Dartmoor CAM

This walk: 2011-5-4. A plethora of bluebells: bull warning sign, sheep creep, sunburnt bluebell leaf tips, Emsworthy Farm, dried up leat, sycamore tree, slotted gate posts, Emsworthy Rocks, buttercup, milkwort, violet, Haytor, Saddle Tor, cotton grass, Rippon Tor, Holwell Lawn, bluebells - lots!

Walk details below - Information about the route etc.

..... because he'll be tired!

Click on the photo to see a larger version - Emsworthy & Becka Brook Bog, some of the area is now a reserve managed by Devon Wildlife Trust.

A blocked sheep "creep".

Bluebells - with sunburnt leaftips. Sometimes known locally as "bluedrops" - not to be confused with snowbells!

Dried up Emsworthy Farm leat.

A sort of "drive" between field walls, looking towards the farm .....

Similar, looking NW down the slope towards Becka Brook head.

Meadow Buttercup, Ranunculus acris, with five petals compared to many on celandines.

Slotted gatepost, with defined slots to put the ends of the gate bars into, and .....

The matching post, with gradually-sloped, open top ends so that the bars can slide down into position.

Emsworthy Farm, where the barn is still standing and has a new-looking tin roof.

The front of the barn ..... there is another access around the back to the right end.

Nesting box, of the type used for barn owls.

Cut-off tree stump coming out of a wall - it was a big tree!

Pair of posts of unknown function?

A view of a large sycamore tree - there are several here as well as an ash.

Click on the photo to see a larger version.

Another slotted gatepost, with well-defined slots, and .....

The matching post, where the slots are of the "slide in from the side and drop" type.


Our new guide being very helpful .....	..... and very versatile, too!

A very old slotted gatepost that appears to have been turned for further use - the slots are facing you.

Emsworthy Rocks.

More Emsworthy Rocks.

Fitches Rock (believed), fitch being an old Dartmoor name for polecat.

Whortleberry Rock.

Believed Heath Milkwort, Polygala serpyllifolia, (leaves are opposite at base of stem, likes wet, acid ground = Dartmoor!). Otherwise, Common Milkwort, Polygala vulgaris, (the leaves are not opposite, likes dry neutral ground).

The same again (pale version) alongside a very pale violet,

Is this Haytor I see before me?

Note the windswept tree .....

Zoomed view.

Hugh conquers Emsworthy Rocks!

View of a rock formation.

Saddle Tor ahead, SX 751 763, elevation 428 metres (1404 feet).

Part of Saddle Tor, zoomed view .....

Saddle Tor again.

Common cotton grass, Eriophorum angustifolium, several seed heads - looks like possibly three seed heads here. The alternative is Hare's-tail Cotton-grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) with a single seed head.

Somewhere on Saddle Tor.

View to Haytor, SX 757 771, elevation 457 metres (1499 feet).

Saddle Tor is climbed!

Another rock formation on Saddle Tor.

Back at the car park with Rippon Tor behind, SX 746 756, elevation 473 metres (1551 feet) - then drive to Holwell Lawn .....

Holwell Lawn with bluebells, from the small roadside parking area.

There are a few people wandering among the scented expanse of blubells.

As previous photo.

Click on the photo to see a larger version - Hound Tor and Holwell Lawn.

Moor Strollers - on parade!

Guess what these are!

Common bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta; other names: Endymion non-scriptum, Scilla non-scripta and Agraphis nutans.

Difficult to see in the outdoor light and they were blowing in "the breeze" i.e. wind!

Ditto, with bracken heads showing.

As previous.

There are the occasional "whitebells" i.e. white bluebells.

As previous.

And again .....

There is a large expanse of bluebells .....

..... in all directions.

A serious photographer with a tripod - I used to carry one!

Last photo, heading back to the cars.

Walk details

MAP: Red = GPS satellite track of the walk. Note - there are two red GPS tracks on the map, one from the Emsworthy area and one from the Holwell Lawn area.

This walk was approached via the A38 from Plymouth, Newton Abbot/Widecombe turn-off and following the road for Widecombe to Hemsworthy Gate where we turned right, towards Bovey Tracy, and stopping at the first car park on the left, the P symbol with a yellow cross on the map.

Statistics
Distance - 3.98 km / 2.47 miles