Dartmoor: a north to south traverse

Conditions looking favourable, I hurried down to Dartmoor on Saturday morning, to make the most of the weather. No less than five hours after leaving London, I was dropped off at Belstone, by my parents, and marching out onto the north moor with the sole purpose of doing a two day north to south traverse.

My plan was to overnight halfway at the campsite at the Plume of Feathers Pub, in Princetown, and complete the journey into Ivybridge by mid afternoon on Sunday. Had I had more time I would have liked to have taken the opportunity to bag as many tors to the left and right of my route, but you can’t have everything I guess.

Very quickly, I made my way passed the Nine Maidens Stone Circle, where ponies grazed and used the granite as scratching posts. By now it was obvious it was going to be a hot day and I was thankful I had packed light.

I was going over familiar, well trodden ground; the track ascended by Winter, up to Knattaborough, and Oke Tors, then descending to the ford in Steeperton Gorge.

Despite the heat, going was good, eased by the military tracks all the way to Hangingstone Hill.

I thought about Frank Phillpotts’ peat pass to Whitehorse Hill, but decided on the “crow flies” option and immediately regretted it. The bog was fragile and it was a meandering slog to the Whitehorse Hill Cist.

I have written about this remarkable piece of archaeology before, in my blog post Whitehorse Hill Cist and Death on the Moor.

There is still a good path to follow south, and with good visibility I could already see the next objective, Quintins Man. This is a rocky hollowed out cairn, a welcome place on a day when the wind is howling and you want a respite. Today, the air was still and it was just surrounded by disinterested cattle.

Now the path disappeared and I headed down to cross the River Teign near Little Varracombe and hauled myself up through the long grass to the ruined Stat’s House. This is an old shelter built to house the peat cutters that used to work in the area. Evidence of the work done in the area can be seen in the form of a peat pass nearby.

Now veering South-West, I went looking for the East Dart, to follow the river through Sandy Hole Pass as I recalled it was easier going than the higher ground.

I eventually arrived at the East Dart Waterfall, where I filtered some water for the remainder of the day. I didn’t linger long as there was still some distance to go.

Now I climbed up onto Broad Down and reached a wall that I hand railed West.

I also managed to bag another tor, Braddon; an uninspiring outcrop, but with a decent view of the Cherry Brook winding its way down Hollowcombe Bottom.

I descended to the river, and crossed it to bag Cherry Brook Rocks, and then Lower White Tor.

Not far away, and in the direction of travel, I bagged Higher White Tor, and then Longaford Tor stood out before me.

I could see people dotted on the granite, a sign that I was nearing a popular area for day trippers, and sure enough, as I passed Longaford, below me lay the West Dart River and The ancient oak of Wistmans Wood.

A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), this is an example of high altitude oak woodland, and with its moss covered granite boulders (or clitter), it can be an eerie sight to be here when a mist blankets the slopes of the West Dart.

A car park near the Two Bridges Hotel is just twenty-five minutes away from the woods, and it is frequently visited. I was passed by quite a few photographers heading off to capture the oak as the sun was lowering in the sky.

I arrived at Two Bridges and hit the tarmac for the remainder of the day. It was only a couple of kilometres, though and it made a change to have stable ground beneath my feet, so I marched on purposefully into Princetown and the Pub.

My night wasn’t a restful one. I have to admire the loving couple in the tent about forty metres away, they had some stamina (last count was five), I just wish they had a quieter mattress! I was up and gone by about seven-thirty that morning, following the track that passes two of the boundary points on the Perambulation of 1240, South Hessary Tor and Siwards Cross.

I followed the track towards the disused Eylesbarrow Tin Mines, then picked up a track heading eastwards to Plym Ford, the easiest place to cross the river. I was now in territory I hadn’t ventured into since I did the Perambulation back in 2007. If you are interested, the first blog post of the journey can be seen here.

As I remembered, the track on the OS map is not clear on the ground, and so I ascended Great Gnat’s Head, without straying too far left to its top, because I was looking for Erme Head and Erme Pits.

The tin mining remains here make for an interesting landscape; reclaimed by nature, the mounds are grassed and I feel it is worth the effort to visit to this remote and lonely place.

Crossing the River Erme, I followed the distinctive path above its bank. Once across Dry Lake Ford, the path leaves the river, which turns South, and you head for Red Lake. On the way, you pass a stone row, one of many in this area.

A few kilometres on, I reached a dismantled tramway, which ran from Ivybridge to Red Lake Pits, and soon after, a marker stone for the Two Moors Way.

I made my way up towards Petre’s Cross on Western White Barrow, looking back occasionally at the landscape of Red Lake Pits.

Petre’s Cross is little more than a small rectangular stone lump sticking out of a cairn. The cairn does have a shelter though, to protect you from any south-westerly winds, but not needed on this occasion as it was a beautiful day!

I made my way down from Western White Barrow to reach the tramway. It was now a small matter of following it off the moor to Ivybridge. That said, there was still a lot of ground to cover! I crossed Ugborough Moor, and spotted a good wild camping site, at Left Lake Mires. One in the memory bank for future adventures!

The tramway snaked its way around the hills, contouring nicely. It just left you to concentrate on the views instead of footfall.

When I reached Piles Hill, I left the tramway to follow a stone row that went on for miles, all the way to a Cairn on Butterdon Hill. I just love finding these remnants of our ancient past, and they are a big reason for my love of Dartmoor!

Trig reached on Butterdon Hill, it was time to get down to Ivybridge to meet my parents. I descended to Longstone near Black Pool and then turned right, down to the tramway.

It was then just a matter of walking down off the moor on a grassy path, to a gate that took me into a beautiful lane alive with wildflowers.

All good things come to an end, and signs of urban development began to appear.

As I neared my destination, there was one last surprise, the view of the River Erme cascading through the centre of town.

My timing couldn’t have been better; as I wandered into the town, I spotted my lift, parked by a garage. My mum was asking for directions to where I said we should meet. No need now, I had found them!

Thoughts on the weekend; Pretty pleased I had eventually done this traverse. I had been wanting to do it for a number of years but never got round to it. It didn’t disappoint! Would I do anything different? Yes, I’d do it in three days, not two, and, as I said at the beginning of this post, visit the significant tors and rocks that lie just off the route. No doubt, at some point, I’ll do just that!