving all of your kit up to the farm. After the horses are settled, she will accompany you back to the horsebox to park it nearby.

If you want to get away from it all and ride somewhere truly amazing, a visit to Lower Sherdon Farm is well worth it. There is no light or noise pollution and once you're settled on the stone terrace with a glass of wine in your hand, you will experience utter peace and tranquility as you look across the beautiful river valley.

Lower Sherdon sleeps up to three guests. There is a shared bathroom upstairs - which has a lovely roll top bath! Singles welcome.

Guests have their own living room, with inglenook fireplace, in which they can eat if they wish. Or, they are very welcome to sit at the comfortable kitchen table, next to the Aga. There is no TV, so it's a marvellous opportunity to get into those books you've been meaning to read!

Carol will cook you a full Exmoor breakfast, with delicious local produce, to set you up for the day and she can also offer evening meals, by arrangement, if you'd just like to relax at Lower Sherdon after a day's riding.

There is a spacious boot room for your gear and a handy downstairs shower room. Carol has various dogs, who are friendly and well behaved and used to visiting guests. Adjacent to the house is the barn where your horses will be stabled. So it is incredibly convenient to check on them. There's plenty of hard standing and terracing around the farm house, but wellies are essential for this trip.

The accommodation is basic and well maintained and this is a typical Exmoor farmhouse, with the opportunity to experience real Exmoor living and the magic it has to offer. Because of its location, Lower Sherdon Farm is not on mains electricity or water, but both are available - it just means certain adjustments such as not being able to have a kettle in your room. Mobile phone signal is patchy and not available from the farmhouse but there is a land line.

Other Places to Eat
Local Pubs include The Sportsman's Inn at Sandyway, the Royal Oak at Withypool and Winsford, the Exmoor White Horse Inn in Exford and the Exmoor Forest Hotel at Simonsbath. There are also many other pub and restaurant choices if you'd like to go slightly further afield to places like Porlock, Dulverton and Lynton.

Rides can be tailored to whatever you want - ranging from gentle, meandering hacks to full days taking in the best Exmoor has to offer.

Escorted Rides or Help with Routes
Carol is happy to both discuss suitable routes and accompany you on rides if needed. Having an escort is a great way to understand the local scenery, flora and fauna. Carol is an experienced rider and can also organise two or three day rides, with picnics, if you want to venture further afield. However, it is entirely possible to experience a different ride every day, riding out and back from the farm.

Fitness & Terrain
Your horses will need to be fit to enjoy this holiday to the maximum, as once you see the scenery and fantastic out riding, you will want to explore for hours! There is hugely varied terrain, some steep, some flat - open moorland, forest tracks, river crossings, steep coombes, hamlets and villages and grassy gallops. There are very few, if any, roads to cross and gates are easy to navigate. So to get the maximum enjoyment from the riding, horses need to be able to cope with slopes, different terrain underfoot, water, uneven ground and open spaces. It's a wonderful place to relax and chill and also experience exhilarating riding - so this destination is as much a treat for your horse as it is for you!

The Local Area
Lanacre Bridge, spanning the river Barle, provides a stunning focal point in the Barle Valley, which is situated between the moorland areas of Withypool Common, Bradymoor and Horsen Hill. You'll see patchworks of cultivated farmland but largely, Lower Sherdon is surrounded by vast areas of common land - which offer open, unrestricted moorland riding areas. These link with further moorland areas - to the South of Lower Sherdon, Withypool Common leads to Molland Common. To the North, Horsen Hill leads to large tracts of land owned by Exmoor National Park (Long Holcombe and Simonsbath Deer Park). To the west. Sherdon Valley leads to North Molton Common.

Flora and Fauna You're likely to see the famous red deer of Exmoor , sometimes in herds of twenty or thirty. Often, these could be groups of majestic stags. You will also be treated to sightings of the indigenous free-living pure bred Exmoor pony herds and Exmoor horned sheep, as well as buzzards and ravens - and possibly even otters. There are miles of traditional Exmoor hedgerows, with their high earthen banks topped with beech hedges - a glorious emerald green colour in spring and summer. You'll also find bracken covered steeper cleeves, often interspersed with yellow flowering Exmoor gorse. The heather clad moorlands are just stunning in the summer months.

See free living pure Exmoor ponies

Lower Sherdon Farm
Sandyway, South Molton, Exmoor, North Devon EX36 3LU

Contact: Carol Dimmock

Tel: 00 44 (0)1643 831266

email: carol.dimmock@yahoo.co.uk