Dartmoor: Warren House Inn to Belstone - Perambulation Fourth Leg (13.06 miles)

The Thirlstone at Watern Tor

This was the fourth leg of the Perambulation and a walk we were all looking forward to more than the others since it takes in some great areas and the most beautiful tor on the moor - and no, I'm not biased.

Dartmoor: Saddle Bridge to the Warren House Inn - Perambulation Third Leg (9.04 miles)

Gorse Flowers on Riddon Ridge

Unlike the previous two walks, this was going to be a stroll, a lowland walk almost, following a section of the East Dart and then the entire Walla Brook upstream. It was quite undramatic but still had lots to see, and whereas last time our new member was Chris Tawn this time we were joined by Bev Dickinson - member No.6!

Dartmoor: Princetown to Saddle Bridge - Perambulation Second Leg (15.04 miles)

The Eylesbarrow Cobra

Let me just put it out there this was a tough 15-mile walk, not because of the distance as such but because of how long it took us to walk it: almost 9 hours!

Dartmoor: High Down to Princetown - Perambulation First Leg (13.16 miles)

Great Mis Tor

If I'm honest I was slightly dreading this walk not only because of the terrain and the river crossings but also because of the weather: it's not an area of the moor that I had really explored but I knew that a fair bit would be off the beaten track, and the weather forecast was looking sketchy, but only did it really come true near the end which I am most grateful for.

Dartmoor: Hexworthy to Shipley Bridge (11.4 miles)

Paul on Fishlake Rocks

Oh boy, this was going to be a hot one - very hot, in fact, and by the end once we, that being me, Tim Jenkinson and Paul Buck, had departed our own ways, it became unbearable. But, before I jump to conclusions, let's go back to the beginning of the walk where, after some 5/6 months away from these two chaps, we finally reunited at the Forest Inn at Hexworthy.

Dartmoor: Around Lustleigh (Part 2)

Hisley Bridge

Continuing our walk from part 1, we soon arrived at the gate where Copperwood Rocks can be viewed from. These rocks while only covering a small area are huge.

Dartmoor: Around Lustleigh (Part 1)

Sanduck Grove Tor

This walk had been in the planning for not too long now, but it was one that I would have to do in order to clear up some of my remaining tors - and despite bagging some of my first tors in Lustleigh, I was also, because there are so many, bagging some of my last here, too - and even after this walk I am not done yet!

Dartmoor: Back to the Three Reservoirs (13 miles)

Kiln Down Tor

I was feeling a bit apprehensive about this walk, almost cancelling it at the last minute due to the weather forecast to be hot - very hot. But I was also desperate to visit these five new tors before the bracken concealed them for good until winter, so I stuck with the plan (somewhat) and got dropped off at Slade Cross at 8:20 am to begin the lung-busting ascent up Bell Lane, sometimes called Slade Hill.

Dartmoor: Shaptor Wood - Part 4: The Tors in Bearacleave Wood

Bearacleave North Tor

Continuing on from Part 3 where we left John Cann's Rocks, we enter Bearacleave Wood where the footpath takes on a sharp right and begins ascending steeply. 

Dartmoor: Shaptor Wood - Part 3: John Cann's Rocks from Stonelands Waste

Higher Stonelands Tor

Continuing our walk from the magnificent Bowden Tor (it's only taken me some 14 months!), we are now on the road, heading down to Lower Bowden Farm.

Dartmoor: Lustleigh to Holwell Rocks (Part 3)

Ponies with Hound Tor behind

Continuing on from Part 2, a bit of backtracking and I was back at the entrance to Neadon Cleave, owned by the Woodland Trust. The first tor I was seeking was the North Tor, at SX 75510 82017: a pretty large grouping of granite outcrops just below the footpath at the top of the Cleave. I like it; a great find by Tim Jenkinson.

Dartmoor: Lustleigh to Holwell Rocks (Part 2)

Lower Foxworthy Tor

Continuing on from Part 1, I head into new territory in Lustleigh Cleave where I would bag some more tors. The path from West Sharpitor was easy to follow and I soon came to the much-anticipated Harton Chest.

Dartmoor: Lustleigh to Holwell Rocks (Part 1)

Harton Rock

This was going to be a mega tor walk, hence the 'Part 1', taking in 19 new tors and rocks for me - surely the most new ones I've done in a single walk for a long, long time?! I had been meaning to do this walk ages ago, last year in fact, but the difficult terrain had put me off going alone. I saw this walk as an opportunity, given the time of year when the bracken is low, to attempt it alone and see how I get on, hiking more miles than I was anticipating; almost 11.

