Dartmoor CAM

Apologies for the break in service! Being 'volunteered' to paint Sister-in-Law's bungalow in Cornwall hasn't helped, nor the wet weather, nor the necessary gardening!

This walk: 2007-9-4 Dartmoor Inn, Lydford - Ford/Stepping Stones/Bridge - Bray Tor - Doe Tor - tin works - Hare Tor - Sharp Tor - Great Links Tor - Arms Tor.

Walk details below - Information about the route etc.

The walk was from the car park up the lane by the Dartmoor Inn at Lydford, towards Doe Tor, around to Great Links Tor and back. Perhaps the most interesting area was the old tin works - see below!

The bridge, stepping stones and ford across the River Lyd at SX 53187 85723. Great Nodden in the background.

Looking southwards, down on the footbridge at SX 52557 85146 over Doetor Brook

Looking upstream, Doetor Brook, a short distance from the footbridge in previous photo

Boundary post at SX 53962 85204 (�7m) with TRDC on its west face (Tavistock Rural District Council?). This part of an enclosure shown on the map which is not obvious on the ground!

Looking down the "cut" by the "enclosure" between Doetor Brook and the post in the next photo

Another post, at SX 54112 85779 (� 6 m) at the east end of the "enclosure", bearing "TRDC"

View from post in previous photo across to Dow Tor, note red firing flag

Zoomed view of the red flag warning of military firing, which could be heard

Ruined mine building at Wheal Frederick, at SX 54584 85381, marked but not labelled on the map, looking north-west. Note the ramp of the raised leat in the background, to feed the overhead launder to an overshot waterwheel (check HERE for notes about how this site would have operated).

View across the front of the works towards Great Links Tor, across the two "buddle" pits that are overgrown (check HERE again), towards the stream that, further upsteam, fed the leat

General view of the main building

View down on the wheel pit and tailrace which would take the water back to the stream

Side view of the ramp/raised leat that carried the water to the launder and the water wheel

A view of the interior looking south, showing Hare Tor

A view of the interior looking north

Another view, showing Sharp Tor (nearest) and Hare Tor

View southwards, showing the wheel pit and associated building, not visible in other photos

As previous photo but aligned so that all the building structures are included

View east from approx SX 54512 85908 along an old "cut" for tin, across a much-turned-over valley

Roger - This must be one of those thick contours we heard about at Compassworks! Actually, wrong place, so it must be the bridle path (SX 54390 86058)

View to Great Links Tor from SX 54722 86136

View from SX 54722 86136 looking south towards the tin works of a very-much dug-over valley. Detail is lost in the cloud shadow .....

Again, near SX 54722 86136, looking east along the sunken bridle path

Boundary stone at SX 55152 86121 (�4m), bearing "L" (= Lydford)

Rear face of the stone, bearing letters that were difficult to see, the map shows "Lands common to the parishes of Bridestowe and Sourton" in the opposite direction so it may bear "B S" ?

Great Links Tor at SX 55237 86751 from the direction of the boundary stone in the previous photo

Great Links Tor, close up

Great Links Tor trig point and a standing stone

View past the standing stone with Sharp and Hare tors (right of the stone, 2.5 km/ 1.5 miles) and possibly Great Mis Tor in the distance (left of the stone, 7.3 km/4.5 miles)

Looking north from Great Links Tor, towards Corn Ridge and Sourton Tors

Looking north-east from Great Links Tor, towards Bridestowe

Looking back at Great Links from the direction of Arms Tor

Approaching Arms Tor from Great Links Tor

Part of Arms Tor, against the sun

Great Links Tor, looking back from near Arms Tor

Dartmoor ponies, between Great Links and Arms tors

View from Arms Tor towards Sharp Tor and Hare Tor

Daisy-May, one of the famous climbing cows on Dartmoor at Arms Tor

Another view of Daisy-May

View of Bray Tor, side-on to the cross (Widgery Cross), at SX 53957 85593

View down to the starting point of the walk. The car park is at the top end of the track in the middle of the photo, not to be confused with the plume of smoke

Looking back at Arms Tor

Some heather and gorse near the end of the walk
- these two flower photos did not work in stereo

Heather and gorse

Another view of the stepping stones at the start/end of the walk

Looking downstream, cows crossing the River Lyd

Another shot

Lookinmg up at Widgery Cross, on Bray Tor

Sharp Tor (SX 55010 84860) from the track back to the car park

Walk details

Reproduced from Dartmoor OS Explorer map 1:25 000 scale by permission of Ordnance Survey
on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number 100047373.
Also, Copyright © 2005, Memory-Map Europe, with permission

MAP: Blue = planned route, Red = GPS track of the actual walk

The road to this walk is very easy - take the A386 from Tavistock to Okehampton to the Lydford turn-off and go up the lane on the other side of the road, just to the left of the Dartmoor Inn (as you look at it). This is at SX 52295 85260. The lane leads to a moor gate that must be closed behind you, there is quite a spacious car park.

The walk starts fairly level and easy to the bridge/stepping stones/ford and to the footbridge. After that, the ground tends to be a little harder going but it is not strenuous. Some of it is very pleasant, and the climbing is not hard although it is almost constantly uphill to Great Links Tor .....

The climb is 265 meters/870 feet.

Statistics: distance 9.55 km/5.9 miles; moving average 3.8 kph/2.4 mph; overall average 2.1 kph/1.3 mph; time 4 h 27 mins.