Dartmoor CAM

This walk: 2011-1-12. Twyste Farm / Twist, attempted "venville" holding, slotted gate post, sheep creep, Broadmoor Brook, clapper bridge, layered hazel hedge, Devon United Mine features, leat, buildings, shafts, ponies, Thomson Turbine, hazel catkins, River Tavy movie, gorse flower, Longtimber Tor, St Peter's Church - Peter Tavy, restored village cross.

Walk details below - Information about the route etc.

The random white spots seen on several photographs are caused by raindrops on the camera lens - it was raining heavily!

Outcrop near Boulter's Tor - in the mist ..... on Smearn Down, now corrupted to Smeardon Down, near the track once heavily used by peat cutters .....

Conquered by our intrepid tor climber!

Twyste Farm, now Twist on the map, now abandoned ..... the approach .....

End view .....

Inside the kitchen .....

External view ......

Believed site of one of the last attempted "venville" holdings, the row of large stones with a pile by the gate, this being the site of a "cottage in a day" undertaking where ground could be held if the cottage was built in one day. The plan was stopped by local inhabitants who didn't want it here.

Slotted gate post.

Sheep creep through the hedge.

Stream rushing through a hedge with runoff water from a field.

A stream in full flow .....

Zoomed view.

Another stream.

Broadmoor Brook, from Broadmoor Farm, with clapper bridge.

A "layered" hazel hedge, where small branches are half-severed, bent down and woven into a living hedge.

This shows what the rain was like!

Signpost - I can't make it out either!

A shaft of Devon United Mine which had north, central and south sections. The north mine was worked for copper until the 1850's. The central and south mines were worked for tin and arsenic until 1922. The south mine site went down to 50 fathoms (300 feet) and produced most of the tin. The central section produced mainly arsenic. Some extra photos can be seen here.

Strollers looking at the shaft top more closely, at approx. SX 5128 7854.

Nearby ponies.

Hazel catkins - the first sign of Spring.

Ruined mine buildings .....

..... and a shaft.

Leat .....

..... and again.

Devon United South Mine (while this is a Mary Tavy web site, it concedes that this mine was in Peter Tavy, being on the opposite bank of Chollwell Brook). A 6 foot diameter Thomson Turbine which powered a dynamo which provided electricity for various processes involved in the extraction of the tin ore. It also drove an air compressor, the remains of which can be seen lying in the tail race below the turbine.

Thompson Turbine, presumably a forerunner to this modern web site's products: www.thomsongovernors.com.

Close-up of the inscription on the previous photo of the Thomson Turbine: �When you pass me, don�t forget those days gone by when my brave heart beat to the sound of a thousand men�s voices echoed in water�

The River Tavy in spate after heavy rain .....

Dartmoor CAM movie

Beside the River Tavy ..................

Click the photo to download

File size: 2 MB.
Time to download: e.g. 13 secs
Length 18 secs

Footbridge over the Tavy that leads to the Mary Tavy Hydroelectric Power Station.

Oh good! The gorse flower isn't missing - so now there can be more kissing!

Longtimber Tor, an overgrown minor tor in the valley floor, SX 5094 7825.

St Peter's Church, Peter Tavy.

War memorial.

The crossed keys of St Peter with an anchor to their right, on the south face of the medieval crown stone, supporting the reconstructed village cross ..... there are more photos available HERE that were taken on a sunny day on 12th May 2010 - where there is a complete description of the restored village cross.

Approaching the transept of the church .....

A Norman feature .....

..... seen above the window.

A side door, a detail from the church.

Walk details

MAP: Red = GPS satellite track of the walk.

This walk was reached by turning off the A386 just north of Tavistock, by a camping signpost, to Harford Bridge (bear left here), to Peter Tavy, driving straight on, passing the church on your left, taking the first road o n the right and climbing to a small quarry car park marked on the map by the yellow cross and the P symbol.

Statistics
Distance - 5.85 km / 3.64 miles.