Dartmoor 365

We have frequently walked from Shipley Bridge to Avon Dam and although we have noticed stones that would indicate a ruined house we have never noticed the memorial stone at the side of the path. We assume the gate near this memorial is left from Brentmoor House. After we had seen these ruins we walked up the road to the water treatment works.  We were looking for the Zeal Tor Tramway, but could not find it.  It was very cold and windy with icy showers, so we did not want to spend too long on top of the moors, so left it to return another day with a GPS device.

It was a cold windy day so we did not want to walk far so we planned a series of short walks.  First we stopped at the base of Crockern Tor.  It was a fairly easy walk to the top, just a bit wet in places.  once on the top the wind was fierce and we were glad to get back to the car after a quick walk around the rocks at the top and looking at the parliament stone. We then drove on to Bellever.  It was pretty walking along the river to the bridge and it was more sheltered here.  We could not stop long, however, as the minimum parking fee was £2 for 2 hours, and we wanted to get on to lunch. We then proceded to the Warren House Inn.  It was lovely and warm there, with 2 log fires burning.  It seemed appropriate to have Warreners pie for lunch, although Andy stuck with Beef and Ale pie.  Both were delicious. As we ate we noticed a most unusual clock, a backwards one! After our lunch we planned to explore Dartmoor fu...

Islington was an attractive village with several  of thatched cottages.  We wandered round the churchyard but did not see any of the tombstones mentioned in the book. We did spot the niche with the statue of St George and a modern addition to the churchyard.  From Islington we drove onto Brimley. There was nothing particularly notable about this village, but I did spot a Herb Robert.  The hedges had been recently cut back so others had probably but removed.

As we drove to Bovey Tracey the trees were bright with the autumn leaves.  We decided to stop at Parke so we could walk through the woodland at the side of the river.  The colours were spectacular.

We parked at the car park next to Blackaton Cross and walked down the path to the first pool of water.  We then followed a roadway around the workings.  There was a great view over the site. There were far reaching views on this walk, across the Moors and out to Plymouth Sound. It was a flat walk and although the china clay works were not attractive it was interesting to see.

We parked that the National Trust car park in Hembury Woods and walked through the woods then up the path to the Fort.  It was quite a hike uphill.  When we arrived it was a bit disappointing. There were no ruins visible although grass paths had been cut in oblongs suggesting this is where buildings were.  There was also a hump in the ground which was overgrown and possibly the vegetation was covering walls.  As we walked away we recognised that there was a moat around the site. There was not much autumn colour in the trees in Hembury Wood.  I recalled when we visited these woods when the bluebells were out.  It was much prettier then.

We drove to Harford and had a look around the churchyard before walking down the road towards Hall Farm. After a short while we came to Harford Bridge.  This was a very pretty spot and we walked along the river for a while. We then walked on to Hall Farm.  We could not see the farmhouse from the road and dogs were guarding the property.  We did manage to get a glimpse of the farm buildings from the road.