The Community
Hawkridge is a rare community in that people come here and stay – for generations. There was a bit of an influx in the 1970s as properties became available – and most are still here.
It is an active community. There are no holiday homes and everyone works locally or from home. There is a family building firm, 5 farms, a small holiday complex, professional administrators and advisers, a fitness trainer, an Exmoor ranger and a few semi-retired people.
Being a tiny hamlet doesn’t stop us from holding events – local history exhibitions, hunt whist drives and dances, the Revel (show and gymkhana)- now in its 65th year and a recent runner up in the Country Life awards for Small Country Shows.
In 2009, all the village gardens were opened. People came from far and wide on one of the only lovely days of that summer. Over £1000 was raised for two cancer charities – all organised by two of our 16 year old boys + a team of people.
In the deep snow and severe ice of the winter of 2010, someone put chains on their 4WD and charged the drifts every day to bring back supplies and the post.
Lord’s Plantation, a landmark area of mixed trees, high up on the hillside above Willingford Bridge, was restored as the village’s Millennium Project and is currently being tidied up after winter storm and snow damage.