First real ale award presented to new Exmoor brewery

DUNKERY Ales founder Jim Winzer has been presented with the brewery’s first award - for one of his first beers.
The micro-brewery only started in Exford last September and it immediately entered the Minehead Beer Festival, where it won the ‘Somerset Beer of the Festival’ award.
The award was voted on by the people who attended the festival and tried the different beers which were available.
Dunkery Ale 4% received more votes than any other, and now the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has formally presented a certificate to Mr Winzer to commemorate the success.
The presentation took place in the Bear Inn, Wiveliscombe, where licensees Andy and Heather Harvey also received the Somerset CAMRA Pub of the Year 2007 certificate.
Both presentations were made by Somerset CAMRA chairman Alan Walker, who said of the Dunkery Ales success: “The fact that it was a new local beer makes people want to try it, but to win the award it had to be a good beer as well.”
Mr Winzer said: "I am very pleased, especially as the award was voted for by the general public. It is quite an honour.”
Dunkery Ales is the first micro-brewery to operate on Exmoor and it uses water from a spring in Downscombe Bog on the slopes of Dunkery Beacon.
It was set up with support from Exmoor National Park Authority’s sustainable development fund, provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and additional funding from West Somerset Council, Business Link, Connecting Somerset, and Foodlink.
DEFRA contributed with a Rural Enterprise Scheme grant toward the building costs of setting up the brewery in an old cow shed Edgcott Farm, Exford, owned by Mr Winzer’s friend Lindley Williams.
Among the local public houses which stock Dunkery Ale are the Culbone Stables Inn, near Porlock, the Exmoor White Horse Inn, Exford, the Crown Hotel, Exford, Ralegh’s Cross Inn, on the Brendon Hills, The George, in Brompton Regis, and the Rest and Be Thankful Inn, Wheddon Cross.
More information is available from Jim Winzer by telephoning 01643 831115 or visiting the website http://www.dunkeryales.co.uk/.

• Our photograph shows (left to right) Alan Walker with Jim Winzer and Heather and Andy Harvey. Photo ref C060101. Order image reprints online at www.tcpbymtp.co.uk.

Exmoor affordable homes for rent to local people only

SIX new homes being built on Exmoor by Magna West Somerset Housing Association are expected to be completed by mid-June.
The development in Pixton Way, Dulverton, is part of Magna’s commitment to providing more affordable housing to communities across West Somerset.
The six properties will be made available for rent and provide a mixture of family homes, flats, and a bungalow.
They will be let in accordance with Exmoor National Park Authority’s planning policy, which aims to help local communities with their housing needs.
To be successfully nominated as a tenant, residents will need to meet local connection criteria set by the park authority.
The criteria includes 10 years’ continuous residence in the parish or an adjoining one in the national park, or needing to live in the parish to care for somebody who has lived there for 10 years, or a need to live in the parish as an essential part of employment.
Anybody interested in finding out further details about how they could be considered for one of the Pixton Way homes should contact the park authority’s rural housing enabler, Colin Savage, by telephoning 01398 322249.

Trail watchers can help look after the Coleridge Way

A SCHEME which encourages local residents to help look after public rights of way is being extended to include the Coleridge Way through West Somerset.
The Coleridge Way stretches 36 miles across the Quantock and Brendon Hills over Exmoor, linking Nether Stowey with Porlock.
It celebrates the landscape which inspired the works of one of England’s best-known poets, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Coleridge wrote works such as Kubla Khan, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Frost at Midnight while living in Nether Stowey.
His presence attracted other poets, such as William Wordsworth, to the area and inspired the film Pandemonium, directed by Julien Temple, who lives in Holford.
Residents of West Somerset can now ‘adopt’ their favourite section of the Coleridge Way and help Exmoor National Park Rangers and Somerset County Council’s rights of way team to look after it.
It is part of the county council’s Trail Watchers scheme which was launched last summer on the River Parrett Way.
County council community and volunteer development officer Grant Turner said: “We ask Trail Watchers to walk the section they have adopted three or four times a year and let us know if they come across any problems such as a broken stile or gate, missing signposts, or overgrown paths.
“We can then work with landowners to quickly resolve any problems and make sure the trail remains open and easy to use for everybody to enjoy.”
County portfolio holder for planning, transport and waste, Councillor Hazel Prior-Sankey, said: “The Coleridge Way has attracted a huge number of visitors to the county from far and wide since opening in 2005, and has helped support a number of small local businesses.
“It is a jewel in Somerset’s rights of way crown and, thanks to the Trail Watchers scheme anybody can now get actively involved in helping to look after it.”
The Coleridge Way is supported and funded by a partnership including West Somerset Council, Exmoor National Park Authority, Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and ARTlife.
A survey of businesses along the route has shown more than 60 per cent were experiencing significant economic benefit from walkers.
On the back of the success of the walking route, one new B&B has set up, baggage transfer services have been established, and several companies and hotels offering walking packages now include the Coleridge Way.
Anybody who wants to join the Coleridge Way Trail Watchers scheme should contact Grant Turner on 01823 356156 or visit www.somerset.gov.uk/rightsofway.
The Coleridge Way also has its own website at www.coleridgeway.co.uk.

• Our photograph shows ‘Trail Watcher’ Ian Thompson (left) receiving his Coleridge Way Trail Watchers pack from county rights of way community and volunteer development officer Grant Turner, watched by Coleridge Way trail officer Alan Martingell. Photo by Heather Lowther, ENPA.