Dartmoor CAM

This walk: 2008-2-18 - Haytor, Haytor quarry, Haytor Down, granite tramway/Templer Way, un-named tor(? but marked as a cairn), Black Hill, cairn, Duke of Somerset's boundary stones, gorse in bud, Rock Inn. This walk follows Walk 16 "Haytor Quarries & Tramway" in Walk! Dartmoor.

The boundary stones on the walk are referred to on page 298, Crossing's Guide to Dartmoor, 1912 edition, reprinted Peninsula Press, 1980, ISBN 1-872640-16-7, �12.95.

Walk details below - Information about the route etc.

This walk was on a day when all the weather forecasts showed cloudless skies with wall-to-wall sunshine across England and Wales. Ahem!

Haytor, seen from about 30 meters - things improved gradually, especially after I left the pub (see last photo below). This part at SX 75888 77070 (from Memory Map)

View down into Haytor Quarry from SX 7602774568

View of the winding gear and fallen derrick in the quarry

Nearby, an iron ring fixed into a rock

Stile for leaving the quarry at its northern boundary, SX75940 77486

Granite tramway (or Templer Way) on Haytor Down, showing a junction to a now-non-existent track

Another junction (the third seen in this area) in the tramway, at SX 76177 77753 � 5 m (GPS 'fix')

Small tor, not named on the maps, at SX 76052 78655 � 4 m (GPS 'fix'), close to spot height 412 and cairns, nothing to do with Smallacombe Rocks (which are at SX 75400 78200'ish on the map)

Cairn on Black Hill, SX 76279 78969 � 4 m (GPS 'fix')

Boundary stone, engraved DS 1853, erected by the Duke of Somerset around his land in 1853 (source: Walk! Dartmoor). This is one of a series, all with names on the reverse face (see next photos). Crossing says the bond stones mark parish boundaries, here Bovey Tracey to the north and Ilsington to the south.

As above, reverse face, "Victoria" at SX 76608 78278 � 5 m (GPS 'fix'). Not easy to distinguish.

Somewhere along this section, I missed another stone along the route (Old Jack). The ground here has gorse up to head height in places and that can make finding things difficult - a challenge for another walk!

"W Stone" at SX 77108 77930 �5 m (GPS 'fix')

"Prince of Wales" stone at SX 77469 77748 � 5 mm, with DNPA 2001 50 Years on the reverse face (see next photo)

DNPA (Dartmoor National Park Authority) 2001, and, at the bottom, 50 Years, marking 50 years of the National Park.

Looking along the route of travel beside the 50 years Memorial Stone. You can see the gorse at the back of the stone, making photography difficult

"Prince Albert" stone at SX 77843 77566 � 5 m (GPS 'fix'), also the site of a letterbox (The Avenue Church, Newton Abbot, 40th Anniversary)

Gorse, in bud, no open flowers yet (18th Feb)

Later, after reaching the road and walking into the woods at Haytor Vale

The stile

Entrance to the Rock Inn

Zoomed view of the pub signboard (being an image of Haytor rocks)

The pub fire at the Rock Inn, Haytor Vale

At the end of the walk, a view of Haytor with people on it from the car park - the mist is clearing, at about 3 pm.

For another time .... there are seemingly nine other boundary stones to be seen in this area.

Walk details

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

The blue lines are the compass or GPS bearings. The red line is the route actually walked: it deviates from the blue lines sometimes to avoid obstacles such as thick bracken, gorse, bogs or clitter, and often to use paths or animal tracks that are not on the map.

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

The approach from the A38 was via the Bovey Tracey turn-off, driving the 2nd roundabout and turning left, following the B3387 and signs to Haytor. This is an easy road. Parking was at the Haytor Visitor Centre, at the P + Information symbols on the map.

Statistics
Distance - 8.6 km / 5.3 miles
Start 11.15 am, Finish 2.58 pm, Duration 3 hr 42 min (including a pint in the pub)
Moving average 4.1 kph / 2.5 mph; Overall average 2.3 kph / 1.4 mph