Exmoor Studies
Exmoor Studies, a new series of publications, aims to cover topics and matters relevant to Exmoor and its national park designation. The booklets provide an opportunity for each subject to be studied in greater depth than an article in the Exmoor Review would allow.
The series was launched in 2017 and will continue to be added to; the current titles, available in the shop and online, are:
Exmoor Chroniclers
Edited by Caroline Tonson-Rye
The eight chroniclers included in this booklet contributed in their different ways over the last sixty or so years to our perception of Exmoor as a national park – its landscape beauty, wildlife, history and culture. Their writings, paintings and photographs have left a rich fund of material that contributes much to the knowledge and understanding of the area. These essays are a tribute to their love of Exmoor that lives on in their words.
The Exmoor Pony - Contested Histories
by Dr Helen Blackman
Exmoor ponies are a favourite feature of the moor, of a piece with the landscape and an important part of moorland conservation. However, their history as a breed is not straightforward. Are they an ancient race, or a native pony breed? This work explores competing narratives associated with the ponies, seeking to understand these within a wider history of Exmoor itself.
Hope Bourne’s Reflection in Words
by Lisa Eden
This anthology contains a selection of Hope Bourne’s unpublished and lesser-known writings. Here she revels in Exmoor’s storms and silences, and in the drama of raging seas at Hartland. This varied collection celebrates a writer and painter of great spirit and sensitivity and was published in the hundredth anniversary year of her birth.
The Minehead Road: Between Exmoor and the Quantocks
by John Greed, abridged by Dr Helen Blackman
The A39 road from Bridgwater and the A358 from Taunton are the chief routes to Minehead. 250 years ago, these routes did not exist and there is a local myth that coaches travelled over the Quantocks to reach Minehead. Here, author John Greed examines the history of the roads and investigates the possibility that coaches navigated the thousand-feet-high hill range.
