So, to start finding out about this new path I've found, or any path, I’d like to check Ordnance Survey maps. As with any source, they are not going to be 100% reliable, but they will tell me something, even if it’s just whether or not their surveyor found this path. Fortunately I can check this without moving from my desk, since the National Library of Scotland has an amazing digitisation programme and many maps are available here https://maps.nls.uk/
I opted to search the 6” to 1 mile maps and was frankly impressed that I managed to select the map with “Bampton” written across it straight away. It’s Devonshire sheet XXIV SE. The map shows me that sure enough, the path and Higher Bowbierhill farm were there in 1887 when the area was surveyed. Then, as now, the path ran across fields and was presumably an access route. It goes from the farm to Windwhistle Lane and nowhere else. This is why, when footpaths were marked out on Exmoor by warden Jim Collins in the 1960s, he encountered problems. People were walking from farm to settlement to get somewhere for a purpose. They weren’t walking for leisure (necessarily) so routes were not circular. And in fact back in the 1960s walking routes were often linear, because it was expected that you got to the start and end points via public transport rather than parking up in a car and undertaking a circular route.
Just peering at the map is fascinating, and a history of Bampton all in itself. I won’t reproduce it, but you can see it for yourself by clicking here. Note the Exe Valley railway that was very much a part of the town. And now I’m off to see what else I can find out about Bowbier.
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