The Exmoor 2025 - 163rd Year!

West Buckland School Signature event – whether you love it or you endure it, one thing is certain, once run, you never forget!

It’s incredible to think this event was first run in 1859.  

There have been just 3 cancellations ever – 1947, then 2001 due to the Foot and Mouth outbreak, as the run traverses farmland and open moor, and 2020 due to Covid.

This year, 2025 sees the re-introduction of a shorter distance, with the Stowford Junior.

The Tiny and the Mini Exmoor saw our prep students go early morning with incredible gusto on the school field.  Smiles, excitement, inclusion in this wonderful day.

The Senior school event saw three distances this year:

The Kinsford Full

The Heasley Inter

The Stowford Junior 

Students in Year 11 were able to choose between the Kinsford and the Stowford, with Years 8 – 10 enjoying the Stowford Junior.  All Year 7s were marshalls, joined also by the Year 6 Angels!  We need at least 50 marshalls for the day.  These students have a lot of fun, with music playing, free high fives, dancing and cheering on competitors.

Competitors embark on various routes from the school before converging at the starting line. The full-distance event kicks off at Kinsford Gate on Exmoor, winding its way back to school over a course spanning around 10 miles, with shorter routes beginning further along the course. 

Many of the landowners are past students themselves and have run the Exmoor too.  It is thanks to the landowners that this event continues, giving their permission for us to cross their land each year – often during lambing season, creating some interesting planning challenges.

See the joy and also the pain within this special celebration of our community.  Take a look at the gallery below.

All photographs by Will Harper-Penrose.