Dartmoor 365

On the way back from Okehampton we stopped at the lay-by above Wheal Betsy.  We started to walk down a steep path to the engine house, but there was a lot of lose stones and Andy slipped and tumbled down, fortunately landing in a grassy knowle.  We then went back to the top and found a path that wound down slowly to the building.

Having explored some of Okehampton we drove to Meldon Quarry.  As we drove down through Meldon Woods we could see where there would be loads of bluebells and determined to come back in May.  From the car park we could see some old quarries and a good view of the viaduct in the distance.  The stream tumbling down the hill was really pretty.  We walked till we could see the dam at Meldon Reservoir.  We could not see a way to get to the top of the viaduct and the quarry workings so we drove back to Okehampton Station to catch the train to Meldon Quarry. Red-a-van brook Okehampton Station is an old fashioned looking station, but looked very smart, with a good tea room.  The train, a diesel, struggled to pull the train up to the quarry.  There seemed to be a problem with the engine!  We passed where rock is still quarried and a quarry lake.  When we got to Meldon Viaduct we had just 15 minutes to look at the viaduct up clo...

We parked at Okehampton Station and walked down the tram way parallel to the river and railway line, gradually walking downhill to meet the river where the were all the crossings.  The road and old railway, foot bridges and ford were all very obvious, but the stepping stones were partially covered with water and looked as if it would be a difficult way to cross the river. We had planned to walk into Okehampton to visit the Museum of Dartmoor Life but we realised it would be  a steep climb back to the car and as the museum closed at 1pm on a Saturday so we did not have long we chose to drive back into the town and just walk a short way to the Museum. It was a very interesting museum, albeit small.

The couple of times we attempted to view the Rippon Tor Range we could not find a  gate to the road leading to the range, and the vehicle access was padlocked shut.  Having read there was a gate we went back again today and found it close to the large gate, but hidden behind a tree. We walked up to the range watched by highland cattle with horns.  The buildings are very impressive and incongruous on the moors.  Unfortunately the visibility was not good today so we were not able to see the surrounding moors. After returning to the car we drove on to Jay's Grave.  We were able to pull in to the side of the road just past this grave so we could get out and see all the things that had been left on the grave.

It was third time lucky for us as we finally found the leftover Corbells from London Bridge at the end of Swell Tor.  As in the past we walked from Princetown along the old railway line.  When we reached Fogginor Quary we turned off the path and walked down to meet the old railway line after it had gone around Kings Tor.  This was the only wet portion of walk, at the bottom the path had become a wide stream but fortunately not deep so we just walked through it.  At the railway track we walked along the side of Swell Tor and continued towards Kings Tor.  We were delighted when we spotted the corbells on a grass path just above the railway track.  They were nearer Kings Tor than Swell Tor. We continued walking on the railway track around Kings Tor and then back to Princetown.  It was a grey day and the visibility was not good, but you could still see all the way out to Plymouth Sound.  Nearer we had a good view over the road from Yelvert...