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One of the most famous pubs in the rural Westcountry has been bought by the National Trust.

The remote Hunters Inn, located deep within the scenic Heddon Valley on the Exmoor coast, is often listed as one of the UK's top ten places for country walks. It's renowned for its snowdrops, bluebells and butterflies.

Now every pint and meal bought at the pub will help preserve the magical wooded coastal valley immortalised by poets, and a favourite for walkers and nature lovers. It was once known as a smuggler's haunt and the Victorians knew it as 'little Switzerland'.

(Image: Mike Southon)

Since the very first walking tourists, like the poets Coleridge and Wordsworth, visited the place 200 years ago, the gorge-like Heddon Valley has lured the kind of sightseers who love to be awed by a sense of wilderness.

The deep, wood-lined valley, which runs from the high hills down to the sea, can only be reached by the South West Coast Path or by a couple of steep and tortuous lanes – which is perhaps one reason why the splendid old inn set in scenic gardens has never been a runaway commercial success.

But the inn and the trust’s existing visitor facilities are a huge draw to visitors who park at the one central part of the valley, and then radiate out on foot into the woodlands, or down the classic two-mile walk to the sea at Heddon’s Mouth, and on to Woody Bay.

Rob Joules, the trust’s general manager for North Devon, told the WMN: “People love this valley and wildlife thrives here. By buying Hunter’s Inn, we can do more to make people’s time here special, and do even more to support the wildlife and habitats that are seeing huge declines elsewhere.

The inn will be managed for the trust by Bespoke Hotels, whose managing director Graham Marskell commented: “We are thrilled to be working alongside the National Trust as they invest in this important property. Hunter’s Inn boasts a truly spectacular location in the heart of Exmoor, as well as a fine culinary tradition.”

The inn’s departing owner, David Orton, said: “I have really enjoyed owning Hunters Inn over the last 12 years and to have been part of its rich history. I’m delighted that the National Trust is taking over as guardians, I know they will look after the inn and it will continue to be the heart of the magical Heddon valley, somewhere I’ll always call home.”

The trust has long looked after places across West Exmoor, with more than 20 acquisitions of land in the area since 1963.

“Many of these were generously supported by bequests and public appeals, reflecting the love that so many people have for this landscape,” said a spokesman for the charity.

“In 1965, land at Woody Bay was the first acquisition in the South West to use funds from the Trust’s Neptune campaign – a campaign that has done so much to protect the region’s coastline over the decades.”

(Image: Mike Southo)

She added: “The land in the Heddon Valley is healthy, beautiful and rich in wildlife – something of great pride to the trust’s rangers who treat this as a priority in their work. It is home to the UK’s most endangered butterfly , the high brown fritillary, a butterfly which – over the last 50 years – has seen a rapid decline due to changes in woodland management.

“Of the three sites in the UK where this butterfly is still present, Heddon Valley is the largest. A new conservation project is helping to improve the habitat for this butterfly.”

The woods, including sessile oak woodlands, are protected by special nature designations for their rare species of moss, lichen and ground flora. They form an important habitat for many species of wildlife. There are good numbers of red deer, dormouse and otter in the West Exmoor area. Bringing the inn’s four acres of land into trust ownership will mean that several footpaths can be re-routed off narrow roads – including a walking route that often features in lists of Top 10 walks including those published by the WMN.

(Image: Mike Southon)

A much-valued mobility Tramper service operating in the area will also gain a better route. The trust spokesperson commented: “This western corner of Exmoor has a romantic but slightly edgy wildness and a sense of grandeur and space which evokes a powerful emotional response. At every turn of the narrow twisting lanes there are views to take your breath away: the highest sea cliffs in England plunging into the Bristol Channel; windswept open moors; deep, steep-sided, oak-lined combes.

“As more visitors discovered this area of intimate wilderness in the 19th century, Heddon valley, long said to be the haunt of smugglers, became a popular tourist destination.

During the time when the Victorians were establishing a holiday-zone commonly known as “little Switzerland” in West Exmoor, Hunter’s Inn was being re-built by a Colonel Lake after a devastating fire. In keeping with the alpine theme adopted in the area, he chose what can loosely be described as a Swiss style of architecture. As part of his wider efforts to develop the area for tourism in the late Victorian era, Col Lake also built the carriageway between Hunter’s Inn and Woody Bay. This now forms part of the trust’s Tramper route and is one of the most scenic coastal walks anywhere.