Walk it off walk- Exmoor Walking festival

10 people enjoyed a hearty Dunster breakfast on Friday the 6th May- sampling the best the estate has to offer- care of Nick and Melinda of Townsend Farmhouse B&B (http://www.townsendfarmhouse.co.uk/) before setting off on an 8 mile walk led by Andy Player, Countryside Manager.

The walk took in parts of the estate that visitors don't normally get to, as well as some of the more popular attractions. Views of Exmoor, Dunster and the spectacular west Somerset coastline were enhanced even more by the amazing weather!

The walk was such a success that we will be planning some more Walk it off walks in the future so keep an eye on the events page of the website.

Tall Trees Top Ten!

Following the recent loss of the tall tree at Lake Vyrnwy in Wales, Dunster's tall tree- measured in 2009 as the tallest tree in England- may be even higher in the top ten tallest trees in the UK.

The replacement tall tree that was found at Lake Vyrnwy, and was shown on BBC's Countryfile programme, was measured as being only fractionally higher than the Dunster douglas-fir, which was measred at 60.05m in 2009.

We will be checking with the Tree Register where the Dunster douglas sits in this lofty competition, so watch this space!

To celebrate our tall trees we have installed an all abilities trail in and amongst them and called it the Tall Trees Trail- for more information see our website http://www.dunsterestate.co.uk/dunster_wood.html

spring has sprung- for now!

Spring is here at last- leaves are starting to appear on the hedgerow trees, birds are starting to sing and lambs are playing in the fields... Sights and sounds like this make it even better to walk on our new waymarked walking trails which have been completed over the winter.

Trails leaflets are to be available from a range of outlets locally- including B&Bs, visitor centres and camp sites- and on our website of course!

what a start to 2011!

Sorry it's been a while since our last post- it's busy start to the year! so far we have planted 500 native oak trees in Dunster Forest with 70 members of the local community, established a committee of local people to manage the community orchard and arrange events, built owl boxes with volunteers, the forestry commission and hawk and owl trust, installed a brand new network of waymarked walking trails in the forest, and hosted the first of a number of bushcraft courses that will run over the spring and summer.

There is plenty more in the pipeline as we get ready for what we hope to be a busy visitor season, so watch this space!

More Recreational Facilities for Dunster Estate Under Discussion

As part of ongoing consultation and discussion, ideas to expand further the recreational facilities on The Crown Estate’s Dunster estate, including a possible designation of the Dunster Forest as a Forest Park, were given an enthusiastic welcome recently by local businesses at Dunster Chamber of Trade.

The Dunster chamber of trade has itself achieved great success in getting Dunster designated as a "walkers are welcome" town, which will highlight to visitors that Dunster and the surrounding land (largely owned by The Crown Estate), is ideally set up for walkers.

The Crown Estate is very keen to work with the local community and other partners to promote economic activity and tourism in Dunster and the surrounding area. To this end we have a number of plans to add to the recreational facilities on offer in the area and to encourage greater numbers of year round visitors to enjoy the landscape, the walks and the varied attractions of the village.

As part of this process we are consulting with various agencies and community groups about the possibility of designating the Dunster Forest as a Forest Park. Further details will follow shortly, and a period of wider public consultation will be announced when these are available, so watch this space!

Lost and found...

If you have been for a walk in the Dunster Forest in the last week or so you may be concerned that we are playing a practical joke on visitors by confusing the waymarked trail signage!

What we are actually doing is gradually phasing in a brand new waymarked trail network, that will take the number of walking trails from 3 to 7. The walks have been designed as cicular routes which take in all the best bits of the Dunster Forest. They include 3 walks that start and finish on the edge of Dunster, so you can factor in a well deserved pint by the fire or cream tea into your walk!

The old walking trail network will still remain in place for the duration of the installation process, but once all the signage is in place the old trails will cease to exist. Details of the new walking trails are available from our webiste, www.dunsterestate.co.uk.

The existing cycle trail will also be phased out in time, and we will be reviewing this to make improvements to this facility.

New leaflets will be available from the end of october.