The Exmoor Forest Inn and Duredon Farm

Nestled in the heart of Exmoor, these superb establishments are a sportsman's paradise, says Rory Knight Bruce

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WHILE many of us make the late summer caravanserai to Scotland, there is another destination for discerning sportsmen and naturalists which is the wide open moorland of Exmoor. Here, stags roam the open ground and villages nestle in deep combe valleys, the empty roads and lanes ribboning this majestic landscape. At Simonsbath, comfort and tranquillity may be found at the renovated Exmoor Forest Inn, immortalised in RD Blackmore's Lorna Doone. Winston Churchill once stayed to fish for salmon on the nearby River Barle. Not a mile away is Duredon Farm, a nine-bedroom lodge of great privacy, where shooting parties can enjoy the highest level of hospitality. The renowned high-bird pheasant and partridge shoots of North Molton, Challacombe and Buttery are all nearby.