Dartmoor 365

Having spent the morning walking around Yarner Wood after lunch we drove to the next car park at the edge of Trendlebere Down and walked down the long steep hill to the Bovey valley and Hisley Bridge.  This is a very pretty spot. After the long climb up the hill we drove to the next car park on Trendlebere Down and admired the views.  We spotted a number of birch trees as described by JH. Driving along the road we came to the pretty village of Manaton.  The thatched cottages, unusual architecture of the church and views to the moor made it a worthwhile stop.  We found the old cross in the churchyard.

We followed the marked Nature Trail around Yarner Wood, but did not find the map very helpful.  It only showed the path you should be following and no other paths and the signage was not very frequent.   When we tried to take a short cut and then do the Blue Loop in the wrong direction we went the wrong way!  We realised you have to follow their direction. A lot of the trees had lost their leaves and there wasn't much autumn colour to be seen.  However it was satisfying to crunch through the dried oak leaves.  It would have been good to have been here a month or so ago when the heathers were in flower.  They must have been a picture. The Copper mine is very overgrown and fenced in so you could not see it very well.  But the Haytor Granite Railway was very clear and impressive.

Having walked along the River Dart this morning this afternoon we drove to Venford Reservoir and walked around it. To begin with the path was very good, but then we had to walk over slippery tree roots and at the end of the reservoir it was very muddy.  Fortunately as we got towards the dam it started to improve again.  It was a grey day so there was not many reflections but the water was very still and beautiful. The stream flowing in to the reservoir was tumbling down at speed and it looked very pretty. As we came to the end of the path we saw the triple mortar stone. From Venford we drove on to Holne.  After having a cup of tea and cake at the community shop and cafe we explored the church.  The yew tree looked very impressive.  At first glance it looks like it is several trees growing together. Inside the church we admired the screen, but could not take many pictures as the flower arranger was working in front of it. ...

We stopped the car a little before Holne Bridge, by the weir, hoping to be able to walk up to the bridge, but there was no path.  The river was looking very pretty though. The next opportunity to park the car was past the bridge, but as we walked back to it we could watch people coasteering along the river.  It was hard to get a good picture of the bridge because of all the trees. We then drove on to Deeper Marsh. The map showed 2 car parks there but when got there they had been closed, with jut a couple of spaces for the disabled.  We therefore returned to New Bridge car park and walked up to Deeper Marsh from there. I tried to find the Alder Buckthorn mentioned by JH.  There were some trees with dark red berries, but the leaf shape looked different from JH's drawing. We continued walking up the river and when we came to the end of the common went on the road as it went parallel to it.  There were lots of canoeists out and plenty...

We had planned to walk to Vixen Tor and then on to Ward Bridge but the ground was so wet we had to turn back.  We tried to just go to Ward Bridge but again the path was flooded.  After lunch at Fox Tor Cafe we thought we would have one more attempt of completing a square and drove to Two Bridges to walk to the clapper bridge. The walk up the path was not too bad, but once we entered the woods it was  difficult, clambering over stones and avoiding wet patches.  It was pretty with the river running below us, but we were glad to get out to the road.  We could see the clapper bridge just up the river but the track was flooded, so we tried to approach it from the other side.  This was very boggy and we had to turn back.  We then managed to get through the water on the track and it was very easy to get to the clapper bridge. This was a very pretty spot and worth the effort getting to it. Looking up river from the clapper bridge JH describ...

En route to Mary Tavy we turned off the main road to view the Wilmingstone railway bridge.  We could not see a quick way up to the top of this to look for the alkanet. Another time we might stop further down the road nearer Tavistock and see how far you can walk on the old railway line. We drove on to Mary Tavy Church.  The village cross was very obvious in the churchyard, but we had problems finding the stocks.  However, we did eventually spot them, behind a stack of chairs! We continued on our journey past The Elephants Nest.  As it was still morning it wasn't open but we looked around the outside.  There is scaffolding up at the front of the building so that spoilt the view of the front. From here we drove on a little bit further to the village of Horndon.  We walked down to the leat and along the path at the side of it until we reached Hill Bridge.  It was a very pleasant walk.  There was a lot of water in the leat but it was...