Dartmoor 365

After a lunch at the Fox and Hounds we walked up the track at the side of this pub to Rattlebrook Railway.  There were great views in the distance and below we could see the river wind along the valley. The heather was just coming out and this made the path even prettier. We noticed some metal remains from the railway sticking out of the ground. We continued walking for about 40 minutes gradually walking up the stony path. We did not reach the the points where it changed direction but decided to turn around as it was rather a boring walk and there were dark clouds looming.

We parked on the edge of the Bellever Forest just opposite the main Postbridge car park as we then did not have to pay any car parking fee.  We crossed the road and walked down the path at the side of the toilets.  This was a very good path that had obviously been worked on to make it accessible to all. There were foxgloves along the path making it pretty. We continued walking along the path that became a grassy path then stoney, but there was a definite path all the way until we reached a stream.  We struggled to find a way across this but eventually found stepping stones that we could cross.  We then followed a grassy path up a hill and then down the other side to the river.  It was very hot and it was hard climbing up the hill and we were relieved to get to the waterfall.  Unfortunately because it had been very dry lately there was not much water in the river so the waterfall was not as spectacular as it might have been. ...

After walking to Beara House this morning we went to Forest Inn in Hexworthy for lunch, which was a little disappointing.  We then drove back to Combestone Tor where we parked and walked up the hill on the other side of the road until we came to Horns Cross. This was quite an easy walk as although the path was not very well defined the grass was short and there were no obstacles in the way.

We parked the car at Saddle Bridge and walked down the path at the side of the O Brook.  This was a definite path but sometimes we had to scramble over boulders or duck under trees.There were several stiles along the way, and one or two wet patches to jump over.  It was good to walk along with the sound of the water running down through the granite boulders with little falls along the way. Just before the O Brook met the  river Dart we had to go across stepping stones.  We nearly turned back but eventually plucked up the courage to jump across, helped by the fact the water was not very deep! We walked on until we came to Week Ford, where there was larger stepping stones.  We did not cross these but instead walked back along the other side of O Brook until we found Beara House and the Wheelpit and a number of mortar stones. On our way back to the car it seemed much easier to cross the stepping stones and make our way along...