Pictured above: Around 30 volunteers have committed to clearing the woods around Ashley Combe, once Ada’s garden, which has become overgrown over the decades.
Restoring the Culbone Woods to the Picturesque Italianate style that Ada and her husband William created is already underway. The work is being coordinated by Ada in Porlock and the Exmoor National Park Authority. This will cover the section of the newly named King Charles III England Coast Path between Worthy Lodge, passing close to the now demolished Ashley Combe mansion where Ada and William enjoyed their honeymoon, and on to the charming pre-Norman Culbone church.
Special attention will be given to rare types of Sorbus or whitebeam trees growing there, such as Sorbus vexans and Sorbus margaretae, which are limited in range to northern Exmoor and north Devon. Updates on this work will be posted.