A family group walking holiday in Exmoor, complete with steam trains, tree climbing, and lashings of ice-cream, proved that walking buddies can convince reluctant children that hiking is fun. The trip, organised by HF Holidays and based at Holnicote House near Selworthy, evoked an Enid Blyton vibe and was a hit with the whole family.
A Night Mission for Tick Removal
The holiday began with unexpected drama when the author's 12-year-old son discovered a tick on his torso. Fearing Lyme disease, he begged his mother to wake one of the guides. Jill, a guide, emerged with tweezers and cheerfully removed the bug. The author felt as though she had stepped into an Enid Blyton boarding school book, returning from a visit to matron with a warm, fuzzy feeling of being safe and looked after.
HF Holidays: A Century of Tradition
HF Holidays, a cooperative founded in 1913 by Lancashire pastor Thomas Arthur Leonard, has been providing countryside walking holidays for over a century. The original spirit survives: communal dining tables, organised walks, evening entertainment, and a collective agreement to leave modern life behind for a few days. Holnicote House, an HF Holidays property since 1952, has 32 rooms (14 singles) and sleeps up to 50 guests. During this week, there were about 40 guests.
Graded Walks for All Abilities
Each day, multi-generational family groups choose from four graded walks, ranging from level one (about 3 miles) to level four (about 10 miles with steep ascent). The author, accompanied by her two daughters aged 10 and 14 and her son, hoped to turn them into walking buddies. She left her husband at home due to his partial paralysis. The family shared two rooms with Victorian sash windows and built-in cupboards, simple but spacious.
Children Embrace the Outdoors
Initial resistance to the walking holiday turned to enthusiasm as children realised they were all in it together. Friends made on the lawn joined the walks. Each day, the family was out for five or six hours, with walks brilliantly paced by snack stops, paddle stops, tree climbing stops, and the promise of ice-cream at the end. Guide Mary, a former geography teacher, imparted encyclopaedic knowledge, engaging children by counting rings on felled trees and identifying leaves.
Varied Landscapes and Highlights
The walks, largely circular, covered varied landscapes: fields of buttercups and noisy sheep, pine forests, and cliff paths. A particular favourite was a walk starting with two stops on the steam train of the West Somerset Railway and ending at Dunster Castle, which emerged fairytale-like from a deer-filled field. The children borrowed binoculars to identify a buzzard's white feathers and a cargo ship in the Bristol Channel.
Solo Parent Experience and Meals
As a solo parent, the author was never lonely. Long conversations on walks led to shared meals and drinks. Children bagged “kids tables” at dinner, forcing adults to mingle. The author shared meals with a father and his youngest child, and a woman who brought her grandchildren (up to three under-11s stay for free with a paying adult). Nearly everyone had been on an HF Holiday before; many came as children. The food was surprisingly good, with nightly three-course dinners. The son loved the soups, the eldest daughter the salads, and the youngest opted for fish and couscous or chicken and potato gratin instead of the kids' menu.
Ceilidh and Reflection
The holiday ended with dancing to a live ceilidh band. The final song had Sally walking down an alley and meeting a man from Tennessee. The author reflected on the history of Holnicote House, which during World War II became Britain's first mixed-race orphanage for children born to Black American GIs and white British mothers. Watching her daughters line dance with pensioners, she vowed to bring her grandchildren here if possible. Her son told her on the drive home that he preferred this holiday to any beach holiday despite the ticks. The author concluded she may have found a new walking buddy.
Practical Information
The trip was provided by HF Holidays. The next four-night Exmoor Family Walking Adventures are on 17 and 24 August, priced at £909 per person (under-11s free), including full board and daily guided walks. Discounts of up to £172 per person are available for Easter, August, and October 2027.
