Tarr Steps had been on my list of places in England to visit for nearly twenty years now, since I first learned that it existed, and this past September saw that ticked off the list when I visited Exmoor. Tarr Steps is a footbridge across River Barle in Exmoor. It is a "clapper" bridge, an ancient type of bridge, and is created out of large stone slabs that rest on other stone slabs. There are a few bridges like this around the country, and Postbridge in Dartmoor is another example. This particular bridge is thought to have originated from the Bronze Age.
It is thought that these 'clapper bridges' are from prehistoric times, although many of them were either built (or perhaps re-built) in later times. Floods have swept away these bridges in time, so it's possibly that they have been rebuilt many times. Tarr Steps has been swept away by flooding even in recent times, and each stone is now numbered so they can rebuild it.
The bridge was damaged in 2012 and in 2016. A barrier to halt the flooding and debris is located up the river, but the flooding was so bad in 2012 that trees swept this away, so the bridge did not stand a chance. Branches and debris is cleared from the river to prevent damage to the bridge.
At Tarr Steps, the stones weight up to two tonnes each. The bridge is 55 meters (180 feet) long, and it is a listed monument. The monument and the land around it is owned by Exmoor National Park and is a significant place naturally with different types of plants and mammals that thrive here in the cool woodland.
Due to social distancing, visitors to Tarr Steps had to walk across the bridge one way and then walk the circular 2.6 kilometre (1.3 kilometre each side way) route back along the river. Although others were not observing this rule and there were quite a few people visiting the bridge making social distancing awkward, I did observe the rule.
A little further down the river from Tarr Steps is a structure that I thought to be a type of obstacle bridge that visitors can climb on. It's actually not a bridge it all but the structure with steel cables that has been designed to collect any debris before it crashes into Tarr Steps.
The walk itself along the river was peaceful, but there were many people around, so seeing any wildlife was not going to happen.
There was one area where many groups of people were hanging out in a clearing and swimming in the river.
This stone bridge helps to cross a part of the river where a stream diverts into it, and not far from here was the bridge to cross to the other side to start our walk back.
I snapped the photograph below on the bridge.
Here, the stones have been laid out in a walkway. There were a lot of people walking around here...
...as you can see in the pictures above and below. The clearing had a lot of people around it, and it is where I saw the groups of people having picnics and swimming from the other side.
This side of the river is visited more as the rock pathways show. While I was walking here, a lady on top of a large horse walked past in the opposite direction. (The path was meant to be one-way only, but no one was observing the rule, though I think it's probably not that bad since it is outdoors and there's not thousands of people in one area.) The horse was totally unexpected on the narrow paths, and it made me laugh.
Finally, we returned to Tarr Steps! The journey itself was actually a pretty long one. We were thinking it would only be like fifteen minutes, but it took us around an hour. It's a shame we did not get to see any wildlife, but the day was warm and sunny, so a lot of people were bound to be out, and I really wanted to visit Tarr Steps before we headed away from the area. Seeing attractions is always more enjoyable in nice weather.
The walk back up the hill from Tarr Steps is a daunting one. The hill is very steep. There was a kiosk selling items to eat (ice cream, sausage, etc), and there is a little lodge/hotel not far from Tarr Steps that serves food and drink too.
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