DESCENDANTS of one of the area's most famous residents, the great poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to open a new 15-mile extension to a scenic footpath named in his honour. Rosemary Coleridge-Middleton, the great great great granddaughter of the poet, was joined by Exmoor National Park Authority chairman Cllr Andrea Davis and Cllr Suzette Hibbert, the Mayor of Lynton and Lynmouth and chairman of the Lyn Community Development Trust, for Wednesday's ceremony in Malmsmead. The original Coleridge Way path was opened in 2005 and covered 36 miles from the poet's old haunts in Nether Stowey - where he lived for three years - to Porlock. The path takes walkers through the countryside which inspired many of his works, and the new extension runs from Porlock to Lynmouth, extending the route to 51 miles and linking the Quantocks with the South West Coast Path in Devon, via West Somerset and Exmoor. "I'm sure the new route will be enjoyed by local people and visitors alike and hopefully it will provide the same economic benefits to the small villages along the way, and the area in general, as did the first," said Cllr Davis. The extension was funded primarily by the Exmoor National Park Partnership Fund with additional support from Lyn Community Development Trust, Lyn Valley Society, and Lynton and Lynmouth Town Council through the Lyn Economy and Tourism Alliance. Lynmouth Flood Memorial Hall Fund also gave money, as did Cllr Davis in her capacity as the area's local county councillor. The groundwork on the route was carried out by the national park's ranger and field services teams. Cllr Hibbert said: "Back in the 1790s Coleridge and his fellow Romantic poet, William Wordsworth, loved to walk all the way from Nether Stowey to Lynmouth, a distance of about 50 miles, but when the Coleridge Way was opened nine years ago, it stopped short at Porlock. "We have all been working hard to extend the route the extra 15 miles to take it all the way to Lynmouth, and we are grateful to Exmoor National Park Authority which provided the largest share of the finance, as well as the skilled manpower needed to upgrade the paths that together make up the extension." Ms Middleton-Coleridge said she was delighted to see so many people at the official launch of the extended route. Full information about the path, including downloadable route guides, is available on the website http://www.coleridgeway.co.uk">www.coleridgeway.co.uk. Photo: Steve Guscott