Lee, Since you now live in Honiton, and have said yourself that there seems to be little or no folk activity in that area, why not give some thought to starting something yourself?? rather than having to rely on other people to get you to more distant venues this would kill two birds with one stone, in that it would hopefully provide an additional Musical resource to the Town and enable you to play with other musicians without the hassle of having to find lifts .
Public Transport is not brilliant in this area unfortunately, especially in the evenings !!
As I said in my earlier Post, Sidmouth, despite the Festival, and Having a local Morris Team, and a Mumming Team, does not seem to have a huge number of Folk Musicians in the immediate area, and past experience suggests that there are not enough to sustain a regular session such as you envisage.
Cheers Henry.