Roborough Down - R4

Being inspired by  "Dartmoor 365" by John Hayward that explores every one of the 365 square miles of the Dartmoor National Park I was keen to see if I could do the same.  Following the one square mile grid that had been superimposed over the map of Dartmoor I chose to start at grid reference R4, Roborough Down.

John Hayward starts by focusing on The Rock.  I have frequently driven past the Rock as I have travelled into Dartmoor and as a child played on it, as have my children and grandchildren, but I was surprised that when I wandered around how much of interest I found.  Apart from the rock itself there was an old water pump and a memorial to Queen Victoria's 60 years of reign.  At the back of this structure there was an inscription celebrating Queen Elizabeth II 60 years, but the final date, 2012, had only been  drawn in the stone and not chiselled out.  Why was this, I wondered?








Information Board about Roborough Down as an airfield
Having walked around the Rock I crossed the road to view the Leats and track of the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway.  The road was very busy with cars speeding past.  It was not pleasant walking  along the grass verge to the path leading down to the leats.  Once on the path at right angles from the main road I quickly found Devonport Leat, the railway track and Drakes Leat.

Devonport Leat
Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway Track
Drakes Leat
I did not fancy walking back along the main road again so followed the cycle path that runs parallel to Drakes Leat to Yelverton.  I crossed the road just as I came into the village and walked back to my car through Roborough Down.

This had been a very interesting exploration of a square mile of Dartmoor.  Although I thought I knew the area well I found new things of interest.  It encourages me to continue to look with fresh eyes at other areas in Dartmoor.
Location: Roborough Down, Bickleigh PL6 7BQ, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Little Trowlesworthy Tor (T7)

Image
We had attempted to find the granite flagpole base on Little Trowlesworthy Tor before but had not been successful.  We decided to try again.  We were following the walk in Off The Beaten Track.  We parked at Blackabrook Bridge and walked up to Trowlesworthy Farm.  Having walked around it we headed up to Great Trowlesworthy Tor and started to look for the flagpole base.  To begin with we could not find it , but when we walked on further we came to another tor and there was flagpole base. As we walked back down to Trowlesworthy Farm we came to a vermin trap, but the lid in the middle was missing.
Read more

Hemsworthy Gate and Rippon Tor - L17 & M 18

Image
Having just done a short walk to Buckland Beacon we drove on to Hemsworthy Gate.  Looking for the objects highlighted by JH in Dartmoor 365 in this area made us feel we were on a treasure hunt. We soon found the old signpost, thegatepost that is now in a wall and the Stittleford's Cross. Having looked around the area by Hemsworthy Gate we went through a gate to climb Rippon Tor. Some purple heather was out, giving splashes of colour but it wasn't dense enough to make a a purple carpet.  Near the top of the tor we wandered around and found the millstones and recumbant cross.  The views from the top of the tor were spectacular even though it was misty in the distant and you could not see the far reaching views. As I walked down the tor I realised that we had been the only people on the tor while we explored it.  This added to our enjoyment and it was such a contrast to the crowds on the nearby Haytor.
Read more

Wall's End (I12), and Hurston Row (H13)

Image
We parked at the foot of Merripit Hill and walked up the hill until we reached a wall.  We followed this wall along only having to leave it once to avoid a marshy area and to cross a stream. As JH anticipated in his book birds hopped along the wall in front of us.  They were not close enough to identify or photograph but could have been wheatears. After walking for 30 mnutes  we we reached the end of the wall, where there was another wall joining it, it was not very interesting, but it had been easy to find. After we walked back to the car we drove to Warren House Inn (I13) where we had a delicious lunch.  After lunch we walked up the path at the side of the Inn up Water Hill. The heather was just coming out and looked particularly good just above the Inn. Part way up Water Hill we turned off to a path that went along Hurston Ridge.  This was a fairly flat walk with a clear path.  We hoped that we would see the stone row from this ...
Read more