Dartmoor: West of Moretonhampstead (10.53 miles)

Popple Tor

The aim of this walk was to photograph some lesser-known tors to record on the Tors of Dartmoor database, and who better to be with than Paul Buck and Tim Jenkinson?

Dartmoor: The Tors and Rocks on Blackadon Down

Webburn Gap West

So, I've just finished early at school because it's the Tuesday where I do, so what do I do and where do I go... Dartmoor of course! Today's short adventure was always going to be a difficult one, and I did warn Mum of this, but she seemed perfectly happy to tag along. 

Dartmoor: Back to Fernworthy Forest (11.77 miles)

Loughten Tor

This was another walk that was planned last-minute really. Before the weekend hit, Paul Buck and Jason Wiggins (otherwise known as 'Wandering Jay', his blog here and his YouTube channel here) had planned a walk around Fernworthy Forest, and when I asked Paul what he was doing on Saturday as I had no plans he said and then invited me along for the trip!

Dartmoor: Broad Amicombe Hole, Great Kneeset and Little Kneeset (12.17 miles)

Great Kneeset Black & White

This walk had been in the planning for a long time, and the main reason why we (Paul Buck, Tim Jenkinson and I) hadn't done it before was due to the weather conditions; impassable rivers, for example. But a weekend in January 2020 was forecast full sun so we took the opportunity to venture out to High Down car park to continue this adventure.

Dartmoor: Erme Pits from Lud Gate (12.1 miles)

Erme Head

This walk was perhaps a bad idea given that the Met Office had forecasted rain and wind, but it had been in the planning for a couple of weeks and neither of us wanted to cancel - that is, me and Paul Rendell.

Dartmoor: North of Widecombe (12.4 miles)

Southcombe Rocks

Having spent the last few months doing short walks (for me ones that aren't double digits), I felt demotivated to continue doing them and the only way to content myself would be to do a longer walk. I needed that sense of achievement and anything else I could pick up along the way, so when I came up with a circular from Widecombe I knew I had to do it, and I'm glad I did as it was a cracking walk with plenty to see, not least sun and mist and the goose that chased me at West Coombe!

Dartmoor: Lynch Tor and Standon Hill

Lynch Tor

This has got to be the most unvisited part of the moor for me, and for a justifiable reason: it's miles from me and takes about an hour to get there when traffic is flowing smoothly. The actual plan had been to do Great Links Tor but I changed my mind.

Dartmoor: The Tors on Bridestowe and Sourton Common (north)

Stenga Tor

Before heading off to Wales, we thought we'd get a last (or rather 'first'!) training walk in, but this walk wasn't quite as successful as I was hoping, although we still got all of the new tors done that I had planned.

Dartmoor: The Tors and Rocks in West Cleave

Halstock Wood Tor

This walk was planned so Paul Buck could show Tim Jenkinson and I the tors and rocks in West Cleave, and so it only made sense for us to go on a really windy and wet day! But first off, before getting the bus to the Star Inn to meet Tim, I noticed some pebble art in Newton Abbot opposite the town library.

Bodmin Moor: The Tors and Rocks on East Moor (10.63 miles)

Tolcarne Tor

Our plan to clear up some of the stragglers on Bodmin Moor's periphery turned into a different kind of walk. Sheron Vowden had suggested we instead do the tors and rocks on East Moor, and I wasn't going to say no, but the weather forecasting heavy rain all day did worry me a bit, and too right it should've!

Dartmoor: Solving the Hare Tor and Clay Tor Conundrums

Clay Tor (Hemery)

I've been holding off writing this blog post for a while now because it involves two Dartmoor conundrums, both involving author William Crossing, which need to be explained fully for the reader to grasp what we're discussing here, so I'll try my best but at times if you fall asleep or get a headache, don't feel bad as I'm still trying to unpick quotes from the literature too!

Please note: I will be picking out the most important bits of information from the Tors of Dartmoor website, which goes into more detail if you're interested.

Dartmoor: Chalk Ford Rocks, Pupers Hill, Snowdon and Gibby Combe Tor

Descending Snowdon

This is going to be a very difficult blog post for me to write, predominantly because there's so much to see in this part of Dartmoor! In total, we visited like 50 Dartefacts or something in this 8-mile walk, and logging all of the GR's for these wasted a lot of time! But never fear, I will attempt to 'go brief' with this one! That means no GR's will feature in this post - I hate numbers but if you wish to visit anything I describe, simply put the name in the Dartefacts search.