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Author Topic: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!  (Read 8842 times)

WhitstableDave

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A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« on: 21:57:30, 16/09/20 »
This Friday, we're off to Devon for a week's walking holiday.   8)

We booked a cottage in Lydford for an Easter holiday way back in February. Then the world changed and, rather than cancel, we moved the booking to September in the hope that things would be back to normal by then. Things aren't, but it looks as if our holiday - and our only trip away this year - is going ahead.



I've planned 7 walks for the week using what has become a tried and tested method.

I bought two OS Outstanding Circular Walks guides (South Devon and Dartmoor, and Dartmoor) on Amazon and copied a small selection of walks that looked promising. I also modified some other OS walks to make them longer and I worked out a couple of walks from scratch too. We'll also explore the immediate area with a view to doing a few local runs. It promises to be an active week!

If all goes to plan, I'll add some walk reports to this topic when we get back...  :)
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richardh1905

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #1 on: 08:57:30, 17/09/20 »
Quote from: WhitstableDave on 21:57:30, 16/09/20
If all goes to plan, I'll add some walk reports to this topic when we get back...  :)


I look forward to that. Enjoy your holiday. :)
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Jac

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #2 on: 10:42:46, 17/09/20 »
Just when we thought the grockles had all gone home ::)  Thank you for the warning ;)
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So many paths yet to walk, so little time left

WhitstableDave

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #3 on: 14:33:22, 17/09/20 »
Quote from: richardh1905 on 08:57:30, 17/09/20
I look forward to that. Enjoy your holiday. :)
Thanks Richard. We're looking forward to going adventuring again after such a long break.  :)
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WhitstableDave

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #4 on: 14:36:42, 17/09/20 »
Quote from: Jac on 10:42:46, 17/09/20
Just when we thought the grockles had all gone home ::)  Thank you for the warning ;)
Not a problem.  :) We just wanted to do our bit for a touristy area now that the road blocks have been removed.  ;)
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Lee R

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #5 on: 20:30:59, 17/09/20 »
Sounds a good week ahead of you. And should be nice & easy to distance yourselves from others too :)
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clyoung

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #6 on: 23:12:40, 17/09/20 »
Have fun, cottage looks lovely.
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ninthace

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #7 on: 23:20:05, 17/09/20 »
Remember, no more than 40 mph on moorland roads or us’ll burn ‘ee as a witch!
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WhitstableDave

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #8 on: 18:20:30, 19/09/20 »

Just a brief update from Devon for now...


The journey was terrible! Especially the A303!! Endless queues and jams!!!


But we love the cottage, Lydford, and everything else about Devon. :-)


Today, we had planned to walk along a path called the Granite Way to a car park at Meldon Reservoir to get a feel for the area and to check out the likelihood of getting a parking space for our walk tomorrow from there to High Willhays and Yes Tor.


But a few miles into the walk, we decided to combine the two walks and ended up doing the two big hills plus Black Tor plus Meldon Reservoir and Meldon Viaduct all from Lydford - making a round trip of 18.5 miles with lots of ascent!


One photo for now: me on top of the highest point in southern England in a very stiff breeze!





We'll probably do something less energetic tomorrow. :-)






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WhitstableDave

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #9 on: 14:56:08, 20/09/20 »
After yesterday's long trek to climb some tors, we decided to do a shorter trek today... to climb a couple more!  :) 

Again we walked directly from Lydford. We started by visiting Widgery Cross on Brat Tor, before continuing on to Great Links Tor, which we agreed is the most aesthetically pleasing summit we've ever seen!

Widgery Cross:


Great Links Tor:



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richardh1905

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #10 on: 18:18:09, 20/09/20 »
The Tors really are quite remarkable.
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WhitstableDave

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #11 on: 16:56:11, 21/09/20 »
More tors...  ;)

The weather forecast for today was good, so we did another moorland walk. We started at Princetown in the middle of Dartmoor and did a long, exposed circuit on what turned out to be an extremely warm day.

As on the previous walks, we climbed a few tors. Today we did Ingra Tor, Sharpitor and Leather Tor.

The photo for Ingra Tor has me standing beside the summit rock. I'd stupidly tried climbing it but I fell off and was lucky to only suffer some scrapes and a bruising to my pride!



Much of the walk was across bleak moors in the hot sun, with the highlights being in the area near Leather Tor. We loved some of the incredible rock formations:



I was pleased not to fall off this one! :)

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WhitstableDave

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #12 on: 17:21:44, 22/09/20 »
For today's walk, we drove to Widecombe in the Moor from where we did a loop across Hamel Down as far as Hookney Down, returning across woods, farmland and Bonehill Down.

The climb to Hamel Down was steep and the moor was very misty, which made for an atmospheric walk along the Two Moors Way. Highlights included Grimspound (remains of an ancient walled settlement), several tors and a magnificent horse posing for us on top of a mound...



Hookney Tor:



Much as we're loving Dartmoor, we agree that sadly the horrendous roads and traffic are a deal-breaker for any further visits!

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Jac

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #13 on: 18:54:43, 22/09/20 »
Glad you're enjoying Dartmoor but...horrendous roads?
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ninthace

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Re: A week's walking on and around Dartmoor!
« Reply #14 on: 19:38:02, 22/09/20 »
Quote from: Jac on 18:54:43, 22/09/20
Glad you're enjoying Dartmoor but...horrendous roads?

Perhaps he doesn't understand the Devon road classification system:
Room for a white line up the middle = motorway, no more than 70.
No room for a white line but tarmac all the way across = A road, no more than 60.
Grass up the middle = B road, no more than 50.
Looks like an ultra narrow tank training ground = local road for local people and satnav followers.  As fast as you like  O0
We don't need them broad boulevards like what they have in Cornwall.
